Early Years Prospectus

Learn, laugh, love.

Welcome to the Harehills Primary School

We are delighted to welcome you and your child to our school community. Thank you for accepting a place at Harehills Primary School we are so pleased that you will be joining us.

At Harehills, we believe that education is most successful when we work closely in partnership with families. Together, we can ensure that every child has the opportunity to learn, laugh, and love coming to school. Your support and involvement play a vital role in your child’s development, and we look forward to building strong, positive relationships with you over the coming years.

Our staff are committed to creating a safe, happy, and inclusive environment where every child feels valued and encouraged to reach their full potential. We can’t wait to get to know your family and begin this exciting journey together.

If you have any questions or would like to find out more about what to expect, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re here to support you every step of the way.

This booklet contains lots of information about all aspects of school life. We hope you will find it useful and look forward to beginning our partnership in the near future!

Miss H Melling Assistant Headteacher for Early Years

The Early Years Foundation Stage

Early Years education is called ‘The Foundation Stage’. Your child will be in the Foundation Stage for two to three years as they move through nursery and reception classes. As your child joins our school, they will be given their own Class Dojo account, which is used to share each child’s learning and progress

Within Early Years we are following the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework (EYFS) which sets the standards for learning, development and care for children from birth to five years of age. This framework aims to encourage children in all aspects of their development as the first five years of life are crucial to your child’s long term success.

The Early Years Foundation Stage framework is made up of seven areas of Learning and Development, which foster characteristics of effective early learning:

Communication and Language Physical Development Personal, Social and Emotional Development

The prime areas of learning are particularly crucial for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, and for building their capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive. The prime areas are the basis for successful learning in the other four specific areas. The prime areas reflect the key skills which your child needs to develop and learn effectively and continue to be fundamental throughout the EYFS.

In order to make your child’s learning experiences fun and exciting we have developed a carefully structured curriculum in nursery and reception that will inspire and expand their imaginations.

Children learn through play, exploration, and hands-on experiences. Our teachers observe and support them every day to help them make progress at their own pace.

We aim to give every child the best start to their school journey so they become confident, curious, and ready to learn.

Early Years Hours

Nursery: Morning Sessions = 8.45am – 11.45am (3 hours) Afternoon Sessions = 12.20pm – 3.20pm (3 hours)

Wehavelimitednumberofflexiplacesavailableeachyear:-

Flexi 1- Full days Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday morning

Flexi 2 - Wednesday afternoon, full days Thursday & Friday

We also offer 30 hours places for working parents who are entitled.

Reception: 8.50am – 3.20pm (lunchtime- 1hour)

We ask that all children stay in school throughout lunchtime and we offer a variety of tasty school meals. School meals are free for all reception children.

Staffing

We follow the EYFS statutory guidance, ensuring that our ratios in nursery are 1:13. We have two nursery class teachers and other additional adults to maintain our 1:13 ratio.

In reception the class sizes are limited to 30 pupils. We have 3 teachers. which means the ratio is 1:30. In addition to this we have at least 3 teaching assistants working across the year group. Where appropriate, we may have additional staff in order to meet individual needs and provide SEN support.

Within both nursery and reception each child has an assigned key worker who will work with the child to ensure they settle in and adapt to routines and activities quickly. Practitioners will also observe, assess and plan for children’s individual learning needs. Some evidence of learning will be recorded on their Class Dojo.

Staff to look out for in Early Years:

Assistant Headteacher for Early Years: Miss H Melling

Family Support Mentor & Attendance: Mrs J Drysdale

Parent Support Worker: Mrs K Liaqat

Induction to Nursery (F1)

We have up to 78 places in our nursery. Starting pre-school can be lots of fun for children as they can make new friends and begin to explore new things. Before your child begins nursery our staff will visit you and your child at home to make arrangements for their induction.

All children will attend a half-day session, every day of the week. You will be offered either a morning or afternoon session, unless the flexi/ 30 hour-option has been allocated.

To ensure your child makes the best possible start into education, we bring the children into nursery on a staggered basis, during the Autumn term. Each child will be given a different starting time for their first day, so that staff can welcome them individually and help them adjust to the new setting.

It is very important that you collect your child promptly; too long a wait causes children great distress and can affect the time it takes for them to settle in. We also need time for staff to clean and set up the provision for the next session.

It is also important for us to know who will be collecting your child every day, please make sure we know if there are any changes to arrangements. We must make sure that your child is sent home with the right person! If we do not know the person who is collecting your child, we will check with the form you filled in giving your emergency contacts. If the person is not on that form your child will not be allowed to go until we have contacted you and gained your approval.

It is important for your child to attend every day, unless they are unwell.

Week

W/C 1st September 2025

W/C 8th September 2024

Home Visits for all new Nursery (F1) children

Returning Nursery children who attended F1 last year will start school

New Nursery children will be given their own individual start date and time across September.

Children who attend Nursery do not automatically receive a place in our Reception class the following year. This process starts in November 2025.

If you would like your child to stay with us, please ensure that you complete the online school application forms in before January 2026.

www.leeds.gov.uk/schools-and-education/school-admissions/apply-for-a-primary-school

Induction to Reception (F2)

We have 90 places in reception, spread across three classes. In order to enable your children to settle well at school we will begin by having four half days before starting the full time timetable. This will enable your child to settle easily and get used to the day to day routines of our school. You will receive a letter informing you of your child’s class, start date and time by the end of July 2025

The induction programme for September looks like this:

W/C 1st September 2025 15 children per class will come from 8:50- 11:30 15 children per class will come 12:30 – 3.20pm

W/C 8th September 2025 15 children per class will come from 8:50- 11:30 15 children per class will come 12:30 – 3.20pm

W/C 15th September 2025 We will start to offer lunch time and full days to those children who are settled. This will be in agreement with the class teacher and will be based on the individual needs of each child.

All children in reception receive a free school meal as part of the governments universal free school meal offer. They will have their lunch together within the Studio as part of our Family Service arrangements and staff will be on hand to make sure that everybody is happy!

Foundation Stage Funds

School Milk

All children will be provided with free fruit on a daily basis.

Children in nursery will receive milk daily at snack time.

If you would like your reception child to have milk, you will need to complete the Cool Milk form attached and post it free of charge to FREEPOST COOL MILK or you can complete the form online using the website stated on the form. All payments will be made directly to Cool Milk and not through school. Payment will be approximately £16 per school term.

https://www.coolmilk.com/

If your child is under 5 years old or entitled to a free school meal, then your child will also receive their milk free.

Activity Funds

In nursery and reception, we aim to provide lots of stimulating activities that will ignite your child’s imagination and support them in their development. Fun activities and visitors that we have had include: chick hatching within EYFS, observing the lifecycle of a butterfly and a visit from a rabbit. In order for us to offer ‘hands on’ and interesting activities we request that each child pays a voluntary contribution of £3.00 per term to cover the cost of resources.

Harehills Primary Nursery Policy

Date: May 2025

Date to be Reviewed: May 2026

At Harehills Primary School we believe that learning and playing with other children in a safe, structured environment will help your child’s development, giving them a head start when they begin school. We offer 78 places within our nursery and operate morning, afternoon, flexi and 30 hour sessions. We follow a structure of learning, development and care for children called the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and it enables your child to learn through a range of activities.

TheEYFSensures:

• children learn through play

• providers work closely with parents

• you are kept up to date on your child’s progress

• the welfare, learning and all-round development of children with different backgrounds and levels of ability, including those with special educational needs and disabilities

• intimate care needs are fully supported where necessary in line with the schools Intimate Care Policy

Our Nursery:

• admits children from the age of three.

• opens throughout the school year during term time, offering 15 hours of free childcare per week. (If you are entitled to 30 hours of childcare per week please speak to a member of staff so we can make provisions for this.)

• operates a core day of 8.45 am to 3.20 pm, which is split into two sessions of three hours; AM (8.45 – 11.45am) and PM (12.20 – 3.20pm).

• offers a flexible option which can be arranged through a discussion with school staff; option 1 (full days Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday morning) or option 2 (Wednesday afternoon, full days Thursday & Friday).

30 hours entitlement:

• It is the parents’ responsibility to ensure that they have applied for the code for the 30 free hours entitlement for their child.

•

• Please see the dates below, highlighting when the codes must be applied for.

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• Autumn term starting in September Code start date must be 31st August or earlier

• Spring term starting in January Code start date must be 31st December or earlier.

• Summer term starting in April Code start date must be 31st March or earlier.

•

• Unfortunately, if the application for the code is late, it means the code maybe invalid and therefore your child will not be eligible for extended funding in that term.

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• This would mean that your child would only be eligible for the free 15 hours instead of the 30 and their nursery sessions may be altered accordingly.

Understanding how your child will learn and develop

An Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework is in place in England which describes the things a nursery, pre-school, childminder, or reception class in a school, should be doing. It describes what children should learn and what levels of development they can be expected to reach at certain ages and stages. Our nursery has the following things in place to help you support your child's early learning:

Key

Workers •

Every child in nursery will have an allocated key worker.

These professionals will help your child to develop and learn through playing, as well as keeping them safe, and to develop their personal, social and emotional skills. They will be able to give you lots of feedback about what your child has been doing during the day, what they enjoy and how they are progressing. Your child’s key worker can also give you ideas as to how you can support your child's learning and development at home.

Learning Journey Profiles

We strongly encourage all parents and carers to contribute to their child’s profile and warmly welcome any anecdotes that you may want to share. Please provide the school with a current email address so that we can share your child’s Class Dojo profile with you electronically.

All children will have an online Class Dojo profile that will chart their progress throughout their time in Early Years. All profiles are completed by your child’s key worker/class teacher. These will include samples of work, photos and written observations about the things that your child has done or discovered in nursery.

Rise and Shine at Harehills:

At Harehills Primary School we are fortunate to have a breakfast club provision. Due to the statutory requirements set out in the Early Years Framework regarding ratios, we are unable to admit nursery children into Rise and Shine.

Attendance:

Unless children are present, they cannot learn and make progress at school. We hope that our parents and carers understand the importance of attending school regularly in order to fully benefit from their free place entitlement.

When taking a place at our nursery we expect that all children will:

• attend nursery from the allocated start date

• attend nursery punctually

• attend in school uniform

We expect all parents and carers to:

• encourage regular nursery attendance

• ensure that their child arrives punctually and prepared

• ensure nursery is contacted when the child is not attending

Aims

Early Years Safe Sleep and Rest Policy

Harehills Primary School

The sleep policy aims to provide a clear framework to ensure the health, safety and well-being of all children who require support to sleep or rest whilst in nursery or reception at Harehills Primary School

Legislation

This policy is based on requirements set out in the Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage

“

3.60- Sleepingchildrenmustbefrequentlycheckedtoensurethattheyaresafe.Beingsafeincludes ensuringthatcots/beddingareingoodconditionandsuitedtotheageofthechild”

(Statutoryframeworkfortheearlyyearsfoundationstage2023)

Principles

At Harehills Primary School, we are committed to ensuring all children are safe. Within our Early Years Foundation Stage we have a 78 place Nursery for children aged 3 and above and in reception we have three classes of 30 children aged 4 and above.

We do not encourage sleep as a part of our daily routines at Harehills Primary School, however we do recognise that there maybe times when children need to rest or sleep for their personal well-being, for example when a child is feeling unwell, they may need to rest whilst their parents/ carers are contacted and encouraged to come and collect them.

To ensure children are safe when they are resting/ sleeping the Early Years staff will follow the ‘Safe Sleep And Rest’ procedures stated in this policy.

Early Years Responsibilities

The Early Years will ensure that anyone who supports a child sleeping or resting in nursery or Reception is an employee of the nursery or school and has had appropriate safeguarding checks and is aware of procedures and responsibilities for supporting children’s sleep.

Staff will ensure that children sleep in a quiet area of the classroom, using the ‘rest bag’ resources (Appendix A) and will follow the ‘ Safe Sleep And Rest Procedures’ in this policy. (Appendix B)

Written records are kept of all support for sleeping. Sleeping children will be monitored by staff every 10 minutes The time a child is put down to sleep, when they wake and ten minute monitoring checks are recorded by staff. This information is available to all stakeholders at all times. (Appendix C).

Reviewed:May2025

Appendix A- Rest Bag

The Rest Bag will be in the EYFS office. It will contain the following items: -

• A foldable, polyether foam covered rest mat with cleanable, breathable, waterproof polyurethane-coated fabric

• A fitted cotton sheet

• A fleece blanket

• A sleep log folder

• Anti-bacterial wipes (so cleaning down the mat after use)

Appendix B- Safe Sleep And Rest Procedures

1. If a child within the Early Years is unwell and needs to rest their parent / career should be contacted to come and collect them from school at their earliest convenience.

2. A first Aider must check the child for any symptoms that maybe causing the child to need rest/sleep e.g. temperature.

3. The ‘rest bag’ should be collected from the EYFS office and used in a quiet area within the classroom.

4. Children are only allowed to sleep on the designated ‘rest mat’ with no additional pillows, cushions.

5. To reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), children should be placed to sleep on their backs.

6. Children’s heads should be uncovered.

7. An adult must check the child at 10 minute intervals and complete the sleep log form.

8. Once the child is collected from school the fitted sheet and cover from the ‘rest bag’ must be washed and the mat sanitised with antibacterial spray to ensure everything is clean for the next use.