Will sending my child to Little Habs Nursery be enough?
/If you’re asking me that question, it means that you are assuming that the nursery will do all of the heavy lifting for you when it comes to educating your child.
Why should they?
Is it because you think that you are paying a large amount of money to send them there?
That’s your choice- let’s be clear.
Why should it be ‘enough’? And what do you mean by that sentence anyway?
We don’t have too much information about Little Habs yet. Little Habs Nursery will be opening their doors this September 2026. Many of our CMT clients will be sending their children to Little Habs Nursery for a variety of reasons. One reason is that their older child got in at 4+ and they with to have an easier drop off journey in the mornings when dropping both children off! The other reason is our clients are wanting to give their child that additional chance for success when it comes to the 4+ assessments next year (2028 entry and beyond). CMT clients, however, are crystal clear on the fact that it will be up to them to prepare their children. It will not be up to any nursery!
The Little Habs nursery will have three rooms:
Hablings - 6 months to 2 years
Dashers - 2 to 3 years
Nursery - 3 to 4 years
Little Habs Nursery will have capacity for about 60 children from what I’ve gathered from speaking with my own clients. I do not have the exact number right now. When I have it, I will share it with you.
I had this exact conversation with a parent this week who was telling me that sending her child to Little Habs would give him a higher chance for success in the Habs 4+ Assessment. Well - yes and no.
Your child is not guaranteed entry to Habs following their 4+ assessment just because they attend the nursery. Logically that wouldn’t make sense would it?
First of all, if they only have 40 places available that year (this year they had slightly more than that) , that wouldn’t be possible would it now? Even if they had 60 places available, do you really think that ALL of the children in the Little Habs nursery would automatically be offered a place?
Well, I don’t. At all.
What about all of the amazing external candidates?
The parent I spoke to told me that it wouldn’t look good from a marketing perspective for Habs if they were not to offer a large amount of places to the children attending Little Habs. After all, the practitioners there would be the ones responsible for preparing the children… right?
Wrong!
It really is not.
And also, why wouldn’t it look good from a marketing perspective? Habs want the best of the best at their school. If your child goes to Little Habs and they are not offered a place, there will be a reason why. And the reason is that they didn’t meet the criteria needed in order to pass the assessment.
Preparing your child for Habs is totally up to you. What you do at home. Sure, what they do at nursery will be helpful. But it’s not the be all and end all. In fact, it is just scratching the surface.
Be also aware that the ratio at nursery is 1:8 (non qualified teacher) and 1:13 (qualified teacher or EYP). That’s still a humongous ratio compared to the 1:1 support that you can offer your child at home. Always remember that.
Nursery practitioners have a huge amount to think about. Preparing your child for their 4+ assessment is one piece of the humongous pie. All of the other pieces need to be catered to also. Things like you know looking after your child, feeding your child, taking your child to the toilet, helping your child when they are upset, dealing with the mountain of paper work that they have to deal with each day, talking and communicating with parents etc etc.
If your child does go to Little Habs, they will have the opportunity to attend their assessment earlier than the others but I’m not sure if this is a good thing. Doing it 1-2 months earlier means that they won’t be able to demonstrate all of the things that they could additionally learn in those 1-2 months. If your child is not successful in that assessment, they will then be invited to try again with the external candidates.
Not sure how I would feel personally about that one!
Sending your child to Little Habs Nursery? Will you also be teaching them and preparing them at home?
