Riverside School
Main Road, St Paul's Cray, Orpington, BR5 3HS
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Community special school
- Ages
- 3 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Steve Solomons
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty, PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Orpington
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 319
- Pupils on roll
- 360
- URN
- 135232
- Local authority
- Bromley
- Telephone
- 01689870519
About this school
Riverside School is a community special school in Orpington. It teaches children aged 3 to 19 and has 360 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Riverside School, and its latest judgement is set out 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's most recent visit was a short inspection on 6 November 2024, where inspectors found that standards have been maintained. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 27 | 25 | 30 |
| 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 | -6.00 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -4.80 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -5.90 | - | - |
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.
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 18 | 20 | 20 |
| Attainment 8 score | - | - | 0.1 |
| Progress 8 score | - | - | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | - | - | 0% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | - | - | 0% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | - | - | 0% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | - | - | 0.0 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Riverside 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 | Bromley average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 0% | 66.4% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 0% | 65.7% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 0% | 66.6% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 12.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 332 |
| 2023/24 | 348 |
| 2024/25 | 357 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 41.14%
- English as an additional language
- 14.8%
- Overall absence
- 11.82%
- Persistent absence
- 35.76%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Woodview1.1 miles
Special schools · Orpington
-
Merton Court School1.4 miles
Independent schools · Sidcup
-
Farringtons School1.7 miles
Independent schools · Chislehurst
-
Darul Uloom London School1.7 miles
Independent schools
-
Cleeve Meadow School1.7 miles
Free Schools · Sidcup
Other schools in Orpington
- Bromley Beacon Academy Academies
- Browns School Special schools
- Dorton College of Further Education Other types
- TLC The Learning Centre Special schools
- Woodview Special schools
- Chelsfield Primary School Primary
- Crofton Infant School Primary
- Crofton Junior School Primary
- Darrick Wood Infant & Nursery School Primary
- Darrick Wood Junior School Primary
- Downe Primary School Primary
- Farnborough Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Riverside School teach?
- Riverside School teaches children aged 3 to 19. It is a special school in Orpington.
- Who is the headteacher of Riverside School?
- The headteacher of Riverside School is Steve Solomons, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Riverside School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Riverside 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 many pupils are at Riverside School?
- Riverside School has 360 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 19.
- Is Riverside School full?
- Riverside School has capacity for 319 pupils and 360 on roll (113%), so it is at or above 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 Riverside School a faith school?
- No. Riverside School has no designated religious character.
- What SEN provision does Riverside School have?
- The schools register lists Riverside School's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment; SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty; PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Riverside 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 Riverside School's absence rate?
- Riverside School's overall absence rate is 11.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Riverside School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Riverside 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 1 July 2026.