The Orchard Infant School
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The Orchard Infant School is a foundation school in East Molesey for boys and girls aged 5 to 7. It has 251 pupils and room for 270. About 5 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 76 out of 100. That puts it above schools like it, ahead of 34% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted visited in May 2026 and gave it a report card, which is below.
Bridge Road, East Molesey, KT8 9HT020 8979 2945orchard.surrey.sch.ukMrs Sally Cary headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted visited on 6 May 2026. Instead of one overall word, it now gives a grade for each part of school life. Read the full report on Ofsted's website.
Ofsted says these new grades can't be lined up against the old one-word grades.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 22 March 2022 | S5 Inspection | Good |
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
About 31 places were empty, so most families who apply get in, though a popular year group can still fill up. Pupil numbers have fallen by 8% since 2021/22, so places are getting easier to find.
In 2026 every child who applied got a place, so how far away you live didn't matter. That could change if the school gets more popular.
We measure in a straight line from the middle of your postcode to the school. The council measures its own way, and the cut-off changes every year. Use this as a rough guide, and read the council's admissions booklet before you apply.
How places were given out for September 2026. Every child who applied got a place (87 offers for 90 places).
Who goes here
Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.
Specialist SEND provision. Resourced provision (extra staff and funding within a mainstream school) and SEN unit with 0 pupils and a SEN unit with 6 pupils, for speech, language and communication.
To get a place in the unit or resourced provision, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school. Other schools in Surrey with speech, language and communication provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (13), Autistic spectrum disorder (8), Specific learning difficulty (8), emotional and mental health (2), Hearing impairment (1), Multi-sensory impairment (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 251 | 241 | 261 | 258 | 264 | 264 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 5% | 3% | 3% | 1% | 2% | 2% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 8% | 7% | 8% | 9% | 9% | 10% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 12% | 12% | 9% | 4% | 8% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 6% | 4% | 4% | 5% | 5% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 96.7% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 3.3% | 3.5% | 3.7% | 3.9% | 1.5% | 2.9% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 2.4% | 2.8% | 3.1% | 3.1% | 1.3% | 2.3% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 0.9% | 0.7% | 0.6% | 0.8% | 0.2% | 0.6% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 4.7% | 4.0% | 5.2% | 4.4% | 0.0% | 2.9% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 0.4 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest primary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Lawrence CofE Aided Junior School, East Molesey | Church of England | 670 m | 309 | Good 2023 | 89 | Compare |
| St Alban's Catholic Primary School | Academy | 920 m | 418 | Report card 2026 | 94 | Compare |
| St Paul's Catholic Primary School, Thames Ditton | Roman Catholic | 0.6 miles | 360 | Good 2024 | 81 | Compare |
| Thames Ditton Infant School | Foundation | 0.8 miles | 190 | Good 2022 | 77 | Compare |
| Chandlers Field Primary Academy | Academy | 0.9 miles | 298 | No overall grade 2025 | – | Compare |
| Thames Ditton Junior School | Academy | 1.0 miles | 357 | Report card 2026 | 96 | Compare |
| Hurst Park Primary Academy | Academy | 1.2 miles | 452 | Good 2023 | 70 | Compare |
| Cranmere Primary School | Council | 1.4 miles | 306 | No overall grade 2025 | 63 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares The Orchard Infant School with the 47 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 47 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
Nearby schools with a similar mix of pupils that score higher
Of those 47 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than The Orchard Infant School, nearest first. A school with the same kind of pupils and a higher score is the fairest sign that it gets more out of them.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warren Mead Junior School | Academy | 7.4 miles | 250 | Good 2022 | 82 | Compare |
| Holy Trinity CofE Primary School, Sunningdale | Church of England | 12.3 miles | 211 | Good 2024 | 87 | Compare |
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 76 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 76% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 51 to 90. That range is wide enough that the school could sit in the next band, so take the band as a rough guide rather than a verdict. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.
| What we looked at | How much it counts | Against schools like it | Effect on the score | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results over three years | 0% | no data | – | |
| Ofsted inspection | 20% | above | +0.18 | Ofsted report card, 0.4 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | below | -0.14 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | well above | +0.30 | 2024/25; 170 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 0% | no data | – | |
| What parents say | 0% | no data | – |
Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.
Questions parents ask
Is The Orchard Infant School a good school?
Yes, going by the figures. The Orchard Infant School scores 76 out of 100. That is above schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 34% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 51 to 90, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.
What is The Orchard Infant School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted no longer gives schools one overall grade. When it visited on 6 May 2026 it rated teaching as as expected, achievement as strong, behaviour and attendance as strong, leadership as as expected.
How many pupils does The Orchard Infant School have?
251 pupils aged 5 to 7 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 270 places, so it is 93% full.
Is The Orchard Infant School oversubscribed?
Probably not. 31 places were empty in 2024/25 (12% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at The Orchard Infant School?
Pupils were in school 96.7% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 5% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at The Orchard Infant School?
The average class had 27.9 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class had more than 30 pupils.
Does The Orchard Infant School have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It has resourced provision (extra staff and funding within a mainstream school) and sen unit for speech, language and communication. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Bridge Road, East Molesey, KT8 9HT
- Telephone
- 020 8979 2945
- Website
- www.orchard.surrey.sch.uk
- Headteacher
- Mrs Sally Cary
- Type of school
- Foundation school (Foundation school, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 5-7
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- Voice Education Trust (2 schools)
- Local authority
- Surrey
- Ward
- Molesey East
- Constituency
- Esher and Walton
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 124964 · LAESTAB 9362099 · UKPRN 10078302
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, consistent financial reporting 2024/25.
- Admissions outcomes: Surrey council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 2024, 2025, 2026.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.