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Nursery at Light Oaks Infant School
Last reviewed: October 2026 · Inspection data and key information above update regularly, however, this review below is refreshed bi-annually and may not reflect recent changes. Contact the nursery directly to confirm current arrangements. If you spot anything outdated or inaccurate, please let us know.
Children’s interests shape the topics at Light Oaks, with play and exploration taking learning indoors and outside. This is the nursery within Light Oaks Infant School on Lancaster Road in Salford. The school admits children from age three, and its nursery admission number is 39 part-time morning places. That morning model is the practical starting point for families considering the provision.
The nursery teacher also holds the EYFS lead role. Nursery belongs to the school’s Foundation Stage, giving its youngest children a curriculum designed around early development.
Play does the teaching here. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) organises learning into seven areas, with movement, language and social and emotional development coming first. Literacy and mathematics sit alongside learning about the world and creative expression. For parents, this means learning involves activity and exploration, with experiences adapted to children’s interests and needs.
Topics provide a shared starting point, while children’s ideas influence the experiences staff plan. Phase 1 phonics begins in the first autumn half-term of Nursery. In July 2022, Ofsted found that early-years teaching developed listening and speaking effectively and encouraged children’s enjoyment of poems, stories and rhymes. Language gets deliberate attention.
Nursery Class 1 and the Early Years Foundation Stage Outside Area appear in the school tour. These give families specific indoor and outdoor spaces to look at when considering the nursery. The curriculum uses both settings for active learning and thinking through ideas.
Curriculum precision. In July 2022, some early-years subject content still needed clearer decisions about the knowledge and vocabulary children should learn. Checks on learning were also sometimes disconnected from the agreed curriculum, reducing certainty about what children remembered. These are useful points to discuss alongside the play-based approach.
Class teachers welcome questions about children’s learning and development, giving parents a direct route for conversation. For additional needs, the school identifies a SENCO contact and directs families to the Salford Local Offer and Salford Information, Advice and Support Service (SIASS). These provide routes to advice beyond the classroom.
Physical security includes fencing around the school site and a visitor sign-in procedure. Operation Encompass links schools with Greater Manchester Police so that domestic abuse incidents outside school can be reported early when they may affect a child the following day. The practical purpose is to help school staff respond with relevant support.
Attending the nursery does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate Reception application through Salford’s local authority admissions route. The admission arrangements direct parents to return applications by the beginning of January; use the primary-school application route for Reception rather than treating nursery admission as the next-stage application.
Keep that application separate from choosing the nursery. A place here should be chosen for the early-years experience itself.
The nursery’s stated admission model is part-time mornings. For September nursery entry, applications go through the local authority.
Open days take place during the year, and visits can be arranged for families considering a nursery place. To enquire about a visit, contact the school on 0161 921 1685. The online school tour also includes the nursery classroom and early-years outside area, providing a useful starting point before a visit.
The nursery’s standard admission number is 39 part-time morning places.
It follows the EYFS through topics influenced by children’s interests, with learning through play indoors and outside.
Phase 1 phonics starts in Nursery’s first autumn half-term.
No. Families need to apply separately through Salford’s primary-school admissions route. The school’s arrangements direct parents to return applications by the beginning of January.
Yes. The school arranges open days and visits for families considering nursery entry. Contact the school on 0161 921 1685.
