Foxes Pre-school at The Harrowby Church of England Primary School

Pipe cleaners turned into pretend Christmas sweets give a useful picture of learning here: small hands practise the control they will later need for drawing and writing. Foxes pre-school serves children aged 3 and 4 at Harrowby in Grantham. Teaching is teacher-led, and the nursery belongs to Fox Class, where pre-school children share a class with Reception pupils. That mixed-age structure is a defining practical feature.

In December 2025, Ofsted judged the school's early years provision to meet the Expected standard. This judgement covers early years within the school. Children made good progress from their individual starting points, with learning opportunities both indoors and outdoors.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) gives the curriculum its shape, with Development Matters informing how learning develops. For parents, this means attention to talking, relationships and physical skills alongside early literacy, maths, creative expression and understanding the world. The approach values exploration through play, active involvement and thinking ideas through. Learning involves trying things and making discoveries.

Inside and outside the classroom, children revisit learning through planned activities. The Christmas pipe-cleaner craft, for example, exercises finger control with a purpose children can understand. It connects making something enjoyable with the physical preparation for using a pencil.

Language receives deliberate attention. Adults choose vocabulary for activities, demonstrate its use and help children expand what they want to say. Christmas crafts provided an opportunity to practise nativity and advent. Phonics also features in early years, and children participated readily in those lessons in December 2025.

Staff assess children's skills when they start and keep checking as learning develops. Those checks guide each child's next learning steps. There is a useful distinction between building hand control and learning letter formation, however: the December 2025 school improvement priorities included more accurate handwriting from the beginning. Families should keep that specific development point alongside the positive early years judgement.

Settling is intended to be a partnership with parents. The school aims to take each family's circumstances into account and help children become comfortable with the adults and group around them. That gives settling a personal focus rather than treating every child as ready in the same way.

Identifying obstacles to learning begins in the Nursery Year. Where necessary, leaders bring in outside agencies to help decide the next steps. For a child needing additional support, this means the process can begin during nursery attendance. In December 2025, children behaved well from the early years onwards and felt safe; safeguarding requirements were also met across the school.

Attending Foxes does not guarantee a Reception place at Harrowby. Families must make a separate Reception application through the normal school admissions process. The route is Lincolnshire County Council school admissions. For the 2026 admissions cycle, the national closing date was 15 January 2026; that deadline has passed.

Sharing Fox Class with Reception children provides continuity of classroom setting. It should be understood separately from admissions: familiarity with the class does not secure a place.

Fully funded places covering 15 or 30 hours are offered for children aged 3 and 4. A tour and taster session can be booked, giving families a practical way to explore Foxes before joining.

For enquiries and bookings, telephone 01476 564417. The school is on New Beacon Road, Grantham, NG31 9LJ; enquiries can also be emailed to enquiries@harrowby.laat.co.uk.