Harrow Lodge Primary School

Harrow Lodge Primary School

Address: Rainsford Way, Hornchurch, Essex, RM12 4BP Unique reference number (URN): 145111

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Attendance and behaviour Strong standard

Leaders prioritise attendance and know the barriers that prevent some pupils from attending school regularly. Their systematic and highly personalised approach is securing improvement. Pupils attend more regularly than in the past, substantially fewer are persistently absent and disadvantaged pupils have made particular improvements. Leaders identify concerns promptly and work closely with families and external agencies to provide targeted support. Leaders maintain robust oversight of pupils with complex circumstances and adapt their response accordingly. For the small number of pupils who face significant barriers to regular attendance, leaders work closely with pupils, families and other agencies to help them attend more regularly. This contributes to sustained improvements in attendance, including for disadvantaged pupils.

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Attendance and behaviour Strong standard

Pupils behave very well and have highly positive attitudes to learning. They create calm and purposeful classrooms, concentrate well, respond readily to established routines and engage maturely in discussion, including when exploring sensitive issues. At social times, pupils play safely and harmoniously. Bullying is rare. Pupils trust staff to respond promptly to concerns, including those relating to discrimination or harassment. Leaders understand the factors that can affect individual pupils’ behaviour. Staff use restorative approaches and make appropriate adjustments for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. As a result, pupils manage their behaviour well and participate successfully in school life.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Leaders have developed an ambitious curriculum that builds pupils' important knowledge over time through careful sequencing. Leaders use a range of information to identify priorities and refine the curriculum. Curriculum leaders understand their subjects well. They check how effectively the teachers deliver the curriculum and provide support and professional development to strengthen teachers’ subject knowledge and confidence.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The school prioritises pupils' acquisition of skills in reading, writing and mathematics from the earliest stages. Teachers make purposeful connections with previous learning to help pupils remember what they have learned. For example, pupils use mathematical resources confidently to explain their understanding and draw on their knowledge of history when studying related texts. In art, pupils remember important knowledge about artists, techniques and colour.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Teachers have secure subject knowledge and high expectations. They explain new content clearly, select activities carefully and check pupils’ understanding using a variety of strategies. Teachers identify misconceptions and adjust their teaching when necessary. As a result, pupils engage confidently with increasingly complex content and can articulate their learning well.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Teachers consistently use inclusive approaches in their teaching. They understand pupils’ individual needs and make appropriate adjustments without reducing the ambition of the curriculum. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities learn successfully alongside their peers. Carefully targeted support helps them to tackle tasks with increasing independence.

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Early years Strong standard

Children get off to a great start in the early years. Leaders are highly knowledgeable and have a clear understanding of what children need to learn. They know the provision well and use information about what the children know and understand to inform curriculum decisions, including how best to prepare them for Year 1.

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Early years Strong standard

The curriculum is purposeful and places a strong emphasis on communication, vocabulary, curiosity and independence. Children concentrate well and engage purposefully in carefully chosen and meaningful activities. They understand routines and expectations well and participate confidently in learning.

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Early years Strong standard

Teaching is highly effective. Staff listen carefully to children and skilfully use their responses and interests to extend language, thinking and understanding. They make the most of learning opportunities throughout the day, both indoors and outdoors. As a result, children build secure knowledge and skills across the curriculum and develop the confidence and independence they need for Year 1. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported effectively to participate and learn successfully alongside their peers because staff identify and meet their needs effectively.

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Early years Strong standard

Children achieve well. They communicate confidently and demonstrate positive learning behaviours. Staff provide a caring and nurturing environment. They understand children’s individual needs and fulfil their responsibilities for safeguarding, supervision, first aid and healthcare effectively. As a result, children are safe and well cared for and develop increasing independence.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Inclusion is central to the school’s work. Leaders maintain thorough oversight of vulnerable pupils and work effectively with families, the local authority and specialist services. Consequently, pupils facing additional barriers benefit from well-coordinated support and participate fully in school life.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders identify pupils’ needs promptly and understand the barriers that may affect their learning and wellbeing. Teachers use purposeful approaches, such as carefully considered seating, resources and targeted support. As a result, pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) access the same ambitious curriculum as their peers while developing their independence.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The school's internal 'Willow provision' is particularly effective in meeting the needs of pupils with SEND and those who face additional barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing. Staff effectively check what pupils know to establish individual starting points and plan highly personalised learning. Pupils develop their communication, cognition, attention and independence through carefully considered approaches. Leaders work closely with families and external specialists and adjust support as pupils’ needs change. Leaders understand the barriers faced by disadvantaged pupils and those known to social care. They use additional funding purposefully to strengthen pupils' core skills, particularly in reading and mathematics, improve attendance and enable disadvantaged pupils to participate in trips, clubs and other enrichment opportunities. Leaders evaluate the difference this makes, including improvements in pupils' basic skills.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders know the school and its community extremely well. They have an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and priorities for improvement. Their rigorous oversight identifies and informs well-chosen actions. For example, leaders have strengthened the teaching of writing. Pupils develop greater fluency through carefully sequenced transcription routines, including attention to posture and letter formation. Inclusion is central to leaders’ decisions. They understand the barriers pupils face and coordinate support carefully to help pupils overcome them.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Governors are knowledgeable about the school’s work and provide effective oversight. They use the information available to them to understand the impact of leaders’ actions. Governors fulfil their statutory responsibilities, including for safeguarding. They provide appropriate support and challenge and maintain a clear focus on the school’s priorities.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders place a high priority on staff wellbeing and workload. Staff feel valued and very well supported. Leaders plan professional learning carefully in response to identified needs. Curriculum leaders provide expert guidance and support that strengthen teachers’ skills and knowledge. Staff also benefit from subject-specific training and trust-wide professional networks. Leaders successfully develop leadership expertise from within the school and have appropriately identified further training to build on this established approach to professional learning.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Parents and carers have considerable confidence and a high level of trust in leaders and staff. They value leaders’ visibility, communication and responsiveness, particularly when supporting pupils with additional needs. Leaders work productively with external agencies and professional partners. They also contribute their expertise to work across the trust. These partnerships strengthen provision and contribute to the school’s continued improvement.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Leaders provide a rich and ambitious programme for pupils’ personal development and wellbeing. Leaders understand the needs of pupils and the local community extremely well. They use this knowledge, alongside pupils’ views and attainment, to adapt provision. Pupils develop their social, moral, spiritual and cultural understanding through a wide range of experiences. These include cultural visits, performances, charitable work, leadership opportunities and careers education. Through these opportunities, pupils broaden their horizons and raise their aspirations.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Pupils learn how to keep themselves physically and mentally healthy. They build their knowledge through a carefully sequenced relationships, sex and health education curriculum that responds well to local needs. Pupils remember their learning well. They

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Expected standard

understand healthy relationships, respect and inclusion and can explain different forms of bullying, including cyberbullying. Pupils learn about risks to their wellbeing, both online and offline. They understand the importance of valuing difference and ensuring that everyone feels included. Pupils understand the principles that underpin the fundamental British values and what makes every individual unique.

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Expected standard

Pupils benefit from an extensive range of wider opportunities. Leaders track participation and take deliberate action to remove barriers for disadvantaged pupils, pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and others who may need additional support. As a result, these pupils participate successfully in clubs, visits and wider experiences.

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Expected standard

Pastoral support is a particular strength. Staff know pupils very well and identify emerging concerns quickly. They provide timely support that is carefully tailored to pupils’ individual circumstances. Through the school's 'mental health champions' programme, pupils learn to understand emotions and support others. Consequently, pupils develop confidence and resilience and are increasingly well prepared for their next stage of education and later life.

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Achievement Expected standard

Pupils achieve well from their starting points. Across subjects, pupils generally remember important knowledge and skills. For example, in history, pupils recall previously taught content. In art, they apply their knowledge of artistic techniques and build on their understanding of primary and secondary colours when learning about tertiary colours. However, pupils do not routinely make connections between what they have learned over time and across different aspects of subjects. Consequently, pupils do not consistently develop a deep body of knowledge across the curriculum.

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Achievement Expected standard

Reading outcomes in national assessments have been above average over time. Children who need to catch up with aspects of their early learning benefit from purposeful support. They secure important basic skills and are appropriately prepared for their next stage of education. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils learn well from their individual starting points. However, disadvantaged pupils continue to attain less well than their non-disadvantaged peers, particularly in writing and mathematics.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils are happy and proud to belong to Harrow Lodge Primary. They learn in a caring and highly inclusive community and are known extremely well by staff. Pupils develop warm and respectful relationships with staff and feel valued and understood. They enjoy their learning and achieve increasingly well from their starting points. Pupils value reading as an important part of school life. They develop the knowledge and fluency they need to read confidently and access learning across the curriculum. Pupils listen attentively to others and contribute thoughtfully to discussions.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils behave very well. They understand and respond readily to well-established routines. In lessons, pupils concentrate, participate enthusiastically and work purposefully with others. They learn without disruption. At social times, pupils play harmoniously, cooperate well and use the available spaces safely. Pupils are safe and trust staff to listen and help if they have a concern. They understand different forms of bullying, including cyberbullying. Bullying is rare, and pupils are confident that staff would deal with any incidents quickly.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils benefit from a rich range of opportunities beyond the academic curriculum. They broaden their interests and aspirations through clubs, visits, cultural experiences and life- skills activities. Pupils learn about healthy relationships, diversity and respect. They take on meaningful leadership responsibilities and learn how to support others. Pupils develop confidence and resilience through the school’s strong focus on wellbeing.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, disadvantaged pupils and those facing additional challenges participate fully in school life. They access the school's ambitious curriculum and wider opportunities because leaders identify and remove barriers to their participation and learning. Pupils want to come to school. Vulnerable pupils attend more regularly than in the past because they receive carefully tailored support alongside clear expectations for attendance.

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure that disadvantaged pupils' attainment improves so that the gap with non-disadvantaged pupils nationally narrows. Leaders should continue their work to ensure pupils build a deep body of knowledge and skills across the curriculum.

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About this inspection

This school is part of Partnership Learning, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Roger John Leighton, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Saadat Mubashar.

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About this inspection

This inspection took place on 15 and 16 September 2026.

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About this inspection

Inspectors carried out this full inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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About this inspection

Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMIs) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with the headteacher, other senior members of staff, a representative from the trust and the local governing body, as well as other members of staff.

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Team inspectors:

Jeremy Loukes, Ofsted Inspector Robert Grice, His Majesty's Inspector Sahreen Siddiqui, Ofsted Inspector

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This was the data available at the time of the full inspection, taken from different sources . More recent data may have been published since the full inspection took place.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The inspector(s) used this data during the full inspection on 15 September 2026

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils currently at this school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

Inspectors confirmed the following information about the school:

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What does this mean?

The chair of the local governing board is Susan Asser.

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What does this mean?

The school uses no alternative provision.

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What does this mean?

Headteacher: Lynette Searle The total number of pupils who can attend the school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at any point in the last 6 years.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan. This covers pupils with more support than is available through special educational needs support.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with reported special educational needs support at the school.

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What does this mean?

Based on the English indices of deprivation (2019) and the school's location, we have calculated whether the school is located in a more or less deprived area.

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What does this mean?

Whether school has Resourced provision or SEND unit (if applicable).

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standards in a combined reading, writing and mathematics measure.

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average

2024/25 (final) 70% 62% Close to average

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average

2023/24 (final) 67% 61% Close to average

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average

2022/23 (final) 64% 60% Close to average

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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average

2024/25 (final) 79% 75% Close to average

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average

2022/23 (final) 74% 73% Close to average

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing.

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average

2024/25 (final) 75% 72% Close to average

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average

2023/24 (final) 75% 72% Close to average

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average

2022/23 (final) 72% 71% Close to average

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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average

2024/25 (final) 74% 74% Close to average

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average

2023/24 (final) 77% 73% Close to average

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average

2022/23 (final) 71% 73% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics.

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average

2023/24 (final) 53% 46% Close to average

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average

2022/23 (final) 39% 44% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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average

2024/25 (final) 74% 63% Close to average

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average

2022/23 (final) 56% 60% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing.

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average

2024/25 (final) 65% 59% Close to average

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average

2023/24 (final) 65% 58% Close to average

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average

2022/23 (final) 56% 58% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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average

2024/25 (final) 61% 61% Close to average

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average

2023/24 (final) 65% 59% Close to average

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average

2022/23 (final) 56% 59% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance gap

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after. The school disadvantage gap is the difference between the performance of the school's disadvantaged pupils compared to the performance of all non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics, including the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics and the disadvantaged gap.

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Overall absence

The percentage of all possible mornings and afternoons missed due to absence from school (for whatever reason, whether authorised or unauthorised) across all pupils.

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national average

2024/25 (3 term) 4.7% 5.2% Close to average

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national average

2023/24 (3 term) 5.1% 5.5% Close to average

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national average

2022/23 (3 term) 6.0% 5.9% Close to average

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Persistent absence

The percentage of pupils missing 10% or more of their possible mornings and afternoons.

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national average

2024/25 (3 term) 12.8% 13.0% Close to average

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national average

2023/24 (3 term) 14.3% 14.6% Close to average

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national average

2022/23 (3 term) 19.0% 16.2% Close to average

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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