5. Kindergarten
This term of German origin, is defined by the SOED1 as follows: "a school for developing the intelligence of young children by object-lessons, toys, games, singing, etc., according to a. method devised by Friedrich FroebeV.2 The word was used to denote the first free schools in Britain for children of pre-school age, the so-called free kindergartens, forerunners of the nursery school. It is now used in England only of certain private schools, nursery school being the usual term. However it is sometimes used by English people in a wider sense than that given in the SOED, to mean any school for young children. In this case it often refers to foreign countries, for example, the USA or Australia, where there are establishments called kindergartens.
6. creche [kreiʃ]
This word, of French origin, is defined in the SOED as follows: "a public nursery for infants, where they are taken care of while their mothers are at work, etc." According to BEE3, it was originally used for day nursery and is still used to denote a few such nurseries pioneered by the church at the end of the 19th century, when there were no state-run nurseries. In modern English, however, it more often denotes something temporary, arranged to fulfill a specific need. For example, a creche is sometimes organised while a meeting is being held, to enable both parents to attend.
1 Shorter Oxford English Dictionary
2 a German educational reformer (1782-1852)
3 Blond's Encybpaedia of Education
7. Play group
This is a small group organised on a voluntary basis, usually by the parents themselves, for children under five who cannot get into a nursery school or day nursery.
IN THE SOVIET UNION
8. Ясли can be translated as (day) nursery and детский сад as kindergarten or nursery school. Remember, however, that the age groups do not completely coincide (see units 3-5).
SCHOOLS IN ENGLAND
State Schools
9. state/maintained school
Although the expression state school is widely used in written and spoken English, the official term is maintained school. This is used in official announcements, publications, etc. but is usually avoided in everyday situations, since it is very formal and not self-explanatory, even to many English people. It means "maintained", in the sense of "kept in good repair, organized and staffed", by a local education authority. Maintained schools may therefore also be called local authority schools.
10. County school
This is a synonym of maintained school or local authority school, as the local education authority is usually at county level.
11. Voluntary school
This is a school founded by a church or other collective body but now partially controlled by the local education authority.
12. State schools in England are still genprally divided into primary schools (ages 5-11) and secondary schools (11-18), although some local education authorities have recently introduced new divisions, with different ages of transfer (sec unit 17).
The primary/secondary stage in/of education is sometimes used in formal style.
e.g. At the primary stage children are taught by one teacher nearly all the time, whereas at the secondary stage they have a different teacher for each subject. In everyday speech and writing, however, we would use: in/at primary/secondary school(s). There is no difference of meaning here between in and at. The definite article is sometimes used with the singular forms: in/at the primary/secondary school