Becontree Primary School is a successful, inclusive, multi-cultural, two-form entry primary school situated in the Becontree Ward of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Barking and Dagenham is an outer London borough.
We pride ourselves on providing high-quality education and care for the 500 children aged 3 to 11 who attend the school. The local community benefits from a Children's Centre that is situated on the same site. Established partnership working with 7 other local schools has been in place since April 2016 as part of our membership of the PACE Trust.
Becontree is a very happy and supportive place to work and learn. Stable staffing over several years is reflective of the positive culture we have. There are currently over 70 members of staff employed at our school, who work as a cohesive team. Clear expectations ensure that each individual understands the vital contribution they make to the success of the school and outcomes for children. Feedback from visitors and supply teachers is overwhelmingly positive and new members of staff experience a warm welcome and effective induction, ensuring they quickly feel a sense of belonging.
We are very proud to have consistently improved outcomes for children’s learning whilst maintaining and developing a safe, inclusive, and nurturing culture and ethos. Safeguarding children is everyone’s responsibility and our work in this area is informed and supported by clear procedures and policies.
Partnership with parents is key to our success and we continue to develop our work in this area. Before and after school care for children has been available to parents for a fee for several years. Our full-time Parent Support Adviser plays a vital role in building links with parents and providing support to our children and their families. The school works in close partnership with other schools in the PACE Trust and the local authority and continually strives to improve the learning environment, education, and opportunities for all of our children.
The BSA stands for Becontree School Association. We are a group of parents, grandparents, and volunteers who get together and create wonderful exciting fundraising events for our children to enjoy.
We have been operating successfully for around 6 years now and have raised more than £10,000. £5000 of this money has created a centerpiece garden in our main, playground which opened in September 2014. Trees were planted in the center of the 4 seating areas for everyone to enjoy for generations to come. We are currently helping the school to create a pleasant canopy and seating area in the Infant playground so that children may relax and be shaded in all types of weather. Last year, we purchased some benches which are located at the school reception for Parents to wait comfortably in this area. We also bought a lovely Green House, which has been erected at the back of the School so we can continue our 'Seed to Plate' program as our previous greenhouse was old and perished in some bad weather. In addition to our growing stock of games and prizes, we also bought 3 fantastic large gazebos, so that our events can continue in all weathers, and just recently we have bought some barriers which can be used at many of our events to help organize queues and keep things safe.
Becontree Primary School began its life in October 1922. Since then, both the physical environment and the quality of education have undergone many changes that have led to significant improvements in all aspects of the school’s work.
In 2007, significant refurbishment work was carried out to establish the current layout and services provided from the school site. One end of the site houses a local authority Children’s Centre whilst the other end forms the front entrance of the school with an administration department and additional hall. The school is spacious and very well equipped with a large library, an ICT suite, a computing curriculum suite, additional teaching bases, and three spacious halls. All teaching spaces are fitted with digital projectors, Visualisers, and a laptop with an internet connection. The CC4 server significantly enhances IT capabilities across the school.
In recent years the school population has changed considerably with approximately 80% of our pupils coming from ethnic minority backgrounds many of who do not speak English as their first language.75% of our current school population is made up of the following ethnic groups: White British (23%), Any other white background (16%), Black African (11%), Bangladeshi (13%) and Pakistani (12%). 39 different languages are spoken by children at the school. Quality first teaching and additional support ensure that all groups of children make excellent progress and quickly acquire new vocabulary and language skills in English to enable them to access the curriculum.
There is currently 26% of the school population identified as Pupil Premium. Additional funding is allocated to the school to support learning and progress for this group of children. Our school website provides a summary of spending and its impact.
