preschool is also known as Nursery or the early year stage and caters to children from birth to the age of five education is not compulsory at this stage compulsory education in England Begins the school term after a child turns five before we compare preschool providers you should learn about ofstead the free Early Education scheme and the early year found Foundation stage ofstead is the office for standards and education children's services and skills they are responsible for regulating and carrying Out Inspections of schools and child care providers and publish all the reports online including a list
of outstanding providers free Early Education is a state funded scheme providing 15 hours of Early Education a week for free for 38 weeks a year funding is a available to all children ages 3 and 4 and in some cases as young as two up until the start of primary school this applies to any type of child care provider as long as they're registered with aad lastly there's the early years Foundation stage this is the first key stage of the national curriculum which outlines the Learning and Development requirements for children under the age of five the
curriculum is mandatory for almost all child care providers who care for preschool children now let's look at the most common Child Care settings you can choose from Nursery schools day nurseries playgroups or child minders keep in mind that some of the terms used to describe a setting may vary by location or provider each will offer something different and what meets your needs will depend on you and your child's requirements Nursery schools are different from other providers in many ways first they only take children from the age of three whilst other providers take children as young
as 3 months old or at the age of two in the case of playgroups Nursery schools also operate during the school term other providers vary but mostly offer flexible care throughout the entire year Nursery schools employ qualified teachers staff are trained and qualified in other providers but they are not necessarily teachers in terms of their location Nursery schools are either strictly a nursery school or attached to to a primary school all other providers operate in other non-domestic or domestic settings although most providers will focus on the early Year's curriculum Nursery schools may offer a more
direct and structured approach to education other providers may have more focus on play Let's explore each provider there are two types of Nursery schools first there are Independent Schools they are privately run and charge fees and if they perform well May opt out of the state curriculum if they wish for example montesorri and Steiner schools have their own educational approach and philosophies the second type are local Authority or maintained schools they are run in a similar way but are under the contract of the local Council in other words the state they're free and provide the
state's early year curriculum in addition to these two types of schools there are also special schools for children with disabilities and special needs nurseries offer daycare to children from a couple of months old they are flexible operating the length of the Working Day and are mostly run privately and charge fees they may also be family run or daycare offered in children's centers like sh Stewart they should not be confused with Nursery schools play groups are also called preschools sessional groups or play schools and are held in 3-hour playtime sessions often with parent supervision they help
ease your child into a social environment and are mostly not for profit and run by volunteers so they tend to be much more affordable than nurseries finally child minders are self-employed daycare providers they are homebased usually in the child minder's home and are allowed to care for a maximum of six children under 8 years old of which usually no more than three may be under the age of five they charge on an hourly basis and work to the same rules as other providers so registered child minders are also inspected by ofstead if they are accredited
they exceed basic standards here are some useful links if you would like to learn more or search for a child care provider
