Nursery heeeelp!

If I’m correct I think you can apply to send your child anywhere! As long as it works for you. Xx

As far as I know there is no catchment area for nurseries. There wasn’t where I lived anyway and you could just choose your own. I’d find some nurseries you’re interested in in the area, have a look at their Ofsted reports online (you can just google ‘Ofsted report and the name of the nursery’ to see how they have been rated and then contact them. We went to view and visit a nursery for our son before he was born. We’d also paid his deposit and application fee etc before he was born so we didn’t have the stress once he was here haha.

If you are planning on using a private nursery there are no set rules, you choose whichever one you prefer and add baby to the wait list. You are doing the right thing getting this sorted ASAP

You can register her with any nursery. My little one goes to one close to my husband's work as he is the one driving. However, I sometimes wish we had chosen something close to home because I need uber or over an hour on public transport if I want / need to drop him off or pick him up. Also now that my husband considers changing his workplace it would be a little pointless to travel to the nursery. Anyway, you may be in a different position I am just sharing from our point of experience.

thank you :) silly question, how do I know if a nursery is private or not? @Kath

I'm a teacher and I don't think it's too early to register your interest in a nursery. Some nurseries can be popular with waiting lists. I advise going to view a couple of nurseries to get a feel for what it is like there. When I visited some nurseries, I went at different times of the day to see what parking and pick up/drop off would be like. If you look on the nursery websites, they should have their latest Ofsted report - take this with a grain of salt. Some nurseries are also specialised in a particular form of education - e.g. Montessori. Some questions I asked each nursery were: What does a typical day look like in the nursery? Do you offer settling in sessions? How does the nursery keep parents updated about what their child is doing? What are the ratios of staff-children? Food Extra curricular activities Pick up/drop off - how does this work? What is parking like? Facilities - outdoor play What's included in the price - nappies? When is the nursery open? Term time only or all year?

Some children start at a school nursery September after their 3rd birthday. But standard start is Sep after 4th birthday. Anything before this is a private nursery or childminder where you can apply for funding and tax free childcare. You can pick any nursery convenient to you that you like and has space available. Though depending when you want to start nurseries are booked up well in advance so would deffo get on this asap if this is what you mean, my bump has been booked in since 15 weeks pregnant to start Jan 26.

For nurseries you can apply anywhere and usually you're put on a waiting list. Make sure to get on the lists asap. I put my unborn son on the list 12 weeks pregnant as it can be hard to get a space! So apply for a few and get them on the list for the date you want!

@Francesca most nurseries are private unless it's part of a school