Transition

Pre School to Reception 

We hope that Hartford Infant School is your first choice and would love to welcome your child into our Reception class in September 2024. If you would like a tour of the school to see our classrooms and facilities and to meet some of the staff, please contact the school. We will do our best to facilitate a convenient time.

Primary Applications for September 2024

If your child/ren was born between 1.9.2019 and 31.8.2020 and are due to start Primary School in September 2024, applications can be made via the Admissions website from September 2023. The deadline for the applications is in January and parents/carers will be notified in April on the success of their application. More information is available on how to apply and Admissions Guide for 2023-24 guide is on their website.

Section 2.18 of the DfE School Admissions Code states: the parents of a summer born child may choose not to send that child to school until the September following their fifth birthday and may request that they are admitted out of their normal age group – to Reception rather than Year 1. 

If you believe this applies to your child, please follow the link below to understand the process further: 

Accelerated and deferred admissions - Cambridgeshire County Council

Children will come to Hartford Infant School from a variety of preschool providers (including for some their homes). Each child is unique, and we believe that our universal transition programme can be adjusted to suit the needs of all children within the school day. Each year, we evaluate our practice and then adjust accordingly.

Stay and Play

Each year we offer Stay and Play sessions outside on our front playground. Theses sessions usually begin in June and are on a Friday. We update out school website and send out notifications through our Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/HartfordInfant). All preschool children and their adults are invited to attend the hour session. During this time the children immerse themselves in play, speak to a variety of adults and have refreshments. Parents and staff, while we play with the children, partake in a wide variety of activities and ask and answer any questions about school.

Key dates and Information

In April all parents are notified by the Local Authority Admissions department if their child has been allocated a place at Hartford Infant School. Parents are requested to contact the school to accept the place and check that we have the correct contact details.

In June, we organise a new to Reception Parent Evening. In this presentation, we will introduce pertinent staff, share our ethos, talk through key information and show you the learning environments and describe our curriculum to you. This is also an opportunity for the School SENDCo to introduce herself and share her contact details. We also offer the opportunity to taste our delicious school meals and find out which class your child is in for September. 

Meanwhile, Reception staff will call or visit your child’s preschool setting in the summer term. This will enable them to talk to your child’s key worker and to find out more about them from their present learning environment.

You will have the opportunity to inform us in writing of any information we would need to know prior to your child starting. This will help us to ensure they are settled for their new class.

In September 2024 your child will initially start school on a part-time basis. Although many of the children may be used to a longer day from their preschool experiences, this shorter session will ease them into the expectations of school life with 180 other children. It will enable the staff to get to know your child quickly, talk to them at length on an individual basis and show them how school works so that it is a positive experience all round.

By the middle of September your child should be attending school every day on a full-time basis unless otherwise agreed by the school. 

For further information and key dates will be posted on the Transition for New Starters  on the panel to the left shortly.

Please see the termly dates for academic year 2024-25 to help you in ensuring your child is ready for school and not on holiday when school starts.

Reception to Year 1 and Year 1 to Year 2

Before our annual Change Over Day in early July we ensure all children have met the Year One/Two adults through visiting their classrooms and working with them for a short time e.g. reading a story at the end of the day. Then on Change Over Day itself the children spend the whole morning with their new teacher(s) and teaching assistant(s), getting them feeling comfortable with coming to their new year. This will include investigating the toilets and their new cloakrooms. Each child will complete a piece of work for the new classroom to see in September and have their photograph taken. At the end of change over day all children receive a transition booklet about their new year group. This can then be referred to during the holidays.

There is an annual new to Year 1 meeting in July, whereby parents/carers attend an after-school meeting to look around the classrooms, hear detailed information regarding changes to the curriculum their children will be taught in Key Stage 1, the daily timetable in September and the expectations of the staff, parents and children. Staff are on hand to answer any questions from parents and there is advice available from the SENDCo and support staff.

Our Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2) classrooms are set up in a very similar way, with different areas of learning including a bespoke reading corner, ever-changing role play areas, small world and construction areas are nearby as well as a writing, phonic and maths zones. All resources that children can use are consistent so that as a child moves from each classroom/year group they can locate word mats and equipment that they are familiar with easily and continue their journey as an independent learner.

There is extensive liaison between staff via termly moderation meetings, so everyone knows and agrees whether children are working at age related expectations for their year group or need support/challenge to ensure they reach or exceed their full potential from original starting points. We therefore can cater for individual needs and ensure all children are suitably challenged and make progress.

At the start of the academic year Parents/Carers of children joining/working in Key Stage 1 are invited to meet the teacher to discuss the parents’ views on their children’s strength and barriers to learning. 

Year 2 to Year 3 (Key Stage 2)

Parents must apply to attend the junior school via the Cambridgeshire Schools Admission Service. The deadline for the applications is in January and parents/carers will be notified in April on the success of their application.

The infant and junior school work well together to guarantee that the transition between the two schools is seamless. This involves meetings between the staff over the school year, including teaching and pastoral staff to support the individual needs of all children.

The staff from the two schools meet during the Summer Term to share current information on children’s leaning, progress and attainment in Key Stage 1 and their original starting points from EYFS. The junior school staff are invited to attend Summer moderation meetings to ensure they can see how the infant school assess the children’s writing. Together, judgements and next steps are created to ensure that the children reach their targets by the end of the summer term.

Each year a bespoke package is created between the staff at both schools, including visits, correspondence and projects to suit the needs of the cohort. This always includes a morning visit on the July Change Over Day. The children are also invited to watch various plays performed by the children in Key Stage 2. Other activities have included a science project that began in the infant school and was concluded in the junior school. The children have emailed each other with questions and on occasion the Key Stage 2 children have popped across to speak to the Year 2 children. Visits for individual children are arranged on a needs basis so that, despite the six-week break, the children are familiar with the environment of the junior school.

Parents are encouraged to attend a new to Year 3 Meeting at the junior school in early July and receive a package of information.

Bringing out the Best in Everyone