Can I send my daughter to nursery and pre-school

samjones39blue

My little girl (2 years old) goes to nursery at the moment, I'm about to have another baby and go on maternity leave. I'd like to keep my little girl in nursery for a day while I'm off work as she'll be continuing to go when I return to work anyway.


I've also enrolled her at a local pre-school (separate to the nursery) this appealed to me as I'd heard good things about it and they do 3 hour sessions where as nursery is all day or half days (5 hours) I just though at 9-12 session twice a week would suit me better once the baby's here and help her to progress and give me some time with the baby, everyone's happy!! Except when I mentioned to pre-school that she'd still be attending nursery one day a week they weren't happy!!! Not exactly sure why, they said they'd have to speak to offstead and come up with a learning plan with the nursery. I'm thinking fine ok if that's what you need to do then do it what's the problem?? Are they just being funny as this is more work for them?? Also is it really any of there business what other childcare I have in place??!!! I understand that they just want to give my daughter the best start with education and everything but it all just seems a bit OTT.


Advise please!!

wendz86

Surely it is your choice where you send her?

A lot of children must have more than one type of childcare? My friend is leaving her son in nursery 4 days and sending him to pre school one morning.

LEJC

is it possibly because the pre school is preparing the children more for a school environment and the nursery is possibly more structured around a play environment?


We faced this situation many years ago when our son was around 3....he went to a nursery/playgroup which was loosely educational and when we put him into the nursery of the school we wanted him to attend they said that we "might like" to discontinue the other facility.


Never really got to the bottom of oi because each person I spoke to gave different answers...ie pre school was slightly more "educational" and also in having 2 sets of rules to follow it might become confusing etc...


In the end we opted to enrol more time with the preschool as actually he did seem to enjoy it more.

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

Yes you CAN - i did this!

The nursery and school decided to split the 15 hours "free" placement.

The school placement was Mon & Tues full day and a wed morning. As i didnt need her to go in to childcare on a monday as i didnt work this day, she only went on a Tuesday full day and wed AM. For the wed PM and Thursday full day she went to the preschool

It's easily sorted. You just need to inform the local gov the hours your DD will attend each place

EDIT: The pre-school my DD went to worked really well with the school. The school would write a quick note about what they were doing in class that week and the preschool would, if they could, help when DD attended there also

The nursery is probably annoyed they wont get the full 15 hours, but tough. Its your daughter, your choice.

samjones39blue

Yes I know that's how I feel its my choice!!


The idea is that she does both for the next 12 months while I'm off work then when I return she goes back to nursery for the day and a half she does now and at the moment Granny looks after her for a day but when I return she can go to pre-school for that day 9-3 and Granny will (very kindly!!) have her hands full looking after the new baby. I'd love to send her to preschool instead of nursery full stop as I do feel it is more educational and nursery is more just childcare but pre-school is only 9-3 (I work 8-5 three days a week) and its only term time so not an option.

samjones39blue

Thanks for everyones replys

maman

You are sort of right that it creates more work for them so it's really not your problem.


The Early Years Foundation Stage runs from nursery/pre-school through to the end of Year R in school so when children go to school the pre-school providers have to send on records about what the child has already achieved. It makes it very complicated when children are going to several providers as there may be duplications, things missed etc. TBH most of the things are basic skills and experiences so she shouldn't have a problem long term picking them all up.


ETA: This shouldn't apply until your DD is 3. I assume, at the moment, you pay for all your childcare. It might be more difficult to 'mix and match' when she's 3 and has the 15 hours entitlement.

Auntie-Dolly

At my schools nursery we expect the children to attend for the full 15 hours per week. They cannot use part of their free hours elsewhere as we still have to provide the staff/facilities etc. for the childs place.

jackomdj

When my daughter went they wanted to split the "free" funding as they got more money for the free hours than if you paid at preschool.

DD went to crèche 2 full days when I worked and preschool 3 sessions (mornings the year before she went how school) to get her mixing with the children she would be at school with.

Both settings passed her records on to school when she started.

Part time wasn't an issue as they had others who did part time too.

GobbledyGook

The 15 hours a week thing is only relevant for the 'free' places though which a 2-year-old generally won't have atm; will they?

In my experience places don't like children attending a different setting because of different rules, staff and because they have to ensure they are not all focussing on the same thing whilst missing out on other areas (so if your child only attends them they know exactly what she's done). It's all part of the farce that is childcare for two-year-olds. If there was no learning plans or outcome guides and just very young children mixing with other children in a warm and stimulating environment it wouldn't be an issue.

Round here it's very common for children to do their 15 hours in the pre-school (people have the misguided notion it helps with school applications even though they very, very, very clearly state it doesn't) and then go to a private nursery that covers the parents working hours.

izoomzoom

I am an accredited Childminder and I offer the government's free nursery education to some of my children. Some get all their funding with me, some share it between me and a preschool and another child shares it between me and another nursery.

The EYFS wants parents and providers to work together to improve the outcomes for children. I don't really get why the preschool is being difficult. It might be because they want all the funding, but this won't apply to your child until the term after they turn 3, and I don't think you are accessing the 2y funding either ????