School nursery or pre school?

[Sheila2284]

My son loves his pre school but a lot of his friends are leaving to go to school nursery or reception next year. He didnt settle well at pre school so i dont know whether he should move to school nursery so the transition to reception is easier or stay at pre school to have a year more of the low pupil to staff ratio. Does anyone have a view on this please?

I would only move him to the school nursery if you were a million per cent guaranteed a space within the school.

He loves his current pre school and that's the most important thing.

I kept mine at pre-school (but they were settled there) however while this worked well with the eldest as there were a lot of her age that stayed on, when DD2 stayed on most of her age group moved on to school nursery so she was in with a very young group overall and I don't think she got the best out of things because of that age group shift - they seem to be gradually losing the school nursery age demographic at our particular one though.

is he old or young in the school year as that would influence my decision

Thank you every one - he is middle of the year - February

I didn't contemplate it with dd1 because I wasn't sure which school she was going to go to & regretted it a little because she was school ready before she even turned 4 and started to get a bit bored with the smallness of pre-school and then she struggled socially in reception and yr1 partly because the way they had mixed the classes meant that almost all the other girls had been together for a year & also lived in the same flats.
Dd2 is due to start in Sept 19 and although I initially applied for a place in the school nursery I've decided to keep her where she is already settled.
Per pp don't move unless you are 100% sure you'll get in to the school though or you will have 2 moves to deal with.

well i suppose it depends how formal and schooly the nursery is
my ds went to a really formal school nursery that had lots of carpet time, phonics and they joined in assembelies occasionally. It got him really school ready but I think should have player more. Some receptions classes are less formal than that particular nursery was.

I've had exactly the same experience as WeightedCompanionCube - the demographic of our preschool has become younger (especially since they started taking 2 year olds) so DC3 will be going up to the school nursery for a year rather than staying at preschool. DC1 and 2 both stayed at the preschool and went straight to reception. DC3 is old for the year though.

It completely depends on which one you like more and which one is more suitable to what he needs. We had our dd in a private (non-school) nursery until she started reception and it was wonderful. She knew 2 children who went on to her school, but most were totally new to her and that actually worked well because it allowed her to carry one good friendship with her, but also to branch out and make new friends when school started. The pre-school that is attached to the school often comes and does activities (PE, swimming, forest school) with her reception class and honestly I feel a bit sad for them. They are tiny still. They should be playing. They don't need the structure of school when they're only 2 and 3. The nursery we chose was very child-led and focused on free play and learning was built into activities. They weren't sitting down doing phonics. It's so much better that way and I would do the same for ds when he gets to that age. Of course, it also very much depends on the hours and days you need. We work full time including non-term time, so a term time only school nursery wasn't ever an option anyway.

I don't know of any school nurseries that use nursery attendance as a guaranteed criteria for a reception place, so don't count on it.

Remember too that the child/staff ratios at various settings are likely to be different.

I have a pre-school child just about to go into reception.

We decided to keep him at private nursery rather than move him into school nursery for several reasons.

• School option offered morning or could add on to full days, but he would one of the only ones doing full time.
• I would also have to send him 5 days per week, so he would miss two dedicated days with me and separately with his dad.
• I had started new job so wanted continuity with childcare without all the hassle of school holidays.
• Our nursery has a 'school room' so him and his peers all moved up to a dedicated room for 3-4 year olds.

In our case only a couple left to go to a school nursery, most parents are both working and sticking with pre-school due to convenience.

Educationally, I have personally been a little disappointed with the lack of phonics covered in the room during the year, but otherwise he has developed through play and had a lovely year.

As parents we've made up by doing bits and pieces with him at home and have no concerns about him starting reception. It's more important to me he's had an extra year of free play and learning with husband and me on a Monday/Friday each week. I think we put too much pressure on children to be in formal settings so young and it makes no difference once they get a couple of years into primary.

P.S. Look up Teach your Monster to read app. My son has made excellent progress on phonics solely by playing this.

I would take into account

• whether lots of children will be leaving the pre-school (so your DC may find herself one of the few oldest left)
• what actually are the pupil/staff ratios - most pre-schools will up their ratio in the year before school
• how many DC from the nursery go onto the school (for some it's most, for others it might only be a handful)
• how likely your DC is to get into the linked school (assuming it is your first choice)

We've just had this very same decision to make.

Pre school or school nursery.

He loves his pre school, he is already in a year above than what he should be, so at 3 is playing with children age 5, so he has come on enormous amounts. My worry IS he is going to be back in with children the same age as him.

But..

We've chosen nursery school.

Although he was settled and loved the pre school. The nursery school seemed like the best decision for us.

Simply because, they have a lot more carpet time, reading time, learning time.
They also use the traffic lights system for behaviour. Which I think is fab. They also have to wear a school uniform, and to me I thought it would help him get into the routine and use to the school setting for when he starts full time.

A pre school nursery focuses more on play. The managers admitted themselves at pre school, it is all about play!! They don't do the same sort of curriculum that school nursery have to do.

Hope you make the right choice op.

I had the same question last year about whether to keep DS in a private nursery where there is a preschool room for 3-4 year olds, or to move to a school nursery attached to the school DS will be going to. In the end we didn't move as he was so happy and settled where he was. He also had to deal with the arrival of a sibling last autumn which was enough to be getting on with. Finally because he is August born, I thought he might be better off in the less formal setting. I might make a different choice in a few years time for DD who is autumn born.