Greywood Primary Lichfield: £12m School Open, Tours 18 Oct

Lichfield has a new primary school. Greywood Primary Academy on Baker Way opened this September with its first nursery and Reception children. It is the city’s third new primary school in four years.

The £12 million school is run by Primitas Learning Partnership, the trust that also runs The Friary School and other schools across Lichfield and Burntwood. Staffordshire County Council announced on 25 September that the children were settling in.

It was built for families moving into the St John’s Grange and Cricket Lane housing developments in south Lichfield, the council said.

How big it will get

The school is starting small and will add a year group each September. The county council’s school place planning page sets out the plan:

• 30 Reception places each year to begin with
• every year group from Reception to Year 6 in place by September 2032
• 210 places at first, as a one-form-entry school
• room to grow to 420 places, two forms of entry, if demand needs it

It follows two other new Lichfield primaries. Fradley Park Primary and Nursery opened in September 2022, and Anna Seward Primary in September 2023. Each also takes 30 Reception children a year.

What the school and council said

Janet Higgins, the county council’s Cabinet Member for Education and SEND, visited the children. “The facilities are exceptional and include the latest technology to help pupils thrive and achieve their full potential,” she said.

Headteacher Jane Jane said the school was promoting its values of “Belong, Believe and Achieve”. “Although we are only at the beginning of our journey, there is already a real sense of togetherness and belonging across the school,” she said.

The name comes from Lichfield’s own history. The school’s About Us page says it refers to the ash and elm trees that covered the land when the settlement was founded. It also marks Primitas’s 2023 merger with the Greywood Multi-Schools Trust.

The school was built under the free school presumption route. That is where the county council identifies a need for places, works with the Department for Education to build a school, and picks a trust to run it.

What it means for you

If your child starts Reception in September 2027, this is the first year you can put Greywood on your list. That means children whose fifth birthday falls between 1 September 2027 and 31 August 2028. The school’s Reception page gives these dates:

• open days (provisional): Sunday 18 October in the morning, Wednesday 4 November in the late afternoon, and Wednesday 18 November in the evening
• applications open on 1 November 2026, through Staffordshire County Council
• the closing date is 15 January 2027

You need to book a place on an open day. The school says it will post details on its Facebook page.

Nursery places are paused for now. The school’s nursery applications page says it has had “a lot of interest” and has temporarily stopped taking forms. It asks parents to phone the office instead. Children can join the term after they turn two or three. A £50 deposit secures a confirmed place, and it counts towards fees.

Before and after school care runs from 7.30am to 6pm for Reception children. The wraparound page lists these prices:

The school is on 01543 757015 or info@greywood.academy.

For holiday dates across Lichfield’s schools, see our Lichfield school term dates page and our October half-term guide.