Noone spoke to me about it either, and having E out for past three months, i have had some harsh criticism, but then i know she was in from 13 - 43 months so I let it go.  Those people dont know that she has been in in the past and thrived on the interaction!  I have gotten her in again now.

From age three in the UK children get 5 free sessions funded by the government each week.  A session is 2.5 hrs long.  Speak to your local council to get info on nurseries in your local area.  Even private nurseries have to give the discount - so make sure they tell you about it and that you claim it.  Some nurseries offer 5 sessions a week, some offer one session every day.  Extra sessions will be needing to be paid for - the nursery will tell you if spaces are available for extra spaces and how much the extra sessions cost and if it is a session or hourly rate. 

I am glad to not be paying out now for pre-school.  I am so excited that she is going to be interacting regularly with children again.  She learns so much, and also I learn a lot too - the teachers fill you in on things that are needed to be doing like enrolling for school.  People thought I was mad to be talking about school next september.  Then they realised that I was right!  LOL  She starts when she is 4.5yo.  Not a bad age all things considered.  She is fortunate.

Peace
EF.x 

I was just lucky and my sis learnt her lesson for her future babies.  It is even more important now with the all the babies from the baby bonus era coming along.  I am going to be down at the council office the day after my 18mth old turns 2 and also when my new baby is born.  I suppose this is when these forums are really helpful, when the government isn't!!

I knew it could be the case in private schools but I thought government schools (in Australia) had to take the children in the immediate area.

The local government primary school is about half a kilomentres walk away but the Catholic school is just down the road. We can see the playground from our front doorstep. My baby is due at the end of December and I already plan on putting baby's name down at the local Catholic school. Neither of us is Catholic but there are no Anglican schools in our town. I figure I will make the final decision re schools just before the child starts based on student to teacher ratios and what I hear about the schools nearer the time.