St Anthony's Catholic Primary School Nursery, Clayton

At the July 2024 inspection, number learning gave the early years at St Anthony's a clear focus: children had opportunities to put their understanding into practice. The nursery belongs to the Catholic primary school on Bradford Road in Clayton, Bradford, where the school's age range starts at three. This is school-attached provision.

In July 2024, the early years placed considerable emphasis on children's grasp of numbers. Staff gave children repeated opportunities to use that knowledge. The practical implication is a focus on applying mathematical understanding, with foundations for the learning that follows.

That emphasis gives parents a specific educational feature to weigh up: number knowledge is developed through use. It is the clearest nursery-relevant teaching detail here, and keeps the focus on what young children learn rather than the older pupils' achievements.

Inclusion sits within the school trust's aims for its children. The trust seeks to identify additional needs early, combine teaching with individually planned support where appropriate, and involve parents in communication about their child. For a family whose child needs adaptations, those priorities make the child's individual needs central to the intended approach.

The trust also aims to use an assess, plan, do and review cycle. Its intended model gives class teachers ownership of reviews and shares them with children and families. The implication for parents is participation in reviewing support, rather than treating an initial plan as the end of the process. These are trust-wide aims.

Safeguarding responsibilities include regular child-protection training for staff, annual audits involving both internal and external scrutiny, and a governor with safeguarding responsibility on each academy council. Those arrangements place responsibility at both staff and governance level.

For concerns about a child, the contact is the school's designated safeguarding officer. Concerns about an adult working or volunteering at school go to the headteacher; a concern about the headteacher goes to the local academy council chair. This gives families distinct routes according to whom the concern involves.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate Reception application through the normal admissions route and meet the normal deadline. Treat that application as a separate decision when planning your child's next step.

Across the trust's Catholic schools, baptised Catholic children receive priority over children who are not Catholic, although local variations apply to the arrangements. Evidence of the child's baptism is required to apply the oversubscription criteria, usually a baptismal certificate. A parish priest's letter confirming Mass attendance is not required. These religious criteria should not be confused with an admissions advantage from attending nursery.

The school office is the enquiry contact: telephone 01274 414761 or email office@stac.bcwcat.co.uk. The nursery's school address is Bradford Road, Clayton, Bradford, BD14 6HW. Use the Clayton office contact to distinguish this school from St Anthony's in Shipley.