Headteacher Welcome

Our aim at Orchardside School is to support each student by providing the highest quality learning experience daily. We are committed to finding the best ways of supporting, inspiring and motivating our students to re-engage them with their learning. Students arrive at Orchardside having had for whatever reason, a less than positive experience at mainstream school. We are committed to providing personalised learning pathways via our aspirational, broad and flexible curriculum.

We are committed to ensuring that every child who comes through our doors are given the tools and opportunities to achieve their academic goals.

There are various referral routes into Orchardside. We provide a variety of short and long-term placements for students at Key Stage 3 and 4. We work in conjunction with the Local Authority and in partnership with local schools to ensure we are the right provision for referred students.

We work holistically with every child and aim to provide an opportunity for students to re-integrate to mainstream, when all parties feel they are ready to do so. We have significant success supporting students back to mainstream. We do this with a dedicated mentoring team who are experts in their field. Local schools are supportive of our re-integration process which is done via the fortnightly Fair Access Panel. There are times when students will remain with us longer term. For those students who stay, they are guaranteed to have access to high quality teaching and learning daily, by teachers who are subject specialists. All KS4 students who remain with us will benefit from a balanced GCSE and vocational curriculum.

Upon entry, all students have a comprehensive induction process. This includes social and emotional assessments coupled with learning assessments that help inform staff when they come to the lessons. The induction process also serves as a support mechanism for new students because we know fresh starts in new processes can be an anxious time for students.

We have a team of professional, experienced, and dedicated staff who strive relentlessly to provide our students with a positive learning experience.

We employ a multi-agency team approach to support students’ emotional wellbeing and learning needs. We collaborate closely with parents to support them through the move to a new setting too. We pride ourselves on our personalised approach.

I hope you find our website informative. If you have any questions or worries, please do not hesitate to contact the school office and the team will put you in touch with the right person to support.

Visits to Orchardside School are welcome.

Celeste Fay

Headteacher