Dorothy Barley Junior Academy

Dorothy Barley Junior Academy is recognized for its caring environment where pupils feel valued and included. The school has made commendable changes to the curriculum to ensure it is more ambitious, which reflects leadership's high aspirations for all students, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Although there have been improvements in educational strategies, some areas of the curriculum have not fully translated into enhanced pupil outcomes yet. Pupils are generally engaged and make good progress as they catch up on missed learning from previous years.

Strengths

• Caring environment that promotes inclusion and support
• Leaders have high aspirations for all pupils, including those with SEND
• Ambitious curriculum improvements to enhance learning outcomes
• Effective pastoral support and well-trained staff to encourage a love of reading
• Strong focus on pupils' personal development and well-being

Areas for Improvement

• Some curriculum areas do not align sharply with intended learning outcomes
• Inconsistent use of formative assessment leading to misconceptions not being promptly addressed
• High levels of student absence affecting educational benefits

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 Dorothy Barley Junior Academy attended 93.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 19.1% 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, 1.7% of pupils at Dorothy Barley Junior Academy 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 Dorothy Barley Junior Academy had 21.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 41.2% 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, 16.7% of pupils at Dorothy Barley Junior Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.8% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has a SEN unit with 11 pupils.

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 2024–25 Dorothy Barley Junior Academy received £8,903 and spent £8,275 for each of its 300 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £68,000 (£228 per pupil).

Across all 65 schools of Reach2 Academy Trust, income was £7,346 and spending £7,105 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

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

Dorothy Barley Junior Academy is part of Reach2 Academy Trust, which runs 65 schools. The nearest others:

• Concordia Academy Romford
• Langtons Junior Academy Hornchurch
• Chigwell Primary Academy Chigwell
• Brampton Primary Academy Bexleyheath
• The Woodside Primary Academy London
• Chapel End Junior Academy London
• Purfleet Primary Academy Purfleet-On-Thames
• Tidemill Academy London
• Copperfield Academy Gravesend
• Summerside Primary Academy London

What is Dorothy Barley Junior Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Dorothy Barley Junior Academy is Good, from an inspection in May 2023.

When was Dorothy Barley Junior Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Dorothy Barley Junior Academy was last inspected in May 2023.

How many pupils does Dorothy Barley Junior Academy have?

Dorothy Barley Junior Academy has 294 pupils on roll.

What age range does Dorothy Barley Junior Academy cover?

Dorothy Barley Junior Academy for pupils aged 7 to 11.

What are Dorothy Barley Junior Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 57% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Dorothy Barley Junior Academy?

Dorothy Barley Junior Academy is at Ivinghoe Road, Dagenham, Essex, RM8 2NB.