Orchard Park Community Primary School

Orchard Park Community Primary School has been judged to require special measures after a July 2026 full inspection. Safeguarding arrangements are not effective, with leaders not ensuring an open safeguarding culture, delays in recording and responding to concerns, and weak oversight, including for pupils in alternative provision. The school is failing to provide an acceptable standard of education and leaders and governors are not demonstrating the capacity to improve without significant external support. Achievement, curriculum and teaching, and leadership and governance all require urgent improvement. Published outcomes have declined, especially in mathematics, and too many pupils leave without secure foundations in reading, writing and mathematics. Teaching and curriculum implementation are inconsistent, assessment does not reliably identify gaps, and support for pupils with SEND, disadvantaged pupils and pupils who speak English as an additional language is not consistently effective. Attendance remains too low, behaviour is managed inconsistently, early years developments are not yet embedded, and pupils' personal development is not securely developed. There are positives: pupils are generally polite and respectful, many have positive relationships with staff, and children settle well into early years. The school is inclusive, values pupils from different backgrounds, and offers clubs, trips and leadership roles. Recent actions have improved attendance somewhat and phonics outcomes show signs of improvement, but these are not yet enough to reverse wider weaknesses. Context includes a new headteacher from September 2024, high proportions of disadvantaged pupils and pupils with EHC plans, substantial local authority support, and use of three alternative provisions, two of which are unregistered.

Strengths

• Pupils are generally polite and respectful towards staff and one another.
• Children settle well into early years and benefit from warm, positive relationships with staff.
• Staff know children and families well and work with external agencies to support those needing additional help.
• All children, including those with SEND, are included fully in early years.
• Staff know how to report safeguarding concerns, and pupils can identify trusted adults.
• Pupils learn about relationships, different faiths and cultures, and life in modern Britain.
• Many pupils understand democracy, respect and online safety.
• Pupils value pastoral support and are aware of mental health help available.
• Pupils enjoy positive relationships with staff and appreciate clubs, trips and leadership roles.
• Pupils from different backgrounds, including those with SEND, EAL and disadvantaged pupils, are included and valued.
• Recent strategies have led to some improvement in attendance and persistent absence.
• There are signs of improvement in phonics outcomes.
• Staff report some improvements following revisions to the behaviour policy.

Areas for Improvement

• Safeguarding arrangements are not effective and safeguarding standards are not met.
• Leaders have not ensured an open and positive safeguarding culture or effective systems for recording, acting on and reviewing concerns.
• There are delays in responding to safeguarding concerns and weak oversight, including for pupils in alternative provision.
• Governors have not addressed safeguarding weaknesses with sufficient urgency.
• The school requires special measures because it is failing to provide an acceptable standard of education.
• Attendance remains too low, particularly for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils, and persistent absence is high.
• Behaviour is not managed consistently, with disruption, passive participation, bullying concerns and punitive reflection procedures.
• Early years developments are recent and not embedded, and provision is not consistently effective.
• Support for pupils with SEND is inconsistent, and support plans are not always delivered.
• Teaching and curriculum implementation are inconsistent, with too much copying and not enough deep learning.
• Published outcomes have declined and too many pupils leave without secure foundations for secondary school.
• Leaders do not accurately understand curriculum and teaching quality and have not improved the school quickly enough.
• Assessment and feedback do not consistently identify or address gaps in pupils' understanding.
• Support for pupils with SEND, disadvantaged pupils and pupils who speak English as an additional language varies.
• Personal development provision does not secure pupils' understanding or prepare them fully for life beyond school.
• Oversight of alternative provision is not secure, including for unregistered settings.
• Governors do not have an accurate understanding of the school's effectiveness and have not held leaders to account effectively.
• Leaders rely too heavily on external support and do not fulfil all statutory responsibilities.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Orchard Park Community Primary School attended 91.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 30.4% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 1.0% of pupils at Orchard Park Community Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Orchard Park Community Primary School had 14.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 28.4% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 15.6% of pupils at Orchard Park Community Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.3% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Orchard Park Community Primary School received £8,804 and spent £10,233 for each of its 173 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £247,000 (-£1,430 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Cambridge · Cambridgeshire local authority: places and applications

What is Orchard Park Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Orchard Park Community Primary School is Urgent improvement, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Orchard Park Community Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Orchard Park Community Primary School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Orchard Park Community Primary School have?

Orchard Park Community Primary School has 180 pupils on roll.

What age range does Orchard Park Community Primary School cover?

Orchard Park Community Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Orchard Park Community Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 41% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Orchard Park Community Primary School?

Orchard Park Community Primary School is at Ringfort Road, Orchard Park, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB4 2GR.