The Orchard School
Causeway Green Road, Oldbury, B68 8LD
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Community special school
- Ages
- 2 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Elizabeth Hopewell
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- Smethwick
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Pupils on roll
- 173
- URN
- 132232
- Local authority
- Sandwell
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01215697040
About this school
The Orchard School is a community special school in Oldbury. It teaches children aged 2 to 11 and has 173 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 did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 30 | 19 | 29 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Average scaled score in reading | - | - | - |
| Average scaled score in maths | - | - | - |
| Reading progress | -5.10 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -4.80 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -5.40 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How The Orchard 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 | Sandwell average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 0% | 55% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 0% | 57.7% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 0% | 60.1% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 12.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 13.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 13.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 147 |
| 2023/24 | 146 |
| 2024/25 | 151 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 54.3%
- English as an additional language
- 25.2%
- Overall absence
- 13.32%
- Persistent absence
- 44.3%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Al Khair Primary School0.1 miles
Independent schools · West Midlands
-
The Primrose Centre0.9 miles
Local authority maintained schools · Rowley Regis
-
Halesbury School1.6 miles
Special schools · Halesowen
-
The Westminster School1.7 miles
Special schools · Rowley Regis
-
The Meadows School1.9 miles
Special schools · Oldbury
Other schools in Oldbury
- The Meadows School Special schools
- Bleakhouse Primary School Primary
- Brandhall Primary School Primary
- Burnt Tree Primary School Primary
- Causeway Green Primary School Primary
- Christ Church Church of England Primary School Primary
- Grace Mary Primary School Primary
- Langley Primary School Primary
- Moat Farm Infant School Primary
- Moat Farm Junior School Primary
- Oakham Primary School Primary
- Our Lady and St Hubert's Catholic Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Orchard School teach?
- The Orchard School teaches children aged 2 to 11. It is a special school in Oldbury.
- Who is the headteacher of The Orchard School?
- The headteacher of The Orchard School is Mrs Elizabeth Hopewell, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Orchard School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Orchard 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 School?
- The Orchard School has 173 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 2 to 11.
- Is The Orchard School a faith school?
- No. The Orchard School has no designated religious character.
- How have The Orchard School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 0% in 2022/23 and 0% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is The Orchard School's absence rate?
- The Orchard School's overall absence rate is 13.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Orchard School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Orchard School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
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 30 June 2026.