Nursery vs pre-school Post Reply

[llamamama]

Hi,

We are trying to weigh up the costs of keeping our 3 year old in nursery full time vs moving her to a pre-school. Lots of pros and cons in other categories but purely looking for help on getting an idea of costs. She currently goes to a local nursery 7:30am-6:30pm 5 days a week, all year round. The monthly cost is around £2,000.

If we move her to Belleville or Honeywell pre-school, we can get half days funded, but at Honeywell you seem to be able to go full time and can pay top-up fees. Does anyone know how much these top up fees are? And if not through the pre-school but through a 'wraparound' nursery like Butterfly, what are the average fees?

For either, we then need breakfast club and after school club to make up the hours. It looks like this is around £174 a month. Is that accurate for others in this position? 

And of course thats then all just for term time. Could anyone give me a rough idea of how much full day holiday camps would then be in the area? Are they really full days or are you having to get a nanny to help cover the extra time?

It all feels like a lot of effort but if it will save me a few hundred pounds a month then it's hopefully worth it. (And I'm only going to have to work it all out the following year once she starts school anyway ahhhh).

Any advice/experience would be helpful

[Sw11mumof3]

Hi,
In my experience, both as a mum and as a teacher, I would highly recommend a pre school over a daycare setting in terms of the quality of teaching and learning. However, if you work FT, it is a LOT of juggling. You’re right in that Honeywell offers FT nursery places with the option to pay to top up- we did it many years ago and it was significantly cheaper than a day nursery. Breakfast club and after school club at Honeywell are run by ‘Schools Out’ in Balham, I couldn’t find fees on their website but it’s not cheap. Still cheaper I reckon than a day nursery. Their website has info but no fees.

Also, I’d probably only send your child to Honeywell nursery if you’re pretty certain they’ll go on to the infant school- as it’s a big change if they have to move again after a year. The nursery there is incredible I have to say.

Holidays are tricky. There are clubs run by the same company as above, but we have found them to be not the best, so rarely used them. Their is Activ camp which offers I think 8.30-5.00 but is £££ (you can google to see how much) but I believe you can also use childcare vouchers- however I’m not sure they do such long days for little ones- I think you’ll be hard pushed to find holiday clubs for pre reception kids that are all day. Playball for example just does 3 hours which is lovely but not huge unhelpful if you work FT. Many people I know tend to do term time only nurseries and then have an after school nanny who is flexible enough to pick up extra hours in the school holidays. But that can also be expensive.

Lots to think about, but hope that’s of some help.

[Sw11mumof3]

Hi,
In my experience, both as a mum and as a teacher, I would highly recommend a pre school over a daycare setting in terms of the quality of teaching and learning. However, if you work FT, it is a LOT of juggling. You’re right in that Honeywell offers FT nursery places with the option to pay to top up- we did it many years ago and it was significantly cheaper than a day nursery. Breakfast club and after school club at Honeywell are run by ‘Schools Out’ in Balham, I couldn’t find fees on their website but it’s not cheap. Still cheaper I reckon than a day nursery. Their website has info but no fees.

Also, I’d probably only send your child to Honeywell nursery if you’re pretty certain they’ll go on to the infant school- as it’s a big change if they have to move again after a year. The nursery there is incredible I have to say.

Holidays are tricky. There are clubs run by the same company as above, but we have found them to be not the best, so rarely used them. Their is Activ camp which offers I think 8.30-5.00 but is £££ (you can google to see how much) but I believe you can also use childcare vouchers- however I’m not sure they do such long days for little ones- I think you’ll be hard pushed to find holiday clubs for pre reception kids that are all day. Playball for example just does 3 hours which is lovely but not huge unhelpful if you work FT. Many people I know tend to do term time only nurseries and then have an after school nanny who is flexible enough to pick up extra hours in the school holidays. But that can also be expensive.

Lots to think about, but hope that’s of some help.

[CCS_118]

Sounds like you're nearer the Commons rather than Earlsfield, but if not you should have a look at Swaffield.

They're offering free full-time places (term-time) to all their pre-school from September, and are also going to be open all year round for that class from next year too.

It's a brilliant school - historically a bit under-looked but really fantastic. Very happy, very focused on each child's development.

[mrs_original]

I agree with Sw11mumof3, the difference in quality of teaching is huge between a pre school and day nursery, and that's why we opted for the first. I heard someone say last year that they paid £1500 per term for their child to go full time to Honeywell nursery, this doesn't include the breakfast and after school club.

As Sw11mumof3 also said, a full time place in a holiday camp for a 3-4 year old is almost impossible, and I've never come across a camp that starts before 9am, so pre school + after school nanny with some flexibility works better.

Something else to consider: if your child is going to either Belleville or Honeywell, sending them to the pre school at the school you'll most likely get a place is very helpful as they'll start Reception with a few friends already. I've heard stories of children that had a really hard time making friends once they started school, but of course every child is different.

From my experience, from a family with full time working parents (although with more flexibility than the average), just choose what's bet for your child and everything will work in the end.

[SW4Mummy1]

Does your nursery not allocate the funded hours? Mine deducts it from the monthly invoice (averaged out over the year). I personally think a nursery is a more one-to-one setting but it depends a lot on the two selections (nursery vs pre-school). Check the funded hours I don't know many nurseries who won't allocate them x