The Orchard Infant School
Bridge Road, East Molesey, KT8 9HT
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Foundation school
- Ages
- 5 to 7
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- Voice Education Trust
- Headteacher
- Mrs Sally Cary
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication
- Constituency
- Esher and Walton
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 270
- Pupils on roll
- 251
- URN
- 124964
- Local authority
- Surrey
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02089792945
About this school
The Orchard Infant School is a foundation primary school in East Molesey. It teaches children aged 5 to 7 and has 251 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Strong standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Early years
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Trends over time
How The Orchard Infant School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 3.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 3.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 3.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 258 |
| 2023/24 | 261 |
| 2024/25 | 241 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Orchard Infant School compares
Its absence rate was lower than 95% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | — | 3.3% | 3.3% | 251 | — |
| St Lawrence CofE Aided Junior School, East Molesey | 75% | 3.3% | 5.7% | 309 | 0.4 miles |
| St Alban's Catholic Primary School | 83% | 3.4% | 4.8% | 418 | 0.6 miles |
| St Paul's Catholic Primary School, Thames Ditton | 72% | 3.2% | 8.9% | 360 | 0.6 miles |
| Thames Ditton Infant School | — | 3.7% | 0.5% | 190 | 0.8 miles |
| Chandlers Field Primary Academy | — | — | — | 298 | 0.9 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report6 May 2026
- 22 March 2022
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 3.32%
- English as an additional language
- 7.1%
- Overall absence
- 3.3%
- Persistent absence
- 4.71%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Lawrence CofE Aided Junior School, East Molesey0.4 miles
Primary · East Molesey
-
St Alban's Catholic Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · East Molesey
-
St Paul's Catholic Primary School, Thames Ditton0.6 miles
Primary · Thames Ditton
-
Thames Ditton Infant School0.8 miles
Primary · Thames Ditton
-
Chandlers Field Primary Academy0.9 miles
Primary · West Molesey
Other schools in East Molesey
- St Alban's Catholic Primary School Primary
- St Lawrence CofE Aided Junior School, East Molesey Primary
- Hampton Court House Independent schools
Common questions
- What year groups does The Orchard Infant School teach?
- The Orchard Infant School teaches children aged 5 to 7. It is a primary school in East Molesey.
- Who is the headteacher of The Orchard Infant School?
- The headteacher of The Orchard Infant School is Mrs Sally Cary, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Orchard Infant School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Orchard Infant School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is The Orchard Infant School?
- The Orchard Infant School has 251 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 5 to 7.
- Is The Orchard Infant School full?
- The Orchard Infant School has capacity for 270 pupils and 251 on roll (93%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is The Orchard Infant School a faith school?
- No. The Orchard Infant School has no designated religious character.
- Does The Orchard Infant School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records The Orchard Infant School as having no nursery classes.
- Who runs The Orchard Infant School?
- The Orchard Infant School is part of Voice Education Trust. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does The Orchard Infant School have?
- The schools register lists The Orchard Infant School's special educational needs provision as: SLCN - Speech, language and Communication. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- What is The Orchard Infant School's absence rate?
- The Orchard Infant School's overall absence rate is 3.3% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- Does The Orchard Infant School publish exam results?
- OfferDay shows exam results for a school only where the Department for Education has published them, and none are shown for The Orchard Infant School. That is usual for infant, nursery, special and independent schools, and for schools without recent published results.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 15 July 2026.