Eaton House The Manor Nursery School Post Reply

[Franklens]

Would anyone who has successfully managed to get a definite place for their little one mind sharing how you did it? With our first daughter we left it too late (4 months after she was born) to register her and Eaton House themselves told us not to bother parting with the registration fee as they had not taken any child off the waiting list for 6 yrs! We therefore put her down for pre-prep but she still only made it onto the waiting list (whereas friends sons have got definite places when registered 4 months later than us). Anyway I am hopeful she will get a place. Baby number 2 is due in 4 weeks and if our daughter is at pre-prep I would be very keen to send baby 2 to the nursery. My intention was to register our new baby asap after birth. However, a friend recently tried to register her son 2 weeks after he was born thinking she might get a place but it was too late and he is on the waiting list! So basically does my husband have to go home from hospital, via Eaton house with a cheque in hand to register our little one immediately after they are born? It seems a little extreme but maybe necessary. Also does this mean Sept babies get preference or do they have different entries throughout the year. Baby is due mid March, does anyone know how this might impact on admission. Sorry for the long post just trying to be organised whilst I still have a bit of time on my hand!
Thanks

[Writerlady]

Hi there, we are at EH albeit further up the school. I think perhaps the reason your friend with a son got a place in the pre-prep when registering later than you is that the boys have a three form entry so basically they have room for more boys. The girls was, up to now, a one class entry although i think they are changing to two once bulding work has provided more space! I think there is (from memory) a sibling policy so if you manage to get your daughter a place, you will probably have more chance of getting a place for number two!

Persevere though - it's a great school!

[cheesesandwich]

We missed out on a place for our first born and he was a November baby. The classes are small and I think first come first served. He may well still go to EH house though but is having a fantastic start at Marmalade Cat down the road (so therefore not an issue with drop off). I would register there after birth and you'll hopefully get a much-wanted morning place! x

[Bluebutterfly]

Hi, I have just been through this at EHTM and it is very dependent on which month your child is born in. They have 3 intakes of children per year into the nursery and they only take 10 children each time, so there are very few places to start with. New children start nursery at the beginning of each school term (the term that they turn 3 years old) - September, January, April. So, to start in September (or be put on the waiting list to start then) a child must have a birthday between 1st September and 31st December, to start in January a child must have a birthday between 1st January and 30th April, and so on, if that makes sense! Therefore if your baby is born in September, January or May then you are at a huge advantage timing-wise as you will go straight on the list and are more likely to get a place, whereas if you are born towards the end of the 4 month period you are more than likely to be put on the waiting list. However there is hope!! As an example, my twins were born on 31st December - the last possible day for September intake - and I was not even going to bother putting their names down as I thought we would be so far down the waiting list! Crazy situation where if they had been born 12 hours later, on 1st January they would have been first on the list with a more or less guaranteed place for January intake. BUT BUT BUT this is all subject to sibling policy which gives priority to siblings. SO, siblings can essentially jump over everyone to the top of the list, but within the sibling group there is a first come, first served policy. So if you do manage to get a place in reception for your elder child, that puts your younger one at a huge advantage nursery-wise, but you should still register them at birth just in case there are loads of siblings in that few months! Also in spite of sibling policy, we were still 2nd and 3rd on the waiting list, meaning 3 children out of the class of 10 would have to not take up their place in order for us to get it, which I thought was incredibly unlikely, but in the end that did happen (I am still amazed). So there is sometimes some waiting list movement (although I think this varies hugely from term to term). Hope that helps!.....

[Franklens]

Thanks for all your useful replies, really appreciate them.

Think hubby will definitely be making a quick stop at Eaton House on way home from hospital, we can at least try and hope! I'll get looking into other nursery options too as sadly our daughters current nursery has just, very unfairly in my opinion, received an un-satisfactory rating. Seems that getting little ones into good nurseries is as competitive as the current housing market!

[Oeuf]

For what it's worth, my eldest is currently at Eaton House pre-prep, having not gone to the nursery despite us having registered him for a place at 3 weeks old. Instead, he went to Marmalade Cat nursery just down the road, which gave him a fantastic start. Infact, I was so thrilled with it, that I have not even bothered trying to register #2 at Eaton House nursery and will be going down the same route of sending him to Marmalade Cat followed by Eaton House pre-prep...Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

[dancing_queen59]

Hi,

We have 2 children at Eaton House and I have just registered my 3rd for a place at the nursery, this was 7 months after she was born. As she has siblings already in the school she will be added to the waiting list for the nursery. Apparently they don't offer out definite places anymore as 'Siblings are offered first' and then the remaining places offered out.

My older children we're 3 weeks old when I registered them at the nursery and got the last places!