The Orchard School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 3 February 2026

The school works hard to re-engage pupils with learning. Pupils explain that they had previously struggled to manage their feelings. Staff at The Orchard School give them the support and care they need to regulate their emotions and be ready for learning. Pupils also benefit from the varied offer beyond the classroom, such as the wide range of sporting activities. This helps them to build their confidence and resilience. Pupils build trusting relationships with staff. This helps them to feel happy and safe in school. This is evident in the warm greetings that staff give pupils at the start of the day. Staff know pupils well and quickly address concerns they may have. Pupils who require additional help to manage their emotions enjoy spending time with Hugo, the school dog. This helps them to calm and return to learning. Staff generally have high expectations for pupils’ behaviour. This helps many pupils to behave well and to work hard in lessons. However, staff do not always apply these expectations consistently well. This means that some pupils do not always behave as well as they could. Breaktimes are positive times, and many pupils play together positively. However, the routines for transitions to lessons are not well embedded enough. This means that pupils sometimes struggle to return to their learning. Many pupils enjoy learning. They work hard and learn the skills and knowledge they need. However, weaknesses in the curriculum and teaching mean that pupils do not learn the crucial knowledge they need as well as they should. All pupils have significant barriers to learning. In many lessons teachers adapt the activities to break these barriers down and help pupils to learn. However, in too many lessons, learning is not adapted well enough, and this means that some pupils do not engage with learning well. As a result, some pupils fall behind in their learning.

What the school should improve

• Leaders should ensure that assessments, including the checks that teachers make on learning, are effective and better inform teachers so they can enable pupils to know and remember more of the curriculum.
• Leaders should ensure that staff understand pupils’ barriers to learning, including gaps in foundational knowledge, so they can design effective adaptations that help all pupils to access learning and develop the skills and knowledge they need.
• Leaders should ensure that staff apply the school’s behavioural expectations consistently and work with staff to design effective routines to support pupils consistently and effectively.
• Leaders should ensure they have a secure understanding of the impact of the work they have already begun so they can provide staff with a clear understanding of the school’s improvement priorities and work effectively with leaders to embed new practices swiftly.
• Leaders should ensure that they continue to build on the work they have begun to improve attendance so all pupils attend more frequently.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)