# Nurseries and Preschools



## pyjamas (Jun 24, 2011)

A friend asked at the weekend what is the difference between the two but I'm not sure! I'm also planning on returning to work part time so would appreciate any tips or experiences of others Thanks x


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## Forgetmenot (Jun 22, 2010)

Just been looking the last two weeks myself.  Will flag and get back to you, just in! Xx


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## Tictoc (Aug 20, 2015)

i'll tell you what my experience has been but it might not be the general case.

Pre schools are school term times only and tend to be run roughly 9-3 so in line with school hours. (Many have wrap around clubs). Nurseries are much longer hours.

Nurseries go from babies to school age but most pre schools start at 3 years old. Due to the age difference I have found that pre schools are a better preparation for school. Also it might be my experience but nurseries provide food whilst pre school is packed lunch.

My huge positive on pre schools though tends to be the staff. Nurseries seem to be full of 16-18 year olds who think they like kids and earn rubbish money for working pretty long hours. The pre schools, my kids go to now (nursery until they are old enough) is mostly staffed by more qualified woman who want to work school hours so as to be available for their own kids. It's also not about changing nappies and feeding babies and more about helping those kids start to grow and develop.

I love pre school over nursery enough to deal with the issue of lack of childcare during school holidays. hope that helps and I haven't rambled too much


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## GERTIE179 (Apr 20, 2005)

Exactly as tictoc describes as a general rule.

Just to offer a differing view. In my experience nurseries tend to be a little more nurture and happier to adjust and let littlies be younger for longer if they need it. Preschools are very school like and push them a bit more as they need the kids to all follow the same path. Not necessarily a bad thing but for my LO, nursery has been better as he's very young and he's needed that softer nurture side and the short times he's been in preschool he shows much more stress and demonstrates anxiety behaviours.

Good luck it's a minefield trying to find the right care who understand what your needs are. X


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## Blueboo (Feb 11, 2012)

Hi, I have found a huge variation in the provision at early years settings, and I'm a reception teacher who thought I knew all about it! I see the main difference as places people send their kids more for childcare reasons (day nurseries) that take them from babies to 4, and those that are more for 'education' or preparation for school, ie pre-schools. The other one is nurseries that are part of a primary school, where you can't choose your hours and they do either 5 mornings or 5 afternoons. My son attends one of these and it is very structured and formal, they wear school,uniform, have a timetable etc. Luckily that suits him but can't imagine it would be right for lots of adopted children (I'm already thinking my youngest won't handle it). 
In theory all early years settings should be following the same 'curriculum' and providing the same experiences, but I have seen all sorts of differences. Quality of staff is one as mentioned above, and also the level of information and communication with parents I have found very different between eldest's nursery and youngest's pre-school. 
If you have the added consideration of returning to work, I guess you will need somewhere that doesn't close for holidays and offers flexible hours. Definitely worth looking round a few as you get such a different feeling in each different place. 
Best of luck, it is a real minefield!


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## Arrows (Nov 9, 2008)

I went back to work after 6mths, when LO was almost 17mths old. At first I put him into a nursery but there were awful and I wasn't happy with the level of care. I then had him with a childminder. When we moved house and I had to increase my hours, he went to a different nursery who were loving caring and really helpful (aged 2-2.5). It was wonderful but incredibly expensive £52 a day, there four days a week. LO liked being there but our relationship suffered because he was there so much and he didn't cope with the change to 'home rules' on the days I had him. This was always likely to be a stopgap until he went to a preschool/ school nursery at 3yrs though and given his struggles I checked every possible avenue very carefully. One preschool came highly recommended and took children 
When checking out nurseries I discover a very good local preschool. They offered mornings and lunch clubs every day and afternoons Tues-Thurs. They were really flexible and did extended settling in and as LO is starting school in Sept they're doing extended settling in for him from May half term. They consulted me on  anything I'd like to see his pupil premium spent on and he has absolutely thrived there!
I know that for him, he'd not have come on near so much in either a day nursery or a school nursery. Hope this helps.


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## Tictoc (Aug 20, 2015)

Just one point in the shorter hours for pre school - our local pre school that LO will be going to at 3 has an after school club that does pick up so will provide wrap around (and holiday times although not planning to use this). This is the same after school club by other kids will be going to so does actually work out well as they will all be together.

Obviously in an ideal world I wouldn't need any childcare and I would much rather be doing this myself but just not an option for us.


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## bulmer (Sep 5, 2010)

Think it's a case of having a good look around and getting a feel for the place. We got lucky both ours went to private nursery (took from age 3 months through to four ) youngest was 18 months when she started and they were aware of adoption.  They could not have been nicer - they gave extended settling in period and didn't charge for part of it - had a named key worker who was always there for handovers.  They had a diary that passed to us daily to let us know every detail from what they had eaten (or not) nappy changes, games played. friends played with everything you would want to know. They had excellent child to staff ratios better than national guidelines and didn't use supply staff.  We did move LO to a pre school attached to her big sisters school in part for our ease but the school lets them spend some playtime together which they both enjoy.  It's a more formal setting and more school like but she settled quicker than we imagined and loves it she is very proud of her achievements there. We asked lots of questions and visited more than once including an ad hoc visit to see how they felt about us just turning up.  Best advice is don't be afraid to ask and have a really good nose around and trust your intuition.


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