Orchard Community Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 7 January 2025

This is a joyful and welcoming school, held in high regard by parents and carers. The school has high expectations for its pupils. The curriculum successfully combines academic rigour with fun and enjoyment. Pupils are motivated and positive about school life. They flourish from the awe and wonder they experience from interesting subjects that they are taught. Pupils achieve well. The quality of support for pupils' character development and well-being is central to the school's ambition that all pupils will flourish in confidence and wisdom. Pupils understand their own character strengths, such as perseverance to keep going. The school supports them well to work on character attributes such as self-confidence and collaboration. The school's positive ethos for standards of behaviour is effective. Pupils understand and act on the school rule of respect. They are polite and courteous. Pupils value the trusted adults that they can speak to if they have any worries. They are safe and happy. Pupils enjoy wider opportunities beyond the school day, that extend their interests and hobbies. For instance, they enjoy clubs such as netball, multi-sports and archery. They are proud of the trophies won in local sport competitions.

What the school should improve

• On occasions, staff are not consistent in how well they engage and support some pupils who struggle to access and respond to the taught input. This means that some pupils miss some important steps in knowledge and do not secure their understanding as well as they should. The school should support staff to refine their teaching strategies, so that they consistently support pupils not to miss key knowledge being taught and in turn achieve higher standards.
• Some pupils do not consistently apply the skills and knowledge important for fluent legible written work. This means that some writing presentation, spelling and grammatical accuracy is not precise and hinders the flow and quality of their writing. The school should ensure that staff are supported to focus pupils' attentions on the refinement and precision of their writing, so that they achieve higher standards.

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