Orchards Junior School
Nelson Road, Worthing, BN12 6EN
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 7 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- SPARKLE MULTI-ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Paul Jones
- Sponsor
- Sparkle Multi Academy Trust
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication
- Constituency
- Worthing West
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 558
- Pupils on roll
- 496
- URN
- 142381
- Local authority
- West Sussex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01903520202
About this school
Orchards Junior School is a primary academy in Worthing. It teaches children aged 7 to 11 and has 496 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Orchards Junior 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
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 27 March 2024, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. 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 | 150 | 152 | 122 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 62% | 58% | 61% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 9% | 3% | 2% |
| Expected standard in reading | 71% | 78% | 75% |
| Expected standard in maths | 77% | 68% | 74% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 70% | 71% | 67% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 105.0 | 105.0 | 105.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 104.0 | 103.0 | 102.0 |
| Reading progress | +1.20 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +0.40 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +0.90 | - | - |
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.
Trends over time
How Orchards Junior 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 | West Sussex average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 62% | 53.2% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 58% | 54.1% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 61% | 56.3% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 509 |
| 2023/24 | 472 |
| 2024/25 | 476 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Orchards Junior School compares
Orchards Junior School ranked 97th of 192 primary schools in West Sussex for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 43% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 28% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 61% | 6.7% | 33.2% | 496 | — |
| Orchards Infant School | — | 6.5% | 22.4% | 281 | 0.0 miles |
| English Martyrs Catholic Primary School, Worthing | 47% | 3.9% | 15.6% | 187 | 0.3 miles |
| West Park CofE Primary (Controlled) School | 65% | 5.3% | 12.8% | 760 | 0.5 miles |
| Hawthorns Primary School | 67% | 9.2% | 36.1% | 173 | 0.6 miles |
| Goring-By-Sea CofE (Aided) Primary School | 73% | 4.2% | 10.3% | 421 | 0.6 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 33.19%
- English as an additional language
- 13.2%
- Overall absence
- 6.71%
- Persistent absence
- 18.4%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Orchards Infant School0.0 miles
Primary · Worthing
-
English Martyrs Catholic Primary School, Worthing0.3 miles
Primary · Worthing
-
West Park CofE Primary (Controlled) School0.5 miles
Primary · Worthing
-
Hawthorns Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Worthing
-
Goring-By-Sea CofE (Aided) Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Worthing
Other schools in Worthing
Orchards Junior School ranks 11th of the 20 ranked primary schools in Worthing.
- Bramber Primary School Primary
- Broadwater CofE Primary School Primary
- Clapham and Patching CofE Primary School Primary
- Downsbrook Primary School Primary
- Durrington Infant School Primary
- Durrington Junior School Primary
- Elm Grove Primary School, Worthing Primary
- English Martyrs Catholic Primary School, Worthing Primary
- Ferring C of E Primary School Primary
- Goring-By-Sea CofE (Aided) Primary School Primary
- Hawthorns Primary School Primary
- Heene CofE Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Orchards Junior School teach?
- Orchards Junior School teaches children aged 7 to 11. It is a primary school in Worthing.
- Who is the headteacher of Orchards Junior School?
- The headteacher of Orchards Junior School is Paul Jones, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Orchards Junior School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Orchards Junior 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 Orchards Junior School?
- Orchards Junior School has 496 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 7 to 11.
- Is Orchards Junior School full?
- Orchards Junior School has capacity for 558 pupils and 496 on roll (89%), 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 Orchards Junior School a faith school?
- No. Orchards Junior School has no designated religious character.
- Does Orchards Junior School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Orchards Junior School as having no nursery classes.
- Is Orchards Junior School part of an academy trust?
- Orchards Junior School is part of SPARKLE MULTI-ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Orchards Junior School have?
- The schools register lists Orchards Junior School's special educational needs provision as: SLCN - Speech, language and Communication. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Orchards Junior School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 62% in 2022/23 and 61% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Orchards Junior School compare with other schools in West Sussex?
- Orchards Junior School ranked 97th of 192 primary schools in West Sussex for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 43% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 28% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Orchards Junior School's absence rate?
- Orchards Junior School's overall absence rate is 6.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Orchards Junior School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Orchards Junior 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 2 July 2026.