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View Full Version : offering NEF but still want a nuresery place



samkeddy
13-03-2012, 02:09 PM
Hi,
I have been accepted on our network and am now able to offer NEF, my daughter turned 3 in feb and doesnt have a nursery place, i have been told i can have the funding for her which is great but im still hoping she will be offered a nursery place at school in sept.

I want to offer NEF places but still think children should attend nursery to prepare them for school, am i thinking about this wrong? I dont compare myself to a nursery at all we do educational things and work to eyfs but im a homely, fun relaxed enviroment in my opinion very different to the school nursery.

I dont think id be able to promote myself over nursery, when i believe they need that preperation for school???

Any opinions?:(

JCrakers
13-03-2012, 02:19 PM
Ive had two parents wanting me to become accredited bacause they want their 3yr olds to stay with me because I offer them everything a preschool/nursery can. I am very active and we are always busy at groups/activities.
The only thing I cant offer is a large group but I take the children to groups so they do have contact regulary with big groups. I didnt become accredited in the end for a few reasons.

I think some children do need a preschool setting before school if they are very shy or lack a bit of confidence but some children dont. The 2 children I have are very confident and have a lot of friends that they will start school with and the parents get together on their days off.
Maybe your dd would benefit from a nursery to get her used to being away from you but as for the mindees I believe if you can offer them all they need then they dont have to go to a nursery.

loocyloo
13-03-2012, 02:29 PM
I have a mindee who will have 2 sessions at nursery (days LO not with me) and then use the rest of his nef with me. Reason being that he will be going to a school out of my area & won't know anyone, so using nursery to get to know the children he will spend the next 7 years with!
I would go to toddlers in his area, but there isn't one!

The Juggler
13-03-2012, 02:29 PM
i think it at least gives parents the choice. if they want their child with you full time then great, they use the NEF. If they want them to try nursery as well, their NEF will go on nursery and they will pay you for the hours they need.

I'm doing it as I don't want to lose children who might otherwise leave a year before they go to school. I also feel there are some benefits of nursery over home care as they are totally different environments but my belief is that a 2 1/2 hour session then the rest of the day spent in a home environment is the ideal. I think that breakfast club/nursery/wraparound for a full day is too much for a 3 year old. Differnet in day nurseries where they are much better relaxation rest facilities but school nursery no :panic:

Carol M
13-03-2012, 03:44 PM
I agree with Juggler. It gives the choice as to what suits them and/or their child!!
I have a lo who starts school September, up to Xmas he had the 15 hrs here. From Jan he does 3 days here and 2 at pre-school and we split the 15 hrs proportionately. ie 9 hrs for me 6 hrs for pre-school, so he is getting used to a different learning environment and making friends who will be in his class at school.Perfect for this particular child.
Carol xx

funemnx
13-03-2012, 06:58 PM
I'm Accredited and the best solution for me is if the children stay with me for the 15 hours for the 1st year and go to Playschool for the 2 terms before starting Reception. That way I get to keep them a bit longer and they also get used to bigger groups and a more structured 'school' type day.

In the end it's really down to the parents and some of them choose to send lo for 1 full day from the age of 3 and then up it for the year before Reception.

jumping j
13-03-2012, 09:02 PM
I've just started the accreditation process and am doing it to offer parents an alternative. Some children do need to go to nursery or a pre-school but some aren't ready. I can offer the same/more than some nurseries and not as much as others but I think parents should be able to choose and have options.

gigglinggoblin
14-03-2012, 12:02 AM
3 of mine went to nursery, the last didnt want to and I dont felt he missed anything at all by not doing so. If anything he was the happiest to go to school, he was better prepared from an educational point of view because I followed his interests and did quite a lot of stuff with numbers and letters and he knew more than the others when he started. He was also better prepared emotionally because I met his emotional needs and supported him rather than pushing him to leave too early. I dont think I was wrong to send my other children, its just a very individual choice and all kids (and parents) are different. Reception class is still EYFS and quite unstructured anyway, they do a lot of learning through play. A child has to leave the home environment to go into a bigger, more structured setting either to start nursery or to start school. Tbh for us it didnt seem any different which year we did it, it was just he was ready for school when he went, not so the year before. Spoke to school and head said they had several kids start recently who hadnt been to nursery and they had no more problems settling than the ones who had. My fear was I could have the heartbreak of forcing him to go to nursery and then doing it all over again because going to nursery doesnt guarantee they are any more likely to be happy to start school!

What are you preparing them for in nursery that you cant prepare them for as a childminder and why do you think they need to do it the year before they start school rather than when they go into reception? I wouldnt have thought like that with my first child but after the first couple I resented having to send them to school so early anyway, I think they are far too young. I do think they need to learn to cope with big groups but this can be achieved by going to toddler groups, routine is easy enough for you to sort out yourself, they need to learn to dress themselves for pe but they dont necessarily do that at nursery anyway.

samkeddy
14-03-2012, 07:08 AM
Thankyou for all the replies im glad there is a mix, the more i have thought about it i have realised that what i want for my daughter is different than mindees for lots of reasons. i offer her allsorts of learning experiences at home and interactions at groups but i want her to attend a nursery as i want to break her in gently to been away from me, she is never away from me or our home and id rather her do this for a few hours a day to start than full time next year.

but for mindees that get up, get ready and are away from mum spending their day with me i believe i can offer as much if not better experinces than a nursery. So yes im glad i can give parents that option.

A few of you mention splitting hours or starting nursery later, my daughter was 3 in feb and missed a nursery place in easter as full, so i am expecting her to be offered one for sept, if i was to reject this and request her to start in jan, do you think this would be possible or would i be more likely to loose her place altogether??

miffy
14-03-2012, 07:38 AM
A few of you mention splitting hours or starting nursery later, my daughter was 3 in feb and missed a nursery place in easter as full, so i am expecting her to be offered one for sept, if i was to reject this and request her to start in jan, do you think this would be possible or would i be more likely to loose her place altogether??

I'd go and talk to the head and see what their policies are - to me it would be unfair if your dd lost her place because you chose to wait a term but it's worth checking before you make your decision

Miffy xx

gigglinggoblin
14-03-2012, 11:03 AM
Thankyou for all the replies im glad there is a mix, the more i have thought about it i have realised that what i want for my daughter is different than mindees for lots of reasons. i offer her allsorts of learning experiences at home and interactions at groups but i want her to attend a nursery as i want to break her in gently to been away from me, she is never away from me or our home and id rather her do this for a few hours a day to start than full time next year.

but for mindees that get up, get ready and are away from mum spending their day with me i believe i can offer as much if not better experinces than a nursery. So yes im glad i can give parents that option.

A few of you mention splitting hours or starting nursery later, my daughter was 3 in feb and missed a nursery place in easter as full, so i am expecting her to be offered one for sept, if i was to reject this and request her to start in jan, do you think this would be possible or would i be more likely to loose her place altogether??

I think learning to be away form mum is a big part of nursery, my lo went to my mums one morning a week which I think helped but he is still very much a mummys boy! As for missing a place I am sure nursery would have some idea about that if you asked, some school nurseries I have known have been harder to get a place at part way through the year than other nurseries because they sometimes treat it like the reception intake. I would ask, nothing to lose!

FussyElmo
14-03-2012, 11:14 AM
My dd satrted fulltime nursery schhol last sept when she had turned 3 in the june. Noiw she never spent any time away from me never went to preschool etc. She had no problems settling in and the teachers say she is one of the most settled and advanced children even thiough she is one of the youngest.

Now what im saying is children dont need a preschool to learn.

Noting to say our area is slightly different to others children here can go to preschool from the age of 2 and then the sept after they are three go to fulltime nursery school (not the nef funding hours we dont pay) and then move the the reception class of the same school (fingers crossed).