new pre-schooler mom - *********helllllllllllllllllllllp!******

[fransmom]

do pre-schoolers have to go to ps for the full 12.5 hours or as often as wanted? can they go four mornings a week? or is it reliant on the school you choose?
please help! sorry - dd is 3 in april so will be going in september

[Tommy]

depends on the pre school. If it is a schol nursery, it is more likely that they will go every afternoon or morning. Whether they let you do only 4 mornongs or whatever to start off with depends on their policy.

My DSs went to different nurseries (part of schools). DS1 went 3 mornings to start off with and them built up to 5 but DS3's wanted him there for 5 days from the start

[fransmom]

it is a school nursery ( sorry pre-school)that she will be going to mainly because i can't afford the private nurseries

one of the reasons i ask is that she has just started a ballet clsas on a monday which she really enjoys and i don't want her to have to give that up. do you think, in that case, it would be best to ask the pre-school?

thanks for your help btw

[Twiglett]

depends on the school

once your child is 3 you can get childcare vouchers that equate to the 12.5 hours pre-school allowance .. and many nurseries will accept them .. so I have known people who have sent their children to nursery for 2 full days which is mainly covered by the childcare vouchers

[fransmom]

thanks twig x

[needmorecoffee]

dd goes 3 mornings a week. School never made a peep.

[jollydo]

my local pre-school lets you have only one session if that's what you want, while the one my niece goes to insists on five. So ask at yours is definitely my advice.

[cory]

Ours was happy for a child to do just one or two mornings or afternoons. Ask them.

[fransmom]

will do, and thanks for your help xxx

[fransmom]

well i asked them. because it is a council run pre-school they said she has to go for the full 5 mornings (personally i think this is so they get the full funding.) whereas the preschool that dd wanted to go to (where her boyf is going - bless them they are only just about 3!)said she could go for as many as i wanted, maybe just 3 or something similar.

[maisiemog]

My DS started at a school nursery in January and I told them I would want him to attend for three or four days per week (partially as I work one day at the weekend, and this would only leave one day when we could do something in the afternoon). They did accept this, but said four days was a minimum for them. A friend whose little boy is under the same local authority only sent her little boy three days per week to a school nursery, so on that evidence, it seems to be down to the individual school nursery. If you want your LO to do three days you could simply try another school.
Attending a nursery linked to a primary school does not guarantee that child a place, so it doesn't seem to matter that much. Some state nurseries in my area have no attached school, so it leaves things a bit more open.