Greenhill Academy Nursery Review

An Early Years play area and a single-storey school building give Greenhill’s youngest children their own place within a larger primary setting. On Harmony Street in Glodwick, Oldham, the academy combines a 30-place Under Threes provision with a 70-place Nursery. Pre-School entry starts at age two in September; Nursery entry starts at three in September. Both provide part-time attendance.

This is the school’s own early years provision, within The Harmony Trust. The distinction between the younger children’s provision and Nursery matters: families are choosing the stage suited to their child, rather than one undifferentiated group spanning the preschool years.

Communication, movement and learning to manage feelings form the starting point. Greenhill follows the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), with language, physical development and personal and social development alongside early literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and creative work. In parent terms, learning includes listening and speaking, building relationships, using large and small movements, exploring numbers and making things. Greenhill aims to connect new learning to children’s existing experiences through sensory activities and direct experience.

Outdoor learning has a defined space. Alongside the Early Years play area, the school has teaching spaces in its internal courtyard and a wildlife garden with a science area. These give the setting physical scope for learning beyond a classroom, although the nursery’s own play area is the clearest feature for its youngest children.

In April 2025, Ofsted found that early years children were becoming independent and confident, with sustained attention during play. Staff also developed vocabulary through purposeful conversation from the early years onwards. That makes talking part of learning, rather than simply something that happens between activities.

A daily snack is included in each session, with Nursery children receiving fruit and milk. Hot meals, where offered, require advance booking and payment through ParentPay. Greenhill asks families to avoid sending nut products, including foods processed in facilities handling nuts, so food choices need care before packing anything from home.

Parents can discuss concerns with the class teacher. School Spider carries emailed letters and updates, while parents’ meetings take place three times a year, moving from introductory information to progress discussion and an annual report. These provide distinct opportunities to understand how a child is getting on.

For children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), the class teacher works with support staff and the SENCo. Individual plan targets are reviewed with parents each term. This gives families a practical role in agreeing and following the small steps their child is working towards.

Assessment. In April 2025, the school needed to use its learning checks more consistently to identify and address gaps promptly. This was a school-wide concern, rather than a separate nursery judgement, but it makes discussion of a child’s progress relevant.

Attending Greenhill Nursery does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate Reception application through the normal admissions process and meet the applicable deadline.

For the 2025–26 admissions cycle, Oldham residents applied online through Oldham Council. Nursery attendance was not a priority criterion in that cycle; the criteria instead covered care status, exceptional medical or welfare circumstances, siblings and distance. Choosing Nursery should therefore be a decision about the early years experience, not an assumption that a later school place follows automatically.

Morning sessions run from 08:45 to 11:45, with afternoons from 12:30 to 15:30, for both Pre-School and Nursery. Funding operates during term time. Full-time availability. There are currently no full-time places; families may register interest and be contacted if a space opens.

Some eligible two-year-olds can receive 15 funded hours weekly from the term following their second birthday, through a local authority application and valid code. All three- and four-year-olds have a 15-hour universal entitlement from the term after turning three; eligible working families may access up to 30 hours. Working-family codes must be regularly reconfirmed, and a place cannot be held while eligibility remains unconfirmed.

Nursery applications go directly to the academy office. Contact 0161 260 0621 or info@greenhill.theharmonytrust.org for enquiries and current charges. Children are expected to wear academy uniform, including a blue sweatshirt and white shirt or polo top; clothing should be labelled.