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Harefield is very unusual as it has managed to keep its village identity. We are very keen to keep our strong links with the local community which includes the library, the churches, shops, and Harefield Hospital. We have close contacts with Australian groups who contact us through the various ANZAC Organisations and there is always a steady stream of visitors who come to look around. Harefield Junior School, together with the Infant School, is in the center of the village. Our present building was opened in 1990 and is spacious and modern. It is built on the site of the old school that was built in 1907 and our bell tower was part of the original building. Two new classrooms were added in 2013 as part of the school expansion. We believe in keeping learning fun and exciting. We have a broad and balanced curriculum. Harefield has many diverse and exciting clubs for children. Pupils also have many opportunities to participate in sport and music. Harefield has a strong sense of community. There is a strong pupil voice including House Captains and a School Council. Children are friendly, well behaved and polite. The school has strong links with the ANZACs and has received recognition from the Australian Government and our work has featured in the international media. We believe in keeping learning fun and exciting. We have a broad and balanced curriculum. Harefield has many diverse and exciting clubs for children. Pupils also have many opportunities to participate in sport and music. Harefield has a strong sense of community. There is a strong pupil voice including House Captains and a School Council. Children are friendly, well behaved and polite. The school has strong links with the ANZACs and has received recognition from the Australian Government and our work has featured in the international media. We encourage children to bring in their fruit to eat during our fifteen-minute morning break. Two members of the teaching staff are on duty on the playground and support staff supervise other areas. Any child who is kept to finish work is supervised by his/her class teacher. During inclement weather, the children remain inside and have supervised “wet playtime” games and activities. Harefield Junior School is a very caring community and our aim is that the children should become socially well adjusted. We encourage a spirit of responsibility and self-discipline which is the essence of becoming a good citizen. For us to achieve success there must be active support and co-operation between teachers, parents/carers, and children. Education is very much a partnership between home and school. Parents are welcome into school to help with activities and trips. If you are interested, please contact your child’s class teacher. Also, there are many opportunities for parents to be involved in fundraising activities. The school is always grateful for any gifts or equipment donated by parents such as offcuts of cards, paper, etc. We aim to deal with any concerns as quickly as possible and if you are worried about your child’s progress, please contact the class teacher. If you feel it would be inappropriate to discuss the matter with the teacher or having spoken to a teacher, the matter is still a concern, please make an appointment with the Executive Head Teacher, who will try to see you that day, or within two days at the most. A member of the Senior Leadership Team will see a parent if there is an emergency and the Executive Head Teacher is not in school. We hope that you will find all staff friendly and approachable, and see that we all want to work together for what is best for your child. We are pleased to tell you that at Harefield Junior School we have never had to set up any formal procedures. We encourage children to be responsible for themselves, each other, and the school. We have a School Council, which meets regularly with a teacher to look at life in school. Two members of each class (one boy and one girl) take comments/suggestions from each class to the meeting and ideas are then fed back to the rest of the school. The school has very high standards and expectations of good pupil behavior. We achieve high standards of behavior and responsibility through good relationships and community feeling. Certain rules are necessary for children’s safety and wellbeing. All children are expected to act with courtesy, honesty, goods manners, and respect for others and their property at all times. This is highlighted in Golden Rules which are posted around the school. View full school

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. View full school

The Harefield Academy is an incredibly exciting place to learn! With outstanding sporting facilities, rarely found in state schools, students have unparalleled opportunities to achieve sporting excellence whilst receiving a rounded and broad education. We are very proud of our many success stories, both in terms of academic excellence and sporting achievement. As a small school, the level of pastoral support we can offer students is unique with students routinely reporting that they feel safe and happy and that staff knows them well. The unique environment and opportunities offered within The Academy, are the perfect platform upon which to build success. Our sports partnerships include Watford Football Club, the Harefield Gymnastics Academy, Greenhouse, the Youth Sport Trust, and numerous others. Through these links, as well as our bespoke post 16 football development program, we can deepen access to sport for all students and support the ambitions of those aspiring to a more elite standard of competition. We welcome visits from prospective students and staff. Following our most recent Open Evening, the vast majority of visitors responded to our survey indicating an increased likelihood of sending their child to The Harefield Academy having met our students and learned more about us. We are always most welcoming of bespoke visits if you would like to come and see what we have on offer. Our purpose is to provide all students with the highest quality education through the delivery of an outstanding, well-balanced, and creative curriculum in a supportive, safe and caring environment. Our aspiration is that all children are driven, ambitious and self-motivated that they are supported in fulfilling their potential to enhance future life chances and develop into well-rounded, honest, articulate human beings who make a valued contribution to society. Our ethos is one of mutual respect and kindness within the school community and beyond it is a school where every child matters and is valued where diversity is embraced and where high expectations, hard work, and exemplary behavior are the norm. We aim to create an Educational Centre of Excellence for the whole community that is successful, innovative, cohesive, energetic, healthy, inclusive, and filled with opportunity. Sport is an important part of the Curriculum at The Harefield Academy. We value the opportunity to ensure the physical literacy and health of all our students alongside their emotional and academic development. Students experience a range of sports through the curriculum and via our broad extracurricular offer. We also encourage the pursuit of sporting excellence amongst those students who have the potential to compete at a high level. Our ethos and the value placed on sport ensure that we make it a priority to enable competitive success without compromising academic potential and curriculum access. We are very fortunate to have specialist facilities to support the physical development of students who are competing at a high level of the sport. This includes access to physiotherapy services and strength and conditioning. The degree to which these facilities are accessed varies from one student to another depending on their age, development, and bespoke provision. We are proud to work closely with several additional sports partners including Youth Sport Trust, the Premier League, School Games Organisation, and Greenhouse Sport which yield additional sporting opportunities and early access to initiatives that may not be as widely available in other state schools, such as a full-time table tennis coach. As well as providing mentoring to students who are operating at a high level of competitive sport, we run additional assemblies and meetings and invite specialist speakers from a sports background to the Academy to help our students understand the challenges of competitive sport. View full school