Beam Primary School

Beam Primary School is performing very strongly overall. Inspectors found a highly inclusive, nurturing school where pupils feel safe and are held to very high expectations. Pupils achieve exceptionally well, including in national assessments, and produce high-quality work across a broad and ambitious curriculum. Behaviour is excellent, pupils are happy, respectful and polite, and parents are overwhelmingly positive about the support their children receive. The school's strengths are wide-ranging. Reading and phonics are taught expertly, pupils with SEND are very well supported, including through a specialist provision for pupils with complex needs, and early years routines help children become independent and confident communicators. Personal development is rich, with pupils learning about British values, empathy and responsibility, and taking part in meaningful visits and a Pupil Parliament. Leadership and governance are strong, staff receive high-quality professional development, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. The main area for improvement is curriculum implementation in some subjects that have recently been reviewed. In these areas, delivery is less consistent, and pupils' mistakes and misconceptions are not always identified and addressed quickly. School leaders are aware of this and have begun taking steps to reduce the variability, but further work is needed to ensure all staff have the expertise to deliver the curriculum as intended. This was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and its first graded inspection under section 5; it was previously inspected under section 8 in 2019.

Strengths

• Highly inclusive and nurturing school culture
• Pupils achieve exceptionally well, including in national assessments
• Pupils are happy, respectful and polite
• Excellent behaviour in lessons and around school
• Calm and orderly school environment
• Expert teaching of early reading and phonics
• Strong support for pupils with SEND, including specialist provision
• Ambitious curriculum with clear knowledge and vocabulary progression
• Rich personal development and enrichment opportunities
• Effective safeguarding arrangements
• Strong governance and high-quality staff professional development

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum implementation is variable in some recently reviewed subjects
• Pupils' misconceptions are not always identified and addressed swiftly

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Beam Primary School attended 95.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 10.3% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.0% of pupils at Beam Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Beam Primary School had 15.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 14.8% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 19.1% of pupils at Beam Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.7% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Beam Primary School received £8,995 and spent £9,936 for each of its 542 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £1,815,000 (-£3,348 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Barking And Dagenham · Barking and Dagenham local authority: places and applications

What is Beam Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Beam Primary School is Good, from an inspection in September 2025.

When was Beam Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Beam Primary School was last inspected in September 2025.

How many pupils does Beam Primary School have?

Beam Primary School has 559 pupils on roll.

What age range does Beam Primary School cover?

Beam Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Beam Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 76% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Beam Primary School?

Beam Primary School is at Oval Road North, Dagenham, Essex, RM10 9ED.