Leigh Academy Cherry Orchard

Leigh Academy Cherry Orchard is an exceptionally strong school. Achievement is excellent, with statutory test outcomes significantly above national averages over time. Disadvantaged pupils frequently attain in line with or above non-disadvantaged peers nationally, and pupils with SEND make impressive progress. A highly ambitious, well-sequenced curriculum and expert teaching help pupils acquire and retain knowledge remarkably well. Attendance is consistently high and persistent absence is well below national averages, while behaviour is exemplary and pupils feel safe. Inclusion is a lived reality, including for pupils in the specially resourced provision for speech, language and communication needs. Leadership, governance and the trust partnership are exemplary, and personal development, careers education, extra-curricular opportunities and safeguarding are all major strengths. The school is part of Leigh Academies Trust and has a resourced SEND provision for 17 pupils with speech, language and communication needs, all of whom have EHC plans. Safeguarding standards are met. Almost all evaluated areas are exceptional, but early years provision and equality and diversity are judged strong rather than exceptional. The next step is to build on early years strengths to enhance provision for all children, including disadvantaged children. Overall, pupils achieve exceptionally well, feel valued and are exceptionally well prepared for their future lives.

Strengths

• Achievement is exceptionally high, with outcomes in statutory tests well above national averages over time.
• Disadvantaged pupils attain in line with or above non-disadvantaged peers nationally.
• Pupils with SEND make impressive progress from their starting points.
• Pupils acquire and retain knowledge remarkably well and apply it confidently in new contexts.
• Leaders' focus on writing has produced first-class standards in writing, presentation and handwriting.
• Attendance is consistently high and exceeds pre-pandemic levels for all groups.
• Persistent absence is significantly below the national average.
• Behaviour is exemplary and reflects a deeply embedded culture of respect.
• Pupils report that bullying is rare and trust staff to deal with concerns promptly.
• The curriculum is highly ambitious, rich and coherently sequenced.
• Teaching is exemplary, with expert subject knowledge and effective use of assessment.
• Staff make highly effective adaptations to remove barriers without reducing curriculum ambition.
• Inclusion is exceptional, with robust identification, assessment and tracking systems.
• Pupils in the specially resourced SEND provision are included fully and thrive alongside their peers.
• Bespoke use of pupil premium funding helps disadvantaged pupils flourish.
• Leadership and governance are exemplary, with strong trust and community board partnership.
• Staff are highly skilled, valued and empowered through extensive professional learning.
• The personal development programme is transformative and goes well beyond requirements.
• Careers education is highly ambitious and begins in the early years.
• The extra-curricular offer is extensive, inclusive and well attended.
• The PSHE curriculum equips pupils exceptionally well to stay safe and make informed choices.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open and positive culture of safeguarding.
• Children in early years benefit from an ambitious curriculum and skilful staff interaction.

Areas for Improvement

• Early years provision is graded Strong standard rather than Exceptional.
• Equality and diversity provision is graded Strong standard rather than Exceptional.
• Leaders should build on early years strengths to enhance high standards for all children, including disadvantaged children.

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 Leigh Academy Cherry Orchard attended 96.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 5.4% 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, 0.9% of pupils at Leigh Academy Cherry Orchard 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 Leigh Academy Cherry Orchard had 28.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 23.9% 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, 8.5% of pupils at Leigh Academy Cherry Orchard were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.8% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has resourced provision with 15 pupils.

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 2024–25 Leigh Academy Cherry Orchard received £6,829 and spent £7,235 for each of its 449 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £227,000 (£506 per pupil).

Across all 33 schools of Leigh Academies Trust, income was £8,972 and spending £8,821 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 Dartford · Kent local authority: places and applications

Leigh Academy Cherry Orchard is part of Leigh Academies Trust, which runs 33 schools. The nearest others:

• Leigh Academy Ebbsfleet Swanscombe
• Leigh Academy Longfield Longfield
• Sir Geoffrey Leigh Academy Dartford
• Leigh Academy Dartford Dartford
• Leigh Academy Hartley Longfield
• Leigh UTC Dartford Dartford
• Leigh Academy Milestone Longfield
• Leigh Academy Wilmington Wilmington
• Leigh Academy Bexley Erith
• Leigh Academy Strood Rochester

What is Leigh Academy Cherry Orchard's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Leigh Academy Cherry Orchard is Strong standard, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Leigh Academy Cherry Orchard last inspected by Ofsted?

Leigh Academy Cherry Orchard was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Leigh Academy Cherry Orchard have?

Leigh Academy Cherry Orchard has 447 pupils on roll.

What age range does Leigh Academy Cherry Orchard cover?

Leigh Academy Cherry Orchard for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Leigh Academy Cherry Orchard's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 83% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Leigh Academy Cherry Orchard?

Leigh Academy Cherry Orchard is at Cherry Orchard, Cherry Orchard Road, Ebbsfleet Valley, Ebbsfleet, Kent, DA10 1AD.