Hill Farm Academy Nursery

Three-hour sessions or five six-hour days: Hill Farm’s nursery gives families distinct ways to use their funded hours. The nursery belongs to Hill Farm Academy on Foster Road in Radford, Coventry, and forms part of its Early Years Foundation Stage provision. Funding starts from the term after a child’s third birthday. Full-day places depend on eligibility for extended funding and an available nursery space.

A morning runs from 8:30am to 11:30am; an afternoon from 12:30pm to 3:30pm. For children taking the extended funded pattern, the day finishes at 2:30pm. These are different collection arrangements, so the choice affects the family’s afternoon as well as the child’s time in nursery.

Within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), art learning includes colour and line, alongside form, function and design. That gives creative work a focus on what things look like and how they work. Hill Farm also aims to develop resilience, wellbeing and positive values from early years onwards, alongside its planned sequence of knowledge and skills.

Lunch brings full-day children into the dining hall, accompanied by adults, to eat alongside friends and staff. Families can choose a packed lunch or a charged school meal. Eating therefore has a shared space and adult company, rather than being simply a break between sessions.

For additional needs, the school’s support arrangements include individual learning plans shared with parents each term. Time to Talk appointments with the special educational needs co-ordinator are offered on Wednesdays at 8:30am or 8:50am, booked through the office. This gives parents a regular opportunity to discuss concerns, progress or support.

Specialist services the school can access include Pepper Therapy for speech and language and the SEND Early Years Coventry SEN Support Service. Staff discuss involving specialist SEND services with parents first. Families have a part in those decisions, as well as in reviewing their child’s targets.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place or confer admissions priority. Parents must make a separate application through Coventry’s local authority co-ordinated admissions process, meeting the normal deadline. For September 2027 entry, that deadline is 15 January 2027.

The same allocation criteria apply whether a child attends Hill Farm Nursery or another setting. Choosing this nursery should therefore be a decision about the nursery experience, with the Reception application treated as a separate task.

Universal funding covers up to 15 hours a week over Hill Farm’s 38-week academic year, used in three-hour morning or afternoon blocks. Eligible children can receive up to 30 funded hours weekly over the same period. Where a space can be offered, this supports five full-day sessions of six hours each.

An additional paid hour can extend collection to 3:30pm, arranged through the nursery manager or school office. Contact the school for current charges. Contracts and payment breakdowns are supplied before the preceding term ends, while monthly invoices show funding and any paid hours. Families can divide funding between two providers and alter their arrangement each term.

Extended funding requires evidence of eligibility; parents must obtain a validation code and reconfirm eligibility every three months. For nursery enquiries, call 024 7659 5455 or email enquiries@hillfarm.coventry.sch.uk.