Advice - any experience of moving child from a standalone nursery to a 2+ school nursery, or recent experience of specifically Ducks in Dulwich or Eaton house Belgravia?

[Motherofonexxx]

Hi, I would be grateful if anyone could share their experience if you have chosen a school 2+ entry nursery over a normal nursery, or if you have any recent experience of either EHB or DUCKS at 2+.

I appreciate this may seem an unusual choice of 2 schools. For context we are currently in a nursery near where we live (near EHB in Central London). We always thought we would end up further out, more space etc, to raise our child and hence registering our child in Ducks very young (I know the Dulwich schools from back in 90s but no experience of Ducks). But we also registered at EHB in case we didn't move. Property market remains very difficult, hence considering staying where we are ....

The other choice is if we just stay in our current nursery until 4+. This is easier as avoids term time and shorter days and we wouldnt move. But we don't love the current nursery and wondered if he may be better suited to a school type nursery for 2+ given he's October born. He's been in nursery full time since he was 6 months old. For any families who used a 2+ school nursery did you feel the experience differed to / was better for your child than a nursery? Anyone currently in the schools we are registered in?

Thanks in advance

We’ve been having the same discussion about moving our two year old to the nursery of the prep school his brother is at. His current nursery is close to home but it means we have the juggle of two drop offs in the morning.

We’ve decided to stay put for now and maybe reconsider in a year or so, mainly because his current nursery is 51 weeks of the year and until 6pm, unlike the school nursery which is term time only and school hours. Whilst we have the option of holiday clubs for our older DS, the options are limited for under 5s.

Also, the school nursery doesn’t do naps and expects the toddlers to be potty trained. He’s only just turned 2 so too young for all of that.

I don’t know much about the policies of the schools you’re looking at, but those were the deciding factors for us when deciding whether to move him or not.

We have had experience of doing this (not the schools mentioned) and yes the term time is tough as you need to find additional childcare for the term breaks. But my dd loved the prep school nursery and attended from 2+ after a short settling period (she had forgotten about her old nursery).

our prep nursery still did naps until 3 years old and didn’t expect toilet training (they helped with this once the child was ready - in our case at 2.5 years). She learnt a lot more at her 2+ nursery compared to play based we felt.

My (November) daughter started old fashioned stand alone nursery the term after her second birthday. Lovely introduction, great environment. After 18months the nursery was sold and fees quadrupled - I moved her to the preschool attached to the primary I am hoping she will attend.

I was much more worried about it than I needed to be and I think that starting school is going to be easier from her current setting. In retrospect I was looking for what she needed at that moment - not what she would need in a few months time.

I am very grateful that her first experience of nursery was where it was, but actually think that she has benefited from moving before starting school.