Baddow Hall Infant School

Baddow Hall Infant School is a happy, caring community infant school where pupils feel safe and behave well. This was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and it was judged Good in all key areas: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. No overall effectiveness grade was given under current inspection arrangements. The previous inspection grade was also Good. The school has a well-designed curriculum and strong phonics teaching, helping pupils become confident readers from Reception. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported well, including through the recently introduced Butterfly Room, and the school works closely with parents. Personal development is a notable strength, with a broad range of clubs, trips and experiences helping pupils learn to be curious, resilient and respectful. Attendance is tracked rigorously and safeguarding arrangements are effective. The main areas for improvement concern vocabulary and recall. In some subjects, staff do not check quickly enough that pupils are using modelled vocabulary and retaining prior learning, which can leave pupils less ready for new content. This is also evident in some Reception interactions, where adults do not always fully support children to develop key vocabulary. Leaders and governors are focused on continued improvement.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, feel safe and speak to trusted adults about worries.
• Pupils are kind, respectful and conduct themselves well around school.
• Staff are caring and nurturing, helping children learn routines quickly from Reception.
• The curriculum is well designed and builds progressively from the early years.
• Pupils with SEND are identified promptly and supported precisely, including through the Butterfly Room.
• Phonics teaching is strong, helping pupils become fluent readers and develop a love of reading.
• Pupils' personal development is well considered through clubs, trips and wider experiences.
• Attendance is tracked rigorously and families are supported to improve it.
• Governors check improvements and hold leaders to account.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, teachers do not check that pupils are using the vocabulary that has been modelled.
• Pupils often find it hard to recall subject-specific vocabulary, including in Reception.
• In some subjects, the school does not check how well pupils have remembered previous learning.
• Gaps in pupils' understanding and retention are not identified quickly enough, so pupils are occasionally not fully ready for new content.
• In Reception, staff interactions do not always fully support children to develop key vocabulary.

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 Baddow Hall Infant School attended 95.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 8.1% 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, 1.2% of pupils at Baddow Hall Infant School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were 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 Baddow Hall Infant School had 19.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 13.3% of pupils at Baddow Hall Infant School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.2% 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 Baddow Hall Infant School received £7,094 and spent £7,335 for each of its 166 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £163,000 (£983 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).

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All schools in Chelmsford · Essex local authority: places and applications

What is Baddow Hall Infant School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Baddow Hall Infant School is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Baddow Hall Infant School last inspected by Ofsted?

Baddow Hall Infant School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Baddow Hall Infant School have?

Baddow Hall Infant School has 166 pupils on roll.

What age range does Baddow Hall Infant School cover?

Baddow Hall Infant School for pupils aged 5 to 7.

Where is Baddow Hall Infant School?

Baddow Hall Infant School is at New Road, Great Baddow, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 7QZ.