Harefield Infant, Nursery, and Children's Centre lie at the center of Harefield Village. Generations of families have attended the school, giving the school a sense of real community and continuity.
Harefield Infant School is delighted to have been re-accredited with the Key Stage 1 Basic Skills, Quality Mark. The assessor, Mr. John Dewhurst, said he 'had no hesitation in giving us this mark.
Over the last five years, the school has been on a learning journey with many exciting developments. We have gained the Basic Skills Award in both Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1. This is reassuring as it demonstrates that those children who would usually struggle with their learning are making good progress. We also gained the National Association for More Able Gifted and Talented Award for ensuring that pupils are working and achieving well and the highest levels are being consistently achieved.
Last year we embarked on achieving the Inclusion Award for our work with children and families who might experience barriers to learning. The award identifies that for children who have additional needs planning and thought goes into ensuring that they are accessing all aspects of school life. Two years ago we started teaching Philosophy to our children. SAPERE is the organization that runs the training for teaching staff to become confident in using this approach.
We are very impressed with the progress our children made and decided to enhance this work further by becoming part of the Thinking Schools Alliance with the University of Exeter. Our children are taught to think from nursery and to have the processes of thinking explained to them from an early age. The children have blown us away with their reasoning, logic, and creativity. The improvements in learning and understanding are evident in their attitudes and work. All children know that to get better at anything they have to work hard and have good teaching and practice.
We are a mainstream infant and nursery school that promotes respect, values differences, and encourages our children to be honest, healthy, independent, and successful members of our school and the wider community. We will make all reasonable adjustments to include children and remove barriers to learning to prevent disadvantage, promote equality of opportunity and foster good relations.
We aim to work in partnership with our parents/carers to provide the best possible outcomes for their children. If you have any concerns about your child, talk to the class teacher in the first instance. You may wish to then meet with the Inclusion Manager for further advice and support. The Inclusion Manager may contact outside agencies for advice and with the parent’s consent, refer children for specific assessments, for example, an occupational therapy assessment.
Regular communication with parents/carers about their views, wishes, and feelings and those of their child are listened to and become part of all planning to support their child. Class teachers plan for children through ongoing observation and assessment of their learning and development. All children are monitored through ‘Pupil Progress Meetings’ that are held between the class teachers and the Headteacher. The Inclusion Manager may also be present and other members of the school leadership team. Children identified at risk of delay or who may appear to have difficulty with learning will be offered extra teaching or other rigorous interventions put in place after consultation with their parents/carers. The impact of interventions on children’s progress is reviewed regularly through observation and assessment.
