stay private or go state at 3?

[justmaz]

My daughter has just turned 2 and I have been told by family that i need to get her into a state nursery when she turns 3 so need to start looking... I am confused about the best way forward, she has been in daycare since she was 15 weeks and is well settled... do i keep her there or send her to 'big school'? she will get the benefit of knowing the school but i can still use her 3yr old vouchers at her nursery so is there any point in sending her somewhere new at such a young age??

If she is happy and you can afford where she is for now, then I would leave it. Are they thinking state nursery so she can feed straight into a state primary at 4? Not all schools operate like that in any case - and in the majority of Reception classes, the children won't know many of the other pupils when they start - it's not a problem.

she is very happy where she is and i get alot of help in tax credits for her nursery so despite the extreamly large monthly bill we can cope... It is a feeder nursery to the primary school and is within the catchment... My plan was to put her into school when she had to start, but it has made me question myself, the thought of her going to school, even though it is still a nursery too early makes me shudder as they grow up so fast anyway.... I think you are right and she will at some point have to be new and not know anyone, at least when she is 4 - 5 her understanding will be better. thanks

The advantages of moving are

• she will get to know children she will go to school with
• she will get used to the school and its ways
• nursery will most likely be very helpful in aiding the transition to Reception

the disadvantages are

• she has to get used to a new place (might be more able to do it at 4 rather than 3)
• the nursery may not be able to cater for the range of hours you want
• the nursery will most likely be closed during holidays so you would need alternative childcare

I've done it both ways and both ways worked for us. DS (who hadn't been to the school nursery) was totally settled in school by October 1/2 term and you wouldn't have known he'd not been to the school nursery (80% had).

can I just hijack and ask how you get the nursery vouchers?
Have read somewhere that you can get some sort of government grant that entitles your child to up to 15 hours in a nursery per week.
how do you apply?

mumoverseas your nursery will apply on your behalf for nursery vouchers once your child is old enough (from memory you have to produce a birth certificate and sign a form)

yes that's right redsky, you don't have to do anything apart from give a copy of their birth certificate to nursery - they do everything else

excellent, thanks for that ladies. She is not registered at a nursery yet but we are going to have a look at our local one when we get back to the UK in June.

I am going to have a look around the nursery this week to get a feel for it and if i like it then i will take my DD to get her reaction and take it from there... It's the holidays that are the hard part to figure out.