Scotch Orchard Primary School

Scotch Orchard Primary School is a smaller-than-average primary with nursery provision, inspected in May 2026 after significant leadership and trust changes, including the appointment of a new head of school and assistant headteacher in November 2025. Safeguarding standards are met. Leaders have a clear, ambitious vision and are driving rapid improvement, and the school has a strongly positive, inclusive culture: pupils feel safe, valued and included, behave well, and benefit from effective pastoral care and a wide range of enrichment. Parents and carers are overwhelmingly positive about recent improvements under new leadership. The main concerns are around outcomes and consistency. Achievement in mathematics and foundational knowledge remains weak, with gaps in mathematical fluency, spelling, punctuation and handwriting; teaching is not yet consistent across subjects, and staff do not always adapt learning closely enough to pupils’ starting points, particularly for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils. Persistent absence, especially for disadvantaged pupils, remains too high. Early years provision has a well-sequenced curriculum but the environment and teaching do not consistently promote language development, and barriers are not always reduced for children with SEND. Overall, the school has strong leadership capacity, a caring ethos and the right priorities for improvement, but several recent changes need to embed fully. The impact of new approaches to curriculum, inclusion and attendance is not yet secure, so some pupils still do not make the sustained progress they should. Leaders are acting with urgency to address these areas.

Strengths

• New leaders have a clear, ambitious vision and are relentless in driving rapid improvement.
• Leaders understand the school’s strengths and areas for development and have identified the right priorities.
• Staff feel highly valued and supported; leaders prioritise wellbeing and manage workload carefully.
• Governance has strengthened, with trustees providing effective strategic oversight.
• Leaders build highly effective relationships with families, and parents are overwhelmingly positive.
• Pupils’ personal development and wellbeing are a high priority, with a coherent programme and tailored pastoral support.
• Pupils feel safe, cared for and supported, and trust adults to listen and act.
• Behaviour is positive; pupils are polite, respectful and calm, and the school environment is orderly.
• Pupils show respect for difference, include others and contribute to a calm, inclusive community.
• The school provides a wide range of enrichment, including clubs, trips, residential experiences and guitar lessons for disadvantaged pupils.
• The curriculum is well sequenced, ambitious and progressive, and some subjects are securely embedded.
• Early years staff build warm relationships and personal, social and emotional development is a strength.
• Leaders identify barriers to learning effectively and work closely with families and external agencies.
• Pupils with the most complex needs receive bespoke support that reduces barriers to wellbeing.

Areas for Improvement

• Outcomes in mathematics and pupils’ foundational knowledge remain relatively weak.
• Some pupils do not consistently secure key skills in mathematical fluency, spelling, punctuation and handwriting.
• Attainment in mathematics continues to lag behind national averages.
• Teaching is not consistent across all subjects, and curriculum implementation is at an early stage.
• Teachers do not always adapt learning closely to pupils’ starting points, especially for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils.
• Staff do not check pupils’ learning precisely enough to identify and address gaps quickly.
• Persistent absence remains high, particularly for disadvantaged pupils.
• The early years environment does not always support children’s language development well, and resources are sometimes limited.
• Teaching in early years is inconsistent, with some staff missing opportunities to extend language.
• Adaptations for pupils with SEND are not applied consistently across the school.
• Leaders do not evaluate clearly enough whether strategies for disadvantaged pupils improve achievement.
• Some pupils with SEND do not make the academic progress of which they are capable.

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 Scotch Orchard Primary School attended 94.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 13.0% 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, 2.0% of pupils at Scotch Orchard 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 Scotch Orchard Primary School had 18.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 28.8% 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, 18.6% of pupils at Scotch Orchard Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 8.2% 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 2024–25 Scotch Orchard Primary School received £6,892 and spent £7,806 for each of its 195 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £144,000 (-£741 per pupil).

Across all 23 schools of The Arthur Terry Learning Partnership, income was £7,703 and spending £8,151 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 Lichfield · Staffordshire local authority: places and applications

Scotch Orchard Primary School is part of The Arthur Terry Learning Partnership, which runs 23 schools. The nearest others:

• St Chad's CofE Primary School Lichfield
• Nether Stowe School Lichfield
• St Michael's CofE (C) Primary School Lichfield
• Anna Seward Primary Lichfield
• Greysbrooke Primary School Lichfield
• Coton Green Primary School Tamworth
• Dunstall Park Primary School Tamworth
• Hill West Primary School Sutton Coldfield
• William MacGregor Primary School Tamworth
• Mere Green Primary School Sutton Coldfield

What is Scotch Orchard Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Scotch Orchard Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Scotch Orchard Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Scotch Orchard Primary School was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Scotch Orchard Primary School have?

Scotch Orchard Primary School has 194 pupils on roll.

What age range does Scotch Orchard Primary School cover?

Scotch Orchard Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 61% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Scotch Orchard Primary School?

Scotch Orchard Primary School is at Scotch Orchard, Lichfield, Staffordshire, WS13 6DE.