The wooden frame is now built, the roof is on and windows, doors and outside cladding are being fitted. The pitch is seeded and will ready for when we move in.

http://orchardprimary.gsstimelapse.co.uk/

The new building will be completed in Summer 2024. The school officially opened in September 2023, in designated areas of our sister school Isambard Kingdom Brunel Primary School (IKB), which is on the Taunton side of Wellington. This is just a 5-10 minute journey away and supervised transport is provided for families wishing to take advantage of this. Once the building is completed, the Orchard Grove staff and pupils will be moving into the new building as soon as possible.

The school initially opened with one reception class of up to 30 pupils. The school will grow each year with each new reception intake. The school is being built with 14 classrooms, so will eventually be able to accommodate up to 420 pupils, with 2 classes for each year group.

Yes, the nursery will open once Orchard Grove is at its permanent location on the Orchard Grove development. Once open, this will have a term time only and all year round provision, opening for an extended day.

For families wishing to apply for a place in our reception class for a 2024 start, an application will need to made through Somerset Council from September 2023. If you wish to join our existing reception class, please contact the school on 01823 711014 or email office@orchardgrove.bep.ac for more information.

We are not currently taking children in other years except our reception class. To apply for a place in this class please complete an 'in year application form' and email to office@orchardgrove.bep.ac

Yes, where The Castle School is selected as the preferred school, admissions for The Castle School will give priority to these children, as the Trust will have been working with these children from a young age and will want to continue the good relationships with families into secondary school.

Wrap-around-care for children is available for families to take up while we are at IKB and once we move to our permanent site. 

Uniform is available from South West Schoolwear in Taunton. This consists of a navy blue jumper/cardigan with the Orchard Grove logo, grey trousers/shorts/skirt or pinafore and white polo shirt (with or without logo). We aim to keep costs as low as possible with all but the jumper able to be sourced from local supermarkets and other outlets. Assistance can be provided for those struggling to pay for the jumper.

Yes, walking will be encouraged wherever possible. The site is accessible from everywhere in the new housing development and sits along the main spine road. This road will have traffic calming measures and a segregated cycle/pedestrian path all along it. Cycle and scooter storage will also be available for pupils, staff and visitors.

Yes, we want the community to benefit from the brand new facility and will be working with local groups to set an agreement for community use.