The admissions process

Choosing a school for your child

As an teacher-turned-registrar and mother of twins, I understand that choosing a school for your child is a big decision. My job as registrar is to make the process as easy as possible for you.

Call me for a chat (+44 20 8742 8544), look around the website or I can post you a copy of our prospectus. Please do come and visit the school either on an open day or a parents’ tour.

This page sets out the types of visits we offer, lets you download a soft copy of our prospectus, and tells you how to apply for a place for your child, along with our fee structure.

You may also find useful information on the site on bursaries, and the flexible entry points to the school.

Tiffany Hyatt

Visit us

Open mornings & book a visit

If you are considering Orchard House for your child, please do come and visit us.

We hold termly open mornings to allow visitors to see our school. The next one is on Saturday 14 March 2020 from 9:30am till 11:30am. Please book your place online using this form or contact our registrar, Tiffany, to reserve your place (email registrar@orchardhs.org.uk or call 020 8742 8544).

Alternatively, Mrs Edwards, the headmistress, invites you to join a parent tour during the school week so that you can see us in action and ask all the questions you have.

Visits may be arranged through the school office by telephoning 020 8742 8544 or by emailing registrar@orchardhs.org.uk.

For location details and a map see the Contact Us page.

Contact Us

Open morning booking form

Prospectus

Our school

The choice of a school is one of the most important decisions parents will take for their child and it has to be right. Our prospectus (available in soft copy here, or in hard copy by emailing the school office at info@orchardhs.org.uk) can give you only a flavour of Orchard House. We encourage you to come and see for yourself.

Download our prospectus

Entry points to Orchard House

Starting at Orchard House School

Children enter the school in the autumn term (starting early in September) unless a place becomes available at other times. They start either in the Den aged 3 or into Lower 1 (our reception year) aged 4.

Places occasionally become available for older children. Children below the age of 6 are not assessed for entry. For older children going into later year groups, the school will assess your child’s level of attainment (focusing on mathematics, verbal reasoning and English) to determine whether your child will be a good fit for the class. This is to judge whether your child will be able to fully access the curriculum that the intended class is following. (If not, your child might struggle, which would not be a good outcome.)

The final decision whether or not to offer a place always rests with the headmistress.

Breakdown of classes

How to apply

Entrance procedure

To give your child the chance of attending Orchard House, you first need to register them. Parents are asked to make an appointment to visit the school as soon as is convenient after the birth of their child and the headmistress usually shows them around the school in small groups or they attend one of the termly open events.

At the end of the visit parents are invited to take away and complete a registration form. Once the completed registration form has been returned to the school, along with the registration fee of £100, the school will acknowledge receipt of the registration and the child’s name will be placed on a waiting list for the preferred year of entry.

Places are offered in registration order with first priority given to younger brothers and sisters of children already at the school, and second priority given to brothers and sisters of children who have accepted a place at the school but not yet started. In addition, to qualify for this sibling priority, the younger brother/sister must be registered either at the same time as their big brother/sister is registered or within 3 months of birth, whichever is later. Offers for the Den (Nursery) and Lower 1 (Reception) are sent out by post 12-18 months before the child is due to start at Orchard House.

To accept a place offered for your child, you must:

Return the acceptance form, agreeing to the terms of the contract with the school.
Make a payment of the amount indicated on the offer letter, which will be equivalent to a term’s fees at the time the offer is sent.
Allow the school to collect by direct debit on the first day of your child’s first term at Orchard House, the balance of fees for the first term at the rate that then applies, along with a deposit of £2,500. (The school will return the deposit to you when your child leaves Orchard House, so long as the school has received payment of all monies due.)

If you have any questions about any aspect of admission, please contact the school’s registrar, Mrs Hyatt, by emailing registrar@orchardhs.org.uk or by calling +44 20 8742 8544.

To download our full admissions policy, please click here.

Fees

Fees per term from September 2019

	FEES PAYABLE PER TERM
THE DEN (NURSERY)
Mornings only (5 mornings each week):	£3,070
5 mornings plus 1 afternoon each week	£3,684
5 mornings plus 2 afternoons each week	£4,298
5 mornings plus 3 afternoons each week	£4,912
5 mornings plus 4 afternoons each week	£5,526
5 mornings plus 5 afternoons each week	£6,140
Occasional afternoon attendance	£63
LOWER 1 (RECEPTION), FORMS 1 AND 2	£6,140
FORMS 3, 4, 5 AND 6	£6,400

Please note that these fees include a hot home-made lunch (or salad and vegetarian alternatives) and most excursions (but not residential trips).

To find out about paying on a monthly basis, please request further information from the registrar or click here.

For information about the Local Authority grant and other Government schemes to help reduce fees click here.

A deposit of £2,500 is payable upon entry to the school. This is returned when your child leaves the school, subject to the school having received payment of all sums due to it.

Bursaries

House Schools Trust

House Schools Trust is an independent charity that raises funds and awards means-tested scholarships to bright and promising children whose parents would not otherwise be able to consider sending them to an independent fee-paying school. Means-tested scholarships are available, as funds permit, for children aged 7+. Candidates must currently be attending a state school and must have the right to reside in the UK. The scholarships are for places at one of the three schools in the House Schools Group, Bassett House in North Kensington, Orchard House in Chiswick and Prospect House in Putney. For more information, please visit houseschoolstrust.org.