Orchards Academy

Orchards Academy is a secondary comprehensive school within The Kemnal Academies Trust. It is performing well overall, with inspectors finding a calm and orderly environment, high expectations of behaviour, polite pupils and effective safeguarding. The curriculum is ambitious and has been broadened, including increased English Baccalaureate uptake and new subjects such as statistics. Pupils generally learn well, enjoy reading, receive strong careers guidance and benefit from enrichment visits and pupil leadership opportunities. Support is secure for pupils with EHC plans and for those in the school's autism resourced provision. There are still areas for improvement. Attainment in some key stage 4 national examinations has been below national averages, and some curriculum elements are underdeveloped, particularly religious education at key stage 4 and support for pupils' writing. Information given to staff about pupils with SEND who do not have EHC plans is not precise enough, which limits the effectiveness of support. Some tasks also do not consistently give pupils opportunities to think deeply, and some pupils are not as confident in aspects of the personal development curriculum as the school intends. Leadership is accurate about the school's strengths and priorities, trustees and governors check that decisions are in pupils' interests, and staff workload has been considered. Communication with parents is being improved, including through workshops and activities, although some parents still want more information about recent changes and support for pupils with SEND. The school's next steps are clear and focus on strengthening SEND information and the identified curriculum areas so that all pupils learn well.

Strengths

• Calm, orderly environment with clear routines and high behaviour expectations.
• Pupils are polite, courteous and feel safe at school.
• Bullying is not commonplace and is typically stopped effectively when reported.
• Ambitious curriculum with increased EBacc uptake and new subjects such as statistics.
• Many pupils learn well and produce work of good quality.
• Comprehensive careers programme helps pupils make secure plans for their next steps.
• Pupils enjoy reading and receive effective support when they need extra help.
• Enrichment visits broaden pupils' experiences and develop confidence.
• Active school council develops pupils' leadership and responsibility.
• Teachers know their subjects well, check understanding and promote subject vocabulary.
• Pupils with SEND, including those with EHC plans and in the autism resourced provision, receive clear guidance.
• Personal development curriculum covers online safety, relationships and discrimination well.
• New behaviour systems are applied consistently and attendance strategies are starting to improve attendance.
• Trust and governors have an accurate understanding of the school and check decisions are in pupils' interests.
• Staff workload has been supported and the majority of staff enjoy working at the school.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Attainment in some key stage 4 national examinations has been below national averages.
• Religious education at key stage 4 is underdeveloped, leaving older pupils' knowledge of religions, faiths and beliefs insecure.
• Support for pupils' writing is not well focused, so some pupils catch up more slowly than they could.
• Some work set for pupils does not provide enough opportunity to think deeply.
• Information for staff about SEND pupils without EHC plans lacks precision, limiting the effectiveness of support.
• Some pupils are not as confident in aspects of the personal development curriculum as the school intends.
• Some parents want more information about recent changes and how these affect pupils, including pupils with SEND.

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 Orchards Academy attended 89.9% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 32.9% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

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, 16.1% of pupils at Orchards Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 3 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 Orchards Academy had 15.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 17.9% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

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, 20.0% of pupils at Orchards Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.8% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

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 secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Orchards Academy received £7,648 and spent £8,132 for each of its 545 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £245,000 (£449 per pupil).

Across all 45 schools of The Kemnal Academies Trust, income was £8,501 and spending £8,452 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Swanley · Kent local authority: places and applications

Orchards Academy is part of The Kemnal Academies Trust, which runs 45 schools. The nearest others:

• Horizon Primary Academy Swanley
• Gray's Farm Primary Academy Orpington
• Kemnal Technology College Sidcup
• Royal Park Primary Academy Sidcup
• Cleeve Park School Sidcup
• Cleeve Meadow School Sidcup
• Shenstone School Crayford
• Welling School Welling
• East Wickham Primary Academy Welling
• Napier Community Primary and Nursery Academy Gillingham

What is Orchards Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Orchards Academy is Good, from an inspection in April 2025.

When was Orchards Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Orchards Academy was last inspected in April 2025.

How many pupils does Orchards Academy have?

Orchards Academy has 554 pupils on roll.

What age range does Orchards Academy cover?

Orchards Academy for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Orchards Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 38.3, and 27% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Orchards Academy?

Orchards Academy is at St Mary's Road, Swanley, Kent, BR8 7TE.