Orchid Vale Primary School

Orchid Vale Primary School has recently undergone its first inspection and has been rated as good across all areas of focus including quality of education, behaviour, personal development, leadership, and early years provision. The school is part of The Park Academy Trust and has created a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere where pupils feel safe and valued. With a strong emphasis on reading from an early age, pupils develop a genuine love for books, which contributes to their overall enjoyment and engagement in learning activities.

Strengths

• Positive and respectful culture throughout the school
• Pupils are enthusiastic about leadership roles
• Strong emphasis on reading, starting from Reception Year
• Well-structured curriculum in most subjects
• Effective support for pupils with special educational needs

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum is less well developed in some foundation subjects
• In a few subjects, the school has not effectively checked pupils' learning

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 Orchid Vale Primary School attended 95.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 7.6% 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, 2.3% of pupils at Orchid Vale 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 Orchid Vale Primary School had 24.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 20.0% 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, 13.5% of pupils at Orchid Vale Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.6% 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 Orchid Vale Primary School received £6,678 and spent £6,601 for each of its 386 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £316,000 (£819 per pupil).

Across all 8 schools of The Park Academies Trust, income was £8,113 and spending £8,070 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 Swindon · Swindon local authority: places and applications

Orchid Vale Primary School is part of The Park Academies Trust, which runs 8 schools. The nearest others:

• Abbey Park School Swindon
• Bridlewood Primary School Swindon
• Red Oaks Primary School Swindon
• Lydiard Park Academy Swindon
• The Deanery CofE Academy Swindon
• Kingfisher CE Academy Swindon
• Highworth Warneford School Swindon

What is Orchid Vale Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Orchid Vale Primary School is Good, from an inspection in October 2023.

When was Orchid Vale Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Orchid Vale Primary School was last inspected in October 2023.

How many pupils does Orchid Vale Primary School have?

Orchid Vale Primary School has 355 pupils on roll.

What age range does Orchid Vale Primary School cover?

Orchid Vale Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Orchid Vale Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 54% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Orchid Vale Primary School?

Orchid Vale Primary School is at Torun Way, Haydon End, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN25 1UG.