Welcome to the Hob Moor Community Primary Academy community hub! Here, we look at how we build a warm, supportive, and connected family around our school long before your child even takes their first step through our classroom doors.
At Hob Moor Community Primary Academy, we believe that education isn’t just about what happens inside the classroom. A child thrives when their whole world feels safe, connected, and supportive. To make that happen, our school needs to be more than just a building with a playground—it needs to be a beating heart for the whole neighborhood.
By working in close partnership with parents and our local community, we provide a truly great education that equips our children for life-long learning. When we come together as a community, we share our joys, lighten each other’s loads, and make sure no parent feels isolated. By lifting each other up, sharing our lived experiences, and offering a helping hand when things get tough, we create a beautiful, resilient safety net for our children. We are partners in this journey, and by working together, we ensure every single child in our neighborhood gets the happiest, healthiest, and strongest possible start in life.
We know that the years before school starts are absolutely crucial. That is why we don’t wait until September to welcome you into our family. Our Early Start strategy is designed to gently bridge the gap between home and school, acting as a warm and friendly helping hand for parents with little ones aged zero to three.
Think of this as a soft entry into school life. We want to position Hob Moor as a safe, supportive space where you can find advice, make friends, and feel completely at home.
Raising little ones is a wonderful adventure, but it definitely comes with its challenges. Our early sessions give us a chance to spot any extra support your child might need—like speech and language help or developmental advice—long before they formally start school. Together, we can gently tackle the big milestones, like toilet training, bedtime routines, and physical independence, so your child feels confident and ready for their big first day.
A huge part of this strategy is our upcoming Community Connection Mornings. These are going to be relaxed, friendly mornings where you can grab a cuppa, chat with other parents, and share the ups and downs of family life. They are currently up and coming, so watch this space for launch dates and times! It will be an easy way to build your own network of friends, reducing that feeling of isolation that can sometimes creep up during early parenthood.
These mornings also help us listen to you. By understanding your real routines and cultural traditions, we can tailor our school support to what our families actually need. If there is a gap, we can easily connect you with local services for housing, health, or financial advice.
Above all, we are here to celebrate you. You are your child’s very first and most important teacher. Through fun, modeled play and simple home learning ideas, we want to give you the confidence and tools to nurture your child’s growth, building a strong local network that keeps our families thriving.
You don’t have to wait for our connection mornings to get involved! We would love to invite you and your little ones to our fantastic Stay and Play sessions.
They run every single Wednesday morning at 10:00 AM right here at the school.
There is no need to book, and the sessions are completely free to attend.
It is a wonderful, relaxed way for your children to play, explore, and get used to the school environment before they start nursery. Plus, we always have plenty of refreshments and delicious cake waiting for you! It is the perfect opportunity to enjoy a hot drink, have a chat with our friendly team, and meet other local parents. Whether your child is a tiny baby or a busy toddler, pop along this Wednesday. We cannot wait to welcome you!
Our weekly sessions are run by Emma Leslie from our school wellbeing team, who is a friendly face who facilitates our mornings and is always on hand to offer support or a chat.
We have high hopes for our early engagement, and we measure our success by the happiness and confidence of our families. Here is what we are aiming for together:
We love seeing parents feel totally familiar with our daily routines and school expectations well before September. Success looks like children arriving at Nursery or Reception feeling happy, independent, and ready to learn, especially with their self-care and toileting skills. By establishing these gentle school routines early on, we see fantastic attendance and a wonderful boost in children hitting their speech, language, and play milestones.
Every child deserves a level playing field. By working together early, we can wrap support around families who need it most during the earliest years. This means we can arrange quick, high-quality support for speech, language, or additional needs based on long-term, gentle observations. Ultimately, this gives children from all backgrounds the emotional grounding and self-regulation skills they need to start school with confidence.
One of our favorite signs of success is seeing organic, parent-led support networks grow out of our sessions—whether that is a group chat for emotional support, swapping pre-loved school clothes, or sharing childcare tips. We want you to feel fully equipped for the challenges of parenthood, using the playful techniques learned in our sessions at home. We also regularly bring in friendly outside agencies so you can access a whole team of support right here in a familiar place.
We want our school leadership to deeply understand and reflect our local community, using your feedback to shape our curriculum and school offer. Success means our families are easily finding and using wonderful local assets like community centers, charities, and health hubs. Most importantly, success means you feel genuinely heard, valued, and respected as a true partner in our school community, never just a user of a service.
To bring this vision to life, our dedicated team has a clear, friendly action plan to connect with you early and often by working closely with our local family learning partners.
We work hand-in-hand with York Learning right on our doorstep at the Hob Moor Children’s Centre. Every Thursday morning from 9:30 AM, the wonderful Kerry runs their fantastic Early Start course. Kerry is an absolute asset to our school, creating a warm, welcoming space where parents can access brilliant family learning and support. Emma Leslie from our school Wellbeing Team attends this course every single Thursday. This gives us a wonderful opportunity to meet new and prospective families right in the heart of the community, building a friendly relationship with you and your little ones long before nursery even begins.
As mentioned above, we host our weekly, informal Stay and Play sessions right here in our school play area for children aged zero to three. Led by Emma Leslie, these are relaxed, non-committal sessions focused entirely on fun, simple activities, and good cake! It is a lovely way for you and your little one to get used to the school environment, and we love seeing our regular attendees happily progress into our nursery.
We are also thrilled to partner with Rebecca Bott from York Learning, who leads the incredibly valuable Getting Ready for School course. You might have already spotted Rebecca handing out flyers outside the school gates! Rebecca specially designed this course after chatting directly with local parents, ensuring the content is perfectly tailored to what you actually want and need to know. The course covers a brilliant, practical range of topics to help you navigate early parenthood, focusing heavily on milestone skills like toilet training as well as positive parenting strategies. It is an amazing resource to help you feel confident as your child prepares for their big transition.
Before your child officially starts Nursery or Reception, our Early Years and Wellbeing leads—including Emma Leslie—will arrange a relaxed, twenty-minute visit either in your home or at school. This is a beautiful opportunity to exchange information, ask questions, and build a genuine personal relationship with every single family. We aim to visit every single enrolled family before their start date.
