Northmoor AcademyOur News items
Date: 2nd May 2025 @ 5:07pm
Dear Parents/Carers and stakeholders,
CONSULTATION DOCUMENT – Please read carefully
Proposed implementation of a SEND Unit for pupils with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) at Northmoor Academy, Alderson Street, Oldham OL9 6AQ
Introduction
Northmoor Academy is proposing to make an application for ‘Significant Change’ to the Department for Education (DfE) to change the provision for children with SEND and implement a SEND Unit from 1st September 2025.
As part of the consultation process and legal requirements, we are writing to parents and the local community to seek feedback regarding the proposed changes. The 3 week consultation process will begin on Monday 5th May and end at 5pm on Monday 26th May. Further details of the proposal are provided on the academy and the Harmony Trust website. Following this period The Harmony Trust will then consider comments received during the consultation period and include them in its application to the DfE.
What is being proposed?
Northmoor Academy currently has a pupil admission number of 90 children per year group, a total of 630 places plus Nursery. Under the proposals, there would be no change to the number of places available. An additional 24 places would be created for the provision of SEND pupils with Educational Health Care Plans (EHCPs). The specialism of the Hub would be to support pupils with Autistic Spectrum Condition.
Northmoor Academy already provides support to pupils with EHCPs in our mainstream classrooms. The benefits of securing the funding and implementing the proposed change are that the academy will receive place funding to support the development of the service provided, creating further strong links between families, the community and the school, and improved continuity of SEND provision. This will lead to better outcomes for the children.
The Local Authority supports Northmoor Academy by providing funding to meet the place demand from the local community, alongside enabling our future pupils and their families to access SEND provision in a mainstream school setting.
It is envisaged that there would be no negative impact on the Academy, the children, the environment or the local community. It is also envisaged that due to the Local Authority population projection and analysis of provision requirements, there would be no impact on similar local providers. The placement of children would remain a parental preference.
What do I need to do?
If you have any questions or would like to comment on the proposal, then please the contact the Director of Education for the Harmony Trust Ltd using the following methods:
- In writing to Ms J Hainsworth, Director of Education, The Harmony Trust Ltd, Northmoor Academy, Alderson Street, Oldham OL9 6AQ
- or by email to info@theharmonytrust.org
Following the consultation period, the responses will be analysed carefully before any decisions are made by The Harmony Trust regarding the proposals.
Our door is always open and if you would like to discuss anything please contact the school office to arrange an appointment with either myself or Mrs Beesley.
Regards,
Mrs Sarah Taylor
Executive Principal
OFSTED Report Success - 'Good' in all areas
Date: 12th Nov 2024 @ 11:06am
Northmoor was inspected for the second time in September 2024 and has been graded 'Good' in all areas.
Message from Mrs Taylor and Ms Beesley:
We are delighted to share this report with our school community; Northmoor is a very special place to many people and the partnership between staff and families to create a culture of aspiration and care for children in Oldham is at the heart of the academy’s ethos. We were very pleased that inspectors recognised the school as “a friendly and happy place to learn” with the children’s behaviour noted as “exemplary” and children seen to treat “everyone around them with the utmost respect.” The report also highlighted the focus on reading, our “exciting curriculum” and the “highly inclusive…culture that celebrates the diverse community that the school serves.”
Schools are now judged on 5 areas of school life, Northmoor's gradings are below:
We continue to be immensely proud of all our children and the progress they make during their time at Northmoor.
We hope you enjoy reading the report. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us via the main office or via email at info@northmoor.theharmonytrust.org
Ms Beesley (Head of Academy) and Mrs Taylor (Executive Principal)
Northmoor Receives School Games Mark 2023/2024
Date: 23rd Jul 2024 @ 12:09pm
We are delighted to share the news that Northmoor has received the School Games Mark - Gold Award - for the year 2023/2024. The award is granted for excellence in sport.
It assesses the school's commitment to extra-curricular sporting opportunities, CPD for staff around sports delivey and overall engagement levels.
We know just how much the children appreciate and enjoy their PE sessions and we are so pleased to have their hard work recognised!
National changes related to pupil attendance from September 2024
Date: 18th Jul 2024 @ 11:54am
National Online Safety Award for Northmoor
Date: 24th Feb 2024 @ 2:57pm
We are delighted to share the news that Northmoor Academy has successfully completed a comprehensive online safety training programme demonstrating our commitment to keeping children and young people safe online. This means we have received a National Online Safety Certified School Accreditation in recognition of our whole school community approach to protecting children in the online world.
We know that learning how to stay safe online is very important to all our children. We also know that it’s important that parents and carers know how to do this too and we would like to thank all our parents and carers who undertook one of the short courses that helped us to achieve this award.
If you would like to take the short, helpful course, please click here
Pictures from our lates Safer Internet Day activities are available on our class pages.
Anti- Bullying Week - Monday 13th November
Date: 6th Nov 2023 @ 12:16pm
Monday 13th November marks the beginning of anti-bullying week.
Come to school in odd socks and donate £1
Learn English - Sign Up Wednesday 1st November
Date: 31st Oct 2023 @ 10:34am
Dear Parents/Carers,
We are holding another ESOL sign up session on Wednesday 1st November at 10:00am.
If you are interested in signing up to attend the free English classes, please come to the school office at 10am on Wednesday 1st November.
Please bring the documents below to ensure you can sign up.
Sir Lenny Henry Shares his Books with Harmony Year 4s
Date: 12th Oct 2023 @ 11:48am
Nearly 300 Year 4 children at six Harmony Trust academies across Oldham and Tameside were treated to an amazing visit from author Sir Lenny Henry.
Children from Northmoor, Richmond, Greenhill, Alt, Westwood and Greenfield academies attended a very special event led by Sir Lenny Henry at Northmoor Academy. Over 800 Harmony Trust pupils from Derby also joined the event online in their classrooms. Organised in conjunction with local booksellers, Madeleine Lindley as part of The Harmony Trust’s ‘Read, Achieve, Succeed’ strategy, Sir Lenny came and spoke to the children about reading, writing and his journey to becoming an author. He went on to read excerpts from his book ‘The Boy With Wings.’
Sir Lenny told the children how reading was his best friend when he was a child growing up in Dudley and he credited his Auntie Pearl with opening up the world of reading to him by taking him to the local library.
The children were able to ask Sir Lenny about his writing process (which involved lots of Jammie Dodgers), Comic Relief, his books and his heritage. They even created a story with him about a boy named Joe who lives underwater and has special, superhero powers.
Jessica Hainsworth, Director of Education for The Harmony Trust, and co-founder of the ‘Read, Achieve, Succeed’ strategy said: “The children had a fantastic time at the session and listening to Sir Lenny Henry’s description of his relationship with reading and writing has inspired our children to want to write more. Diversity really does matter in children’s literature, and it was wonderful to bring Sir Lenny’s experience and stories to our children, who absolutely loved hearing about Tunde’s adventures.”
The children agreed with pupils from Greenhill Academy commenting:
Reem: “I like how Lenny's stories are set in a school, we could relate to this.”
Musa: “I liked that we found out what inspired Lenny to write his books.”
Madeeha: “I liked him as he was very funny.”
Rachelle Carter from Madeleine Lindley added: “We were delighted to work with The Harmony Trust to bring another author to visit the children, especially one as inspirational as Sir Lenny Henry. We know that visiting authors add another dimension to reading for children and they can inspire children to look at literature in a different way.”
Date: 20th Jul 2023 @ 9:20am
Effort
Attainment
Behaviour
Headteacher Award
Attendance Awards - Summer Term
100% Attendance - Full Year
Northmoor is a Wollstonecraft School again!
Date: 18th Jul 2023 @ 9:18pm
Date: 20th Feb 2023 @ 12:06pm
On 7th February all the children at Northmoor came together to celebrate Safer Internet Day. The theme of the day was "Making Space for Conversations About Life Online." This was all about making sure that our children can talk about all the good things about online life and also the bad things and ensuring they know how to ask for help if they see something online that makes them scared, worried or sad.
Children from Reception up to Year 3 were read the story of Hanni and the Magic Window by Mrs Coleman and completed activities like creating their own magic window and playing board games that presented different online scenarios.
Children in Years 4 to 6 took part in an online assembly with Ms Worrall and shared all their ideas on the dangers or the internet. They also then took part in activities in class such as 'The Alpha-Net' and 'Where on the Line?'
National Online Safety
All our parents and carers have access to high-quality materials that help to keep your child safe online. You can register by clicking on the logo below or here
Then select:
UK Health Security Agency back to school advice
Date: 9th Jan 2023 @ 4:01pm
Parents/carers please read letter attached.
Our Spring Curriculum Newsletters
Date: 21st Dec 2022 @ 11:03am
Each Year Group's 2023 Spring Curriculum Newsletters are now available on each of the class pages here, where you can also view recent pictures from your child's class or by downloading from below.
Festive Wishes from Sign Language Club
Date: 13th Dec 2022 @ 11:35am
Consultation for Admissions Policies 2024-2025
Date: 6th Dec 2022 @ 8:16pm
Consultation for The Harmony Trust Admissions Policies 2024-25
The Harmony Trust is an Admission Authority and we have a requirement for the Trust to consult on the admission arrangements for all our schools at least once every 7 years.
Therefore, we are undertaking a consultation relating to the Admissions Policies for 2024-25 for all schools within The Harmony Trust, this consultation will commence on Monday 5th December 2022 and will end on Tuesday 31st January 2023. Each regional Hub has its own policy, the schools covered by this consultation are as follows:
| Tameside Hub | Derby Hub |
| Greenfield Primary Academy | Alvaston Junior Academy |
| Ash Croft Primary Academy | |
| Oldham Hub | Carlyle Infant & Nursery Academy |
| Alt Primary Academy | Cavendish Junior Academy |
| Greenhill Primary Academy | Cottons Farm Primary Academy |
| Northmoor Primary Academy | Hackwood Primary Academy |
| Richmond Primary Academy | Reigate Primary Academy |
| Westwood Primary Academy | Lakeside Primary Academy |
| Village Primary Academy |
Derby Hub – The proposed amendment to the Admissions Policies is to have one policy relating to all the Derby Academies within The Harmony Trust. The wording of the policy has been reviewed to ensure greater clarity for parents and carers and compliance with the School Admissions Code and in accordance with Derby City Council’s admissions criteria.
Tameside and Oldham Hubs - It should be noted that there are no changes to the oversubscription criteria. The wording of the policy has been reviewed to ensure greater clarity for parents/carers and compliance with the School Admissions Code.
The Consultation Process
We would welcome your views on the proposed admission arrangements. The proposed Admission Policies for 2024-25 can be found here:
Derby Hub Proposed Admission Policy
Oldham Hub Proposed Admission Policy
Tameside Hub Proposed Admission Policy
Notification of the consultation is being communicated by the Trust to the following:
- The Local Authorities – including Tameside, Oldham, Derby
- All parents and carers of pupils of the Trust
- Other persons who in the Trust’s opinion have an interest in the proposed admission policies.
If you wish to comment on the policies, you are welcome to respond by emailing comments to info@theharmonytrust.org or if you have any questions, please contact The Harmony Trust Central Office on 0161 260 0482 extension 15. Any comments should clearly indicate which Hub policy it relates too.
At the end of the consultation process all responses will be collated and presented to the Trust Board for full consideration. The Admissions Policy for 2024-25 must be approved and published by 28th February 2023.
We're a Wollstonecraft School!
Date: 4th Oct 2022 @ 1:08pm
Northmoor Academy hosted the founder of The Wollstonecraft Society, Bee Rowlett on 28th September as she presented us with our certificate confirming our status as the very first Mary Wollstonecraft school. Bee was very impressed with our children, saying that the children were "extremely talented" and that their song and dance made her "entire year!"
The children worked exceptionally hard to produce an assembly exploring the life and achievements of Mary in her search for equality. The children discovered that despite facing many personal barriers, Mary was still a champion for others.
The assembly culminated in a rousing performance of ‘The Power in Me’ performed by Jet class. The children chose this song because they believe that Mary had the power in her to speak out for human rights. The children discussed what types of causes Mary would have supported in modern times and they agreed that Greta Thunberg and the Black Lives Matters campaign would have been important to Mary too.
The assembly in full:
Jet Class - Power in Me
A Message from our CEO - Queen Elizabeth II
Date: 9th Sep 2022 @ 10:04am
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