I find it difficult to believe that the nursery is currently under-subscribed. It always seems quite full to me and it was not so easy to get the full day session, or morning rather than afternoon, as we would have preferred. Not that I'm complaining, I just don't think Fairlawn Nursery has any problem attracting children.

I also know other parents who would have liked to send their children there, if hours had been different. 2.5 hours per day provides very little time for a parent to spend at work, actually it is virtually impossible. What is interesting, although it may not be intentional, is that it is likely that many of the children who attend are exactly the children whose parents would not otherwise be able to afford full time child care, exactly the children who most benefit from a pre-school boost to prepare them for primary school.
Of course it also benefits parents who can afford child care for the remainder of the day, or who have helpful grandparents living in the area and providing unpaid child care.

The demographics of Fairlawn nursery seem to me to be far more reflective of the area than some private nurseries in the area (which generally have children of better off parents who can afford the high cost of child care). And I'm rather pleased that Fairlawn nursery's primary consideration is not revenue generation, in fact I believe that as part of a state school it would be illegal for them to take children based on payment.