Orchard Community Primary School
Grange Drive, Castle Donington, Derby, DE74 2QU
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- SYMPHONY LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Fiona Shields
- Sponsor
- Symphony Learning Trust
- Constituency
- North West Leicestershire
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 315
- Pupils on roll
- 303
- URN
- 148947
- Local authority
- Leicestershire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01332810078
About this school
Orchard Community Primary School is a primary academy in Derby. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 303 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
A short monitoring inspection followed on : inspectors found that standards have been maintained.
This inspection took place when the school was registered as Orchard Community Primary School (URN 119982).
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 43 | 51 | 45 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 65% | 88% | 82% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 5% | 10% | 2% |
| Expected standard in reading | 81% | 92% | 96% |
| Expected standard in maths | 77% | 94% | 93% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 88% | 90% | 96% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 106.0 | 110.0 | 110.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 104.0 | 107.0 | 106.0 |
| Reading progress | +0.90 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -0.10 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -0.20 | - | - |
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 Orchard Community Primary 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 | Leicestershire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 65% | 60.8% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 88% | 60.1% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 82% | 61.4% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 4.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 329 |
| 2023/24 | 329 |
| 2024/25 | 314 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Orchard Community Primary School compares
Orchard Community Primary School ranked 26th of 211 primary schools in Leicestershire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 90% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 79% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 82% | 4.3% | 10.2% | 303 | — |
| St Edward's Church of England Primary School | 70% | 3.7% | 16.7% | 166 | 0.2 miles |
| Foxbridge Primary School | — | 5.2% | 12.5% | 101 | 0.7 miles |
| Hemington Primary School | 50% | 6.9% | 21.4% | 47 | 0.8 miles |
| Diseworth Church of England Primary School | 17% | 7.2% | 13.5% | 21 | 1.8 miles |
| Shardlow Primary School | 86% | 3.8% | 14.7% | 89 | 2.0 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
-
Ungraded inspection report8 January 2025
- 16 November 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 10.19%
- English as an additional language
- 3.8%
- Overall absence
- 4.27%
- Persistent absence
- 6.83%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Edward's Church of England Primary School0.2 miles
Primary · Derby
-
Foxbridge Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Castle Donington
-
Hemington Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Derby
-
Diseworth Church of England Primary School1.8 miles
Primary · Derby
-
Shardlow Primary School2.0 miles
Primary · Derby
Other schools in Derby
Orchard Community Primary School ranks 7th of the 86 ranked primary schools in Derby.
- Akaal Primary School Primary
- Allenton Primary School Primary
- Alvaston Infant and Nursery School Primary
- Alvaston Junior Academy Primary
- Arboretum Primary School Primary
- Ash Croft Primary Academy Primary
- Ashbrook Infant School Primary
- Ashbrook Junior School Primary
- Ashgate Primary School Primary
- Ashwood Spencer Academy Primary
- Asterdale Primary School Primary
- Aston-on-Trent Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Orchard Community Primary School teach?
- Orchard Community Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Derby.
- Who is the headteacher of Orchard Community Primary School?
- The headteacher of Orchard Community Primary School is Mrs Fiona Shields, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Orchard Community Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Orchard Community Primary 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 Orchard Community Primary School?
- Orchard Community Primary School has 303 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Orchard Community Primary School full?
- Orchard Community Primary School has capacity for 315 pupils and 303 on roll (96%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Orchard Community Primary School a faith school?
- No. Orchard Community Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Orchard Community Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Orchard Community Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- Who runs Orchard Community Primary School?
- Orchard Community Primary School is part of SYMPHONY LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Orchard Community Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 65% in 2022/23 and 82% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Orchard Community Primary School rank locally?
- Orchard Community Primary School ranked 26th of 211 primary schools in Leicestershire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 90% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 79% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Orchard Community Primary School's absence rate?
- Orchard Community Primary School's overall absence rate is 4.3% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Orchard Community Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Orchard Community Primary 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 10 July 2026.