Rafa Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 Well, the vote is in and the new Day Nursery in my village has been given planning permission and is opening in September! My preschool (packaway) established 20+ years. Good Ofsted. Great Team. Lovely outdoor play areas (which DN has'nt got - indoor jungle gym). open mornings 15hrs. (cannot offer more) How do I compete? With 30 'free' hours coming..... Anyone good at expressing the benefit of a good preschool? I know we have so much to offer and have always received high praise from parents - the children really do have fun and all go off to school together! However, I want to do a catchy flyer - but can't think of the right words........help please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildflowers Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 Your unique selling points are in your post: [...] established 20+ years. Good Ofsted. Great Team. Lovely outdoor play areas [...] Plus some nice photos. A toddler group one afternoon a week, if possible, could also be a way to get parents connected to your group early on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lsp Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 Highly qualified, experienced and well established team. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manor Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 The fact you have been going 20+ years says it all. I honestly think the best advert you can have is by word of mouth from your parents. Thats what our setting found after having to move. We advertised all over, as people thought we had closed and we only had 8 children left on the books, but most of the children we got came from the parents spreading the word to their friends on facebook (no pictures, just saying something like 'Looking for a great preschool come and visit ? my child loves it etc plus we now have a lovely outdoor area which we didn't have at our old venue.This has been one of our selling points) Parents talking to other parents at the school with younger children. Do you think yourself there is a need for the DN in the village, or are they just going ahead and hoping there will be enough children around to attend? Ironically the Church building we had to move out of has just been turned into a DN. Will be interesting to see how it goes and like you what the effect, if any, it will have on us and other preschools in the area. I suppose it all depends on the needs of the parents in the area, as some will need that full time care if they have to go back to work. We have a few who work, but they have family support to help out with chilcare and so come to us. We are also just am 15hrs. I think its a case of 'Keep Calm and Carry On' 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BroadOaks Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 This could become a problem for many others unfortunately and the higher the funding rates the worse it could become! The business model itself for when the 30 hours funding is rolled out to everybody in September 2017 is a sound investment if done right.. ie 30 children x 30 hours = 900 hours x £4 per hour = £3600 per week - (MAXIMUM) with only a minimum of 4 staff required for the 1:8 ratios! We all know it is not that simple or straight forward but potentially this is what many people (investors, chains) will want to achieve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJA Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 Hi. Speaking from the 'other side' - we opened our full day care nursery in a village 12 years ago and there were already two preschools/playgroups operating. They were hugely worried about us opening and 'stealing their children' and we reassured them that our client base was quite different - with us being open 8am-6pm, 5 days a week, 51 weeks a year we were aiming our product at working parents, not the same as sessional provision at all. And we were right! Only half of our children come from the local village, the rest come from surrounding villages. Of those that come from the local village, around half ALSO attend one of the preschools (eg: Use us 2 or 3 full days a weeks when both parents work, and go to the playgroup one or two sessions to be with other village children.) There are also those using us who needed full daycare because of work and therefore wouldn't have gone to the playgroup anyway as it wouldn't have been open enough hours, so they would have had to find a nursery elsewhere. I hope this has gone some way to allaying your fears? And as others have said, a 20 year reputation for good quality Early Years provision will always be a massive draw for families. There will always be a place for playgroups/preschools as not everyone needs or wants full day care. Best of luck to you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rafa Posted June 6, 2016 Author Share Posted June 6, 2016 Hi. Speaking from the 'other side' - we opened our full day care nursery in a village 12 years ago and there were already two preschools/playgroups operating. They were hugely worried about us opening and 'stealing their children' and we reassured them that our client base was quite different - with us being open 8am-6pm, 5 days a week, 51 weeks a year we were aiming our product at working parents, not the same as sessional provision at all. And we were right! Only half of our children come from the local village, the rest come from surrounding villages. Of those that come from the local village, around half ALSO attend one of the preschools (eg: Use us 2 or 3 full days a weeks when both parents work, and go to the playgroup one or two sessions to be with other village children.) There are also those using us who needed full daycare because of work and therefore wouldn't have gone to the playgroup anyway as it wouldn't have been open enough hours, so they would have had to find a nursery elsewhere. I hope this has gone some way to allaying your fears? And as others have said, a 20 year reputation for good quality Early Years provision will always be a massive draw for families. There will always be a place for playgroups/preschools as not everyone needs or wants full day care. Best of luck to you. Thank you JJA - that all sounds good to me! If I'm still around next year.....I'll let you know how it's gone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rafa Posted June 6, 2016 Author Share Posted June 6, 2016 This could become a problem for many others unfortunately and the higher the funding rates the worse it could become! The business model itself for when the 30 hours funding is rolled out to everybody in September 2017 is a sound investment if done right.. ie 30 children x 30 hours = 900 hours x £4 per hour = £3600 per week - (MAXIMUM) with only a minimum of 4 staff required for the 1:8 ratios! We all know it is not that simple or straight forward but potentially this is what many people (investors, chains) will want to achieve. Oh well then this time next year we could all be "Millionaires Rodney"!! Kind of wish it were me opening the day Nursery now - ha ha! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BroadOaks Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 HAHA.. ye we all know it doesn't quite work out to the perfect model.. quite far from it, but this model does exist and in some areas it could be achieved! Don't want to sound all doom and gloom but some children will be left out in the cold! Not so "lovely jubbly" for them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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