We warmly welcome all admissions to The Orchards School.
Reception Admissions
Applications for a place in Reception should be made through the local authority in which your child lives. For Worcestershire, follow the link School Admissions | Worcestershire County Council.
If you need any help with this, please contact the school office via email office@theorchardsschool.org
Children are normally admitted in the September in the year in which they reach their fifth birthday without reference to colour, creed, aptitude or ability. The Local Authority will admit children up to the school’s Pupil Admissions Number – 60 children.
- When there are more applications than places, children are admitted in the order of priority according to Appendix A in the attendance policy
Nursery School Admissions
Our planned admission number for 3 – 4 year old Nursery is 21 places for each session.
All children are eligible for 15-hours free Nursery education from the term after their 3rd birthday. Some children may also be eligible for 30 hours. For more details contact our school office. Details can be found Apply for 30 hours of childcare for 3 and 4 year olds | Worcestershire County Council
Application forms for all Nursery places must be returned to the school office.
Other Main School Admissions including In-Year Admissions
Our planned admission number for each year group is 60
The Orchards School aims to educate every child holistically and follows the Code of Admissions where all places are allocated in an open and fair way.
We fulfil the government’s requirement to restrict Early Years and Key Stage 1 classes to a maximum of 30 and prefer to keep our numbers below this if possible.
Requests for admission to Reception made after the normal round of admissions, from 1 September, or for places in other year groups should be made directly to the local authority.
https://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/info/20099/school_admissions
Pupils can readily be admitted if there are fewer children in the year group than the Pupil Admissions Number. Where the year group is full, a place may still be offered providing;
- there is an education, health and welfare plan in place
- the child is a ‘looked after’ child
- no other applicants (other than those prioritised through EHW and CLA) have been refused places in the same year group – wherever they live
- the child is living or moving into the school’s priority area (evidence will be required)
- the admission will not breach the class size limit for infants
If a school place can not be offered, parents may appeal this decision by contacting the headteacher. Please see admissions policy for details of appeal processes.
Waiting Lists
Waiting lists for Academy, Foundation, Free and Voluntary Aided Schools, are maintained by the individual schools and parents will need to contact the school directly in order to be included. As an academy school The Orchards holds its own waiting list.
You should be aware that a school waiting list is an active document. As parents request for their children to be included on the list, the position of an individual child already on the list can change. A waiting list does not give priority based simply on the date an application was added to the list.
Please find all Admissions Policies in our Key Information Tab, under Policies.
Useful Links
| School Admissions | https://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/schooladmissions |
| School Search | https://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/schoolsearch |
| Policies and Appeals | https://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/policiesandappeals |
| Booklets and Guides | https://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/admissionsguides |
| Co-ordinated Schemes | https://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/coordinatedschemes |
| Fair Access Protocol | https://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2022-09/fair_access_protocol_for_worcestershire_schools.pdf |
| Free School Meals | https://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/freeschoolmeals |
| School Transport | http://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/schooltransport |