Orchards Academy (formerly Swanley Comprehensive School and then Swanley Technology College) is a mixed comprehensive

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

located in

Swanley Swanley is a town and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England, southeast of central London, adjacent to the Greater London boundary and within the M25 motorway periphery. The population at the 2011 census was 16,226. History ...

South East England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Berkshi ...

. The school was converted to academy status on 1 November 2010 and was renamed Orchards Academy. It is now part of the Kemnal Academies Trust (a Multi Academy Trust that oversees a number of secondary and primary schools across

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

). It was previously a

foundation school In England and Wales, a foundation school is a state-funded school in which the governing body has greater freedom in the running of the school than in community schools. Foundation schools were set up under the School Standards and Framework ...

and Technology College administered by

Kent County Council Kent County Council is a county council that governs most of the county of Kent in England. It is the upper tier of elected local government, below which are 12 district councils, and around 300 town and parish councils. The county council h ...

. However Orchards Academy continues to coordinate with Kent County Council for admissions. Orchards Academy offers

GCSEs The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

, BTECs and City and Guilds courses as programmes of study for pupils. The school had a sixth form for students aged 16 to 18 which closed in September 2021. Orchards Academy is managed by a headteacher and senior leadership team with oversight from a board of directors.

Notable former pupils

* Janice Hadlow, former controller BBC 2, author. * Crispian St. Peters, singer and guitarist. *

Mark Steel Mark Steel (born 4 July 1960) is an English author, broadcaster, stand-up comedian and newspaper columnist. He has made many appearances on radio and television shows as a guest panellist, and has written regular columns in '' The Guardian'', ' ...

, columnist and comedian. * Mike Stock, songwriter and record producer. *

Ruben Loftus-Cheek Ruben Ira Loftus-Cheek (born 23 January 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Chelsea. Early life Loftus-Cheek was born in Lewisham, Greater London. He grew up in Swanley, Kent and attended High Firs Pr ...

, footballer for

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

and

References

External links

Orchards Academy official website
Secondary schools in Kent Academies in Kent Swanley {{Kent-school-stub