At The Orchard School, everyone matters and everyone cares.
We want every pupil to feel safe, valued and able to grow. This page brings together our School Performance Summary and our School Improvement priorities so families, partners and visitors can see how the school is doing and what we are working on next.
Our School Improvement Plan sets out what we are focusing on this year. These priorities are rooted in our Mission, Vision and Values and support pupils’ academic, social and emotional development.
We review our performance throughout the year and evaluate our work against the Ofsted Inspection Framework (November 2025). This summary reflects our current self-evaluation, following our recent inspection, and the actions we are taking to continue improving outcomes for all pupils.
Safeguarding is effective and underpins all aspects of school life. We have a strong safeguarding culture, with well-trained staff who understand their responsibilities and act promptly on concerns. Pupils report that they feel safe and know who to speak to if they need help. Robust systems are in place to record and respond to concerns, supporting timely intervention and effective multi-agency working. Online safety and digital awareness, including emerging risks, are taught proactively.
Inclusion is a key priority for the school. Leaders know pupils well and have systems in place to identify and support a wide range of needs, including SEND and SEMH. Positive relationships and targeted support help many pupils to engage with learning and school life.
We are continuing to strengthen how support is implemented consistently in classrooms, ensuring that all pupils receive the right adaptations and support to achieve as well as they can.
The school has developed an ambitious and well-structured curriculum, designed to meet the needs of our pupils. Improvements in reading, including the introduction of phonics, are beginning to have a positive impact.
Our focus is now on ensuring that teaching is consistently strong across all classes. This includes improving how learning is explained, how understanding is checked, and how assessment is used to identify and address gaps in knowledge.
Pupils make progress from often low starting points, particularly in reading and personal development. Older pupils gain a range of appropriate qualifications and move on successfully to further education, employment or training.
We are working to ensure that all pupils achieve as well as they should by strengthening assessment, addressing gaps in learning, and improving outcomes in key areas such as writing.
Relationships across the school are positive, and many pupils respond well to the school’s therapeutic and relational approach. Behaviour is improving in a number of areas, and staff support pupils effectively to regulate and engage.
Attendance remains a key priority. We are working closely with pupils and families to improve attendance, particularly for those facing the greatest challenges, and to ensure that all pupils benefit fully from their education.
Personal development and wellbeing are strong features of the school. Pupils benefit from a wide range of experiences that support their confidence, resilience and independence. Enrichment opportunities, cultural experiences and a strong focus on wellbeing help pupils to develop important life skills.
We continue to develop how we track participation and ensure that all pupils benefit consistently from these opportunities.
Leadership has established clear priorities and a strong direction for improvement following a period of change. Leaders and governors work closely together to support the school and ensure accountability.
Our focus is on strengthening the consistency and impact of improvement work, ensuring that strategies are implemented effectively across all areas of the school and lead to sustained improvements for pupils.
The Orchard School is a maintained special school for pupils with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs. As a result, national performance measures do not always fully reflect the individual starting points, personalised pathways and wider outcomes that are central to our pupils’ progress.
For transparency, statutory performance information published by the Department for Education can be accessed via the national school comparison website:
Compare School Performance – The Orchard School
Alongside national data, we evaluate our effectiveness using a broader range of measures, including academic progress, reading development, attendance, engagement, emotional regulation and readiness to learn. These indicators provide a more meaningful picture of progress and inform our ongoing school improvement work.
We have summarised the key points for families on this page, but you can also read the complete School Improvement Plan here: