The difference between school Nursery and Private Nursery

There are many different childcare options in the UK. I'm going to be specifically talking here about the differences between School ('maintained') Nurseries and Private Nurseries in England. I'll also mention Academies. This is an unbiased and factual account that hopes to help confused parents! I have worked in both school nurseries and a private nursery and both have their strengths!

If you find this useful and would like to find out more about making childcare choices, including Childminders, Nannies and Pre-schools, you can attend one of my course 'Starting Childcare and Smooth Transitions'. I cover how to emotionally start the process of looking for and choosing childcare and embarking on the transition, whilst also thinking about your return to work.

An important consideration to make when reading through these points is of course that every single school nursery and every single private nursery will be different. They will be organised and run by different people, they will have different pedagogy's (a fancy word for methods of teaching and ethos), and they will just have a very different vibe. Therefore it's REALLY important to make visits. Logistically one setting might appear to work best for you but just like when you buy a house, you need to go inside it to 'know' if that is where you want your child to be spending their precious time and early years.

So lets get started:

At what age can the child attend?

When can you apply for a place?

How do you get a place?

Who are the Nursery run by?

What are the opening times?

What does it cost?

None of it is 'free'...

What are the staff/ child ratios?

What are staff qualifications?

All early years providers working with children from birth to 5 years old must follow the regulations on early years foundation stage (EYFS) staff:child ratios. This is the number of qualified staff, at different qualification levels, an early years setting needs to have in order to meet the needs of all children at different stages of development and ensure their safety. These regulations are set out in the early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework.

What about First Aid?

Who regulates the nursery?

What statutory legislation do they follow?

Exactly the same!

I really hope this has been helpful! If it has, please share it so that it can help more parents, because this stuff can be so confusing!

If you want to know more about finding the right childcare or if you're worried about what is best for you and your family, you can book on my course or book on a consultation call with me. I love to help with this very important and difficult stage in your parenting journey.