Starting nursery or pre school

Pre school options

• It's not compulsory for your child to attend nursery or pre school.  
• In all cases, you will need to apply directly to the nursery or pre school you want your child to go to. 
• Most schools will have open days or will let you visit before you apply.
• There are different options for pre school learning and care.

Day nurseries

These care for children from 3 months up until compulsory school age. Most offer care throughout the day, from around 8am until 6pm and are often open all year round, including during school holidays. You can find a list of all the day nurseries in the borough in our families directory.

Pre schools

Pre schools are often run by a voluntary committee. Normally, they care for children from 3 years old until compulsory school age, although some now care for children as young as 2 years old. 

Most offer care in 'sessions', often of 3 hours, for example, from 9am until 12 midday. In most cases, pre schools follow the same terms as state schools, meaning they're usually not open during the school holidays. A lot of pre schools have lunch and breakfast clubs, which means if there are spaces, your child can attend for the equivalent of a school day.

Each pre school sets its own admissions policy. 

Find pre schools

You can find pre schools in the borough in our families directory.