School Timetable
08:40 - 08:55 am Gate opens / closes
08:40 - 08:55 Early Morning work commences
09:00 am Registration closes
15:25 pm - End of day (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday) for Reception year
15:30 pm - End of day (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday) for Year 1- 6
Cherry Pips Pre-School Timetable
09:00 am - 12 pm (morning sessions)
12:00 pm - 3:00 pm (afternoon sessions)
09:00 am - 3:00 pm - (full days)
For specific Key Stage times of the day - click here
School will close at 2pm every Wednesday from January 6th 2026, to allow for important continuous professional development training for teaching and support staff. Start/Finish times have been adjusted to ensure the same amount of teaching time.
Supervised wraparound childcare will be available from 2pm on Wednesdays, through our Extended School Service in the same way as it is provided on every other day of the week. See ES Flyer for further details on this provision.
The school gates open at 08.40 am where a member of staff from each key stage will be waiting on the playground. At Cherry Orchard, we currently operate a staggered entry and children should make their way to their classrooms independently. Y1 parents should drop off directly to the Y1 classroom door.
The gates close at 8.55am; pupils arriving after 8.55am should enter via main reception and parents must sign them in on the screen and specify lunch options. You will need to know your child's class and date of birth.
Pick up from the playground is at 3:30 pm. Staff will only hand over to a familiar adult; you should notify your class teacher via Dojo or the school office if an unfamiliar adult is picking up. If you pick up early, collection is from the front office and sign out on the screen with the reason for early pick up.
If you are running late, please call the School Office on 01322 242011, so we can inform your child’s teacher. Children who have not been collected by 3.30 pm are taken to the reception area. Parents are called and a record of the time they are collected is recorded in the late book. Children not collected by 3.45 pm will be taken to our After School Provision (ASP); Parents are charged for this service in line with the schools Charging Policy.
Children in Year 5 and 6 may walk home alone from school, however written parental permission is required. Permission forms should be emailed to the School Office. Children in Year 6 may also take responsibility of younger siblings to walk them home, however the younger sibling must be in KS2 and each request will be dealt with on a case-to-case basis.
Please be aware the car park is a public area and does not belong to the school. Please park sensibly in the lined parking bays only and respect the disabled parking bays. EDC (Ebbsfleet Development Corporation) operate a no return within two hours policy and you cannot park in the electric charging bays. You may receive a parking ticket if you ignore these warnings.
For safety reasons, no bikes or scooters can be ridden on the main playground before or after school. Please ensure your child dismounts at the main gate and does not ride their bike on the playground, ensuring they only re-mount after leaving the school premises.
Due to the anxiety of some of our pupils and parents, we do not allow dogs on the playground at drop off and pick up.
There is a no smoking / vaping policy inside the school gates