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Kindergartens in the UK - Abroadz

Kindergartens in the UK

When planning to move to the UK with a small child and thinking about kindergarten, forget everything you know about kindergartens and stock up on patience and money. If you have plenty of money and can freely allocate an extra thousand or two thousand pounds a month from the budget, then perhaps the first is not so important. If you are trying to save money, then patience will definitely come in handy.

Kindergartens in the UK: the issue price

All kindergartens in the UK are chargeable, so don't expect when your child turns three that the state will take charge of free or almost free babysitting from 8 am to 7 pm, five days a week.

The UK Government openly admits that the most vulnerable group in terms of public assistance and benefits are preschoolers. However, the situation promises to improve in the foreseeable future, and even now there are some benefits that can and should be taken advantage of.

First, there is the government's child benefit, which can be applied for through gov.co.uk. There you will find detailed information, you can download the application form and clarify the list of documents that must be submitted. The benefit is about 20 pounds per week and is paid to children who have British citizenship or citizenship of the EU countries. This benefit is not targeted, that is, you can spend it at your discretion, including paying for kindergarten.

There are also special vouchers (childcare vouchers) that allow you to save a little and are issued through the employer of one of the parents. The point is that the amount you spend on day care services is tax-free and is transferred directly from your pre-tax salary.

Finally, the main benefit that you can take advantage of is 15 hours a week, which the state pays instead of parents (free early education). That's about a day and a half a week, or three half days a week. February 2016 brought good news to parents in the UK - it was decided that the number of free hours for parents will be increased from 15 to 30 per week, so, despite the high cost of kindergarten services, there are reasons to hope that in the future kindergartens stop being a luxury. True, these 15 (and since 2017 - 30) hours a week are due to all preschoolers who have reached the age of three, as well as some children who are already two years old (this mainly applies to children from families belonging to vulnerable social groups). Until this age, and babies from three months old are accepted to kindergarten, you will have to pay for the services of preschool institutions on your own. Details related to the innovation can be found on the official website.

How much does kindergarten cost?

Depends on many factors. First of all, from the place of residence. If you live in London, then the cost of one day can reach 100 pounds, if in Central and Northern England - an average of 50 pounds per day. As a general rule, garden fees are paid one month in advance and are non-refundable or recalculable if the child is ill or absent for any other reason. Also, if you do not have time to pick up the child from the garden on time, you may be asked to pay extra time, at least 2-5 pounds (depending on the city and area of ​​\u200b\u200bresidence) for each additional 15 minutes the child spends in the garden over the allotted time.

Not all gardens are open from 7 to 7, or at least from 8 to 6 (in the UK the working day usually ends at 5 pm). Many institutions operate only a few hours a day, such as from 8 am to 12 pm or from 9 am to 3 pm. It is understood that the main goal of such kindergartens is not to provide care for the child in the absence of parents, but to give him basic knowledge, prepare him for the first year at school, and develop the necessary social skills. Some kindergartens also have holidays that coincide with school dates. These days the garden is closed.

Kindergartens in the UK: how to choose

Finding a kindergarten and getting a place in it is sometimes not an easy task. This is exactly the stage that will require patient and painstaking work to study the “market”.

The geography of the search is determined individually, because, unlike schools, the choice of which is limited by the place of residence, you can enroll in any kindergarten. If it is convenient for you to carry a child from one end of the city to the other, this is your right.

When choosing a kindergarten, you can contact the city council. Each city council has its own Internet resource, where there are pages dedicated to preschool education. If you would like advice or ask questions before you start looking for a garden, you can address them to the appropriate service of the municipality. Most likely, you will not only be helped with advice, but will also be sent an e-mail with a list of kindergartens located in or near your area.

A suitable option is to search for a garden through Internet portals, in which children's institutions are collected in a single database. One of the most popular and user-friendly is childcare.co.uk. Not only can you search for gardens across the UK, but you can also fill out your page and describe yourself and what you're looking for. The inconvenience lies in the fact that not all kindergartens are registered on this site (although most are registered), moreover, contact information is often provided only to premium subscribers for a fee.

After you have picked up a few suitable options, you need to call there and arrange a meeting and viewing (viewing).

It is better to start making arrangements with the kindergarten in advance, a few months before the start of the semester (September and January) from which you want to start attending kindergarten. Otherwise, there is a high chance that all the places in the garden will be filled, and you will either have to look for another garden, or sign up for a waiting list and wait until a place becomes free.

A tour of the garden will be conducted by a manager or one of the educators, with whom you can discuss all the details - clarify the cost, find out the menu and daily routine, ask about the methods that educators use in working with children. If you liked everything, the representative of the institution will offer to fill out a questionnaire. Then, after its consideration (the term for consideration is negotiated individually in each case), you will be sent an invitation and a contract for the provision of services (or papers similar to the contract). After signing the contract, you can be sure that your child has received a place in the garden.

No matter how good the kindergarten you choose, be prepared for some asceticism by Russian standards. For example, in English kindergartens, in principle, daytime sleep is not practiced, respectively, there are no bedrooms, beds, and there is no specially allocated time for sleep. In some gardens, children's recreation is not implied at all, and the entire space is a play area, divided into several sectors. In others, a small place is allocated inside this play space where tired children can lie down for a while - the children rest with the lights on, on the floor, and for convenience they are given thin mattresses.

Hygiene in British kindergartens is also peculiar. All visitors, and even employees, walk on the floor in street shoes (boot covers in the UK are not known either in kindergartens or in medical institutions). In many gardens, children are given tap water as a drink (it is considered drinking water).

If not a kindergarten, then who?

On childcare. co.uk, you will immediately notice that day care is not the only option for you and your child. As elsewhere, you will find many nannies - professional and amateur, with and without accommodation, as well as students and just young people who are ready to help you a little with a child for providing housing (if you have such an opportunity and desire). One of the convenient formats of childcare that can become a real alternative to kindergarten is the so-called childminders. In Russian, this word is translated as "nanny", but this is not quite a nanny in the usual sense, so let's call them childminders.

Childminder is a nanny who runs her own mini garden at home. Childminders, like kindergartens, must be officially registered and regularly pass state Ofsted checks (more on them below). In childminder mini-gardens, where one of the rooms (living room) and a courtyard are specially equipped for children, there are usually 3-5 children at the same time. Good childminers do not just sit with children, they constantly organize various activities for them, arrange competitions and home holidays, and also keep a journal of each child's progress, where they record his achievements, events of the day in general and paste crafts.

In addition, childminders offer more convenient opening hours and can be a lifesaver for working parents. You can bring your child to them on the way to work (starting at 7.30 am) and pick them up at 6-6.30 pm.

Registered childminers offer all the same benefits as regular kindergartens: they accept payment with vouchers and are willing to arrange free hours paid for by the government for parents.

Rating

When searching for information about a particular children's site or childminder, pay attention to its official rating, which is determined by the state on the basis of a special check and a report on its results (Ofsted Report). Ofsted stands for Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills, and Ofsted Report evaluates educational institutions, including kindergartens, on a four-point scale:

1 - Outstanding (excellent)

2 - Good (good)

3 - Improvements required (improvements are required)

4 - Inadequate (unsatisfactory)

This rating can be guided, but you should not blindly trust it. Of course, it reflects reality, but only to a certain extent.

Be that as it may, you can be sure that good gardens and childminders (rated “outstanding” or “good”) will surround your child with warmth and attention (preschool teachers are always friendly and patient), as well as ensure maximum safety for your little ones. So, in the questionnaire that you will be asked to fill out, you will most likely be asked to write who can pick up your child from the garden, as well as attach photos of these people. Separately, a secret password is indicated, which must be announced if the child is taken away without your prior warning.

Parents at work. How are British kindergartens organized and how do they differ from the ones we are used to?

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Those who were born and raised in Russia or other countries that were once part of the USSR associate kindergartens with large groups, teachers in two shifts, obligatory quiet hours and beautiful musical matinees. And all this - up to seven years of the child and for a fairly modest fee. That is why British kindergartens are at first puzzling and even slightly shocking for many expats. What are the kindergartens in Britain, says Kommersant UK.

Not all couples who are expecting a baby or moving to the UK with a baby are aware that the cost of kindergarten for a baby up to two years is sometimes comparable to the annual cost of studying at the university and can even exceed it! According to the charitable organization Coram Family and Childcare Trust, the national average of parents pay almost 28 pounds per day for a five-hour stay of a child up to two years old, that is, 138 pounds a week and more than 7,000 pounds a year. In London, the fees are even higher: the cost of a five-hour stay can exceed 175 pounds a week, that is, a garden costs 9100 pounds per year (for comparison: the average fee for a year of study at the university is 9250 pounds). If the child spends a full day in kindergarten (10-12 hours), the numbers become twice as impressive. And according to other studies, working mothers must pay at least four monthly salaries in order to cover the cost of kindergarten.

What do such expensive British kindergartens offer parents?

Private kindergartens

It is private kindergartens that allow mothers to get out of maternity leave as early as possible. They are open all year round except for public holidays.

Most private kindergartens provide care for babies from three or six months, but there are some that are ready to take babies from birth. You can find kindergartens open from 7 am to 7 pm, but mostly they work from 8 am to 6-6:30 pm.

Babies who do not yet know how to stand firmly on their feet are in a separate room, the so-called baby room, where there are cots with sides, chairs, loungers, developmental mats and toys according to age. Depending on the wishes of the parents, the baby will be fed with expressed breast milk or formula. Lure, also at the request of parents, can be spoon-fed or give the child the opportunity to explore food on their own (baby-led weaning method).

Due to safety regulations, one caregiver can care for no more than three children under two years of age.

According to parents, caregivers treat babies very gently, often take them in their arms, play, cradle them in a rocking chair, take them out for a walk in the park. Be sure to have a quiet time. Toddlers usually quickly get used to such a "nursery" group.

Older children may be divided into groups of two to three years and three to four or five years. Starting from the age of two, children are encouraged to play role-playing games, engage in creativity, educators dance with them and sing children's songs (nursery rhymes), give them the opportunity to explore different textures, and spend a lot of time walking and playing outdoors.

There are no more than four children aged 2 to 3 per teacher.

Three-year-old children are already beginning to be prepared for school, where they move after they turn four years old (parents sometimes prefer to leave “summer” children in kindergarten for another year). With older pupils, they study the alphabet, simple counting, but basically the children are also given the freedom to play what they like best and walk in the fresh air. Daytime sleep of children from two and a half years is no longer given much importance. As a rule, in older groups there are quiet corners with soft mats, rugs and bedspreads, where a tired child can lie down and relax, but no one will force him.

Power supply
In private kindergartens, the cost of food, as in Russia, is usually included in the monthly fee. However, the menu is not at all like what is offered in Russian kindergartens: no soups and compotes, they give vegetables and fruits for a snack, and parents can choose meat or vegetarian for a hot dish for a child. Children try a wide variety of dishes throughout the week, from Moroccan lamb with couscous and chicken in tikka masala sauce to tofu casserole and margherita pizza.

Forest schools, Montessori kindergartens and other areas
In addition to traditional kindergartens, kindergartens are very popular in Britain according to the system of Maria Montessori, an Italian teacher of the early 20th century, who developed her own system for teaching children with developmental disabilities, which is now successfully used for ordinary kids. In such kindergartens, educators who have received a diploma of education from the Montessori International Center work.

The Montessori principle is based on the fact that the child must explore the world around him, and adults only guide him, creating favorable conditions for natural activity. Thanks to a special learning technique, children who go to kindergartens according to the Montessori system usually begin to dress themselves and fasten their outerwear earlier than others.

Montessori kindergartens have a lot of special materials that develop the child's senses, as well as teaching counting and writing skills.

Montessori kindergartens are not only prestigious, they are also much more expensive than usual private kindergartens. For example, five full days (from 8 am to 6 pm) in one of the Montessori Gardens in the fifth zone of London will cost 416 pounds for a child under two years old and 372 pounds for an older child.

Another format of private preschools, which is now becoming more common, is forest kindergartens (Forest School Nursery, Outdoor Nursery). The idea of ​​forest kindergartens came to Britain from the Scandinavian countries, where preschoolers spend a lot of time in nature. Like the Montessori system, forest gardens have their own philosophy and teaching principles.

In British forest gardens, children really spend most of their time, if not all day, in the forest, in any weather. They play with improvised natural materials, climb trees, build huts, study forest animals. The basics of the account are comprehended with the help of pebbles, twigs and cones, and the letters are displayed on the sand or in sawdust. Pupils of forest kindergartens learn to cut branches, make fires and cook on an open fire (of course, under the supervision of educators). In good weather, children can relax in hammocks tied to tree trunks, in bad weather, hiding in a tent in warm sleeping bags. A dry closet is set up in a separate tent, and for children who do not yet know how to use it, caregivers change their diapers on a camping rug.

Due to the Spartan conditions, the forest kindergarten is usually accepted no earlier than two years (if, in addition to tents and sheds, the kindergarten does not have a stationary room).

The cost of the forest garden depends on the conditions, location and opening hours. For example, five days a week from 9 am to 3:30 pm in the forest garden, which is located in London's Highgate, will cost 340 pounds from April to October and 355 pounds from November to March, when children are fed hot meals at a nearby cafe .

If you want your child from an early age to comprehend not only the basics of writing and counting, but also learn foreign languages, then there are bilingual or even multilingual kindergartens in Britain too.

Separately, it is worth noting that, no matter what direction a private kindergarten chooses in England, it must follow the state program for all registered preschool institutions (Early Years Foundation Stage), and Scotland and Wales have their own early education standards. According to the program, children should be taught in a playful way in the following areas: language and communication, physical development, personal, social and emotional development, reading, mathematics, understanding the world around them and fine arts.

Public kindergartens

In addition to expensive private kindergartens, there are many public kindergartens in Britain, which usually cost parents less, and often, thanks to public funding, and completely free of charge. But for busy parents, public preschools have two big drawbacks: they are usually open for no more than three to five hours a day and close during school holidays, that is, a total of 13 weeks a year.

Public kindergartens are usually not called "nursery" but rather "pre-school" or "playgroup". They may be located on the grounds of elementary schools and often rent space in church halls, taking in children from two to four or five years of age.

Public kindergartens do not have as many resources as private ones and form charities to raise funds for new toys and equipment.

If the children spend only three hours in the garden, they are offered fruit or buttered toast for food. And if lunch is provided, then children in most cases come with their own lunch boxes with sandwiches or thermoses with pasta.

Good state kindergartens create and maintain a family atmosphere. Educators follow the state early education program (Early Years Foundation Stage), alternate books and toys every week, offer children a choice of different types of creativity. As in private kindergartens, children walk a lot, sometimes go to parks and go on excursions.

The main task of public kindergartens is to prepare children for the start of school.

Home kindergartens

In addition to traditional kindergartens, there are mini-kindergartens in the UK. They are organized by certified educators (childminders).

Childminder is a person who works with children for at least two hours a day at home. He must complete the appropriate training, including courses in emergency medical care, and officially register with OFSTED (state inspection for training standards). Like kindergarten teachers, childminers follow the government's early education program. If the size of the house allows, a childminder can take in several children of different ages, including infants, and hire helpers. At home, children are fed and, at the request of their parents, put to sleep during the day.

Childminer services are reported by Daynurseries.co.uk to be at least £118 for 25 hours a week.

Inclusion for a child with special needs

Children with special needs have the right to attend kindergartens on an equal basis with everyone else. In every kindergarten, public or private, there are educators who deal with the problems of children with physical or mental disabilities (Special Educational Needs Coordinator). The child may have a separate assistant, a special visual schedule, additional classes with specialists. In addition, there are speech therapy kindergartens in Britain where they work with children with speech disorders. You can get into such kindergartens only with the direction of a speech therapist. Childminders can refuse "problem" children.

A different approach

At first, many things about British kindergartens (even the most expensive ones) will surprise you.

Learn more