Gidea Park Primary School

About Gidea Park Primary School

Gidea Park Primary School is a state primary in Havering that is heavily oversubscribed, a clear signal of its local standing. For the 2025/26 intake, the school received 330 applications for just 58 places, with 84 families listing it as their first preference. That works out at nearly six applications per place. The school is operating close to its capacity of 480 pupils, with 458 currently on roll. Its intake is notably less disadvantaged than the national average: just 8.5% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, compared with roughly 23% across England. The school is non-denominational and co-educational, serving children from ages 4 to 11. Headteacher Pawan Sharma leads a school that has held a Good rating from Ofsted since its 2012 graded inspection, and an ungraded inspection in 2022 confirmed it remains Good.

Academically, Gidea Park Primary performs well above the local average. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 assessments, 85% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with a Havering average of 65%. The school ranks 4th out of 49 primary schools in the borough, placing it in the top 10% locally, and 784th nationally out of 13,686 schools. Results are strong across individual subjects: 92% met the expected standard in reading, 90% in writing and 90% in maths. At the higher standard, 23% of pupils achieved the top marks across all three subjects, with reading and maths particularly strong at 49% and 46% respectively. Average scaled scores of 109 in reading and 108 in maths are comfortably above the national benchmark of 100. The school’s Ofsted report from 2022 rated both leadership and management and overall effectiveness as Good, though the inspection did not provide separate grades for behaviour, personal development or early years.

The school offers a solid range of facilities and activities. Pupils have access to a sports hall, playing fields, an ICT suite, art studios and a forest school area. Sports provision includes tennis, football, netball, swimming and cricket, while extracurricular clubs cover coding, drama, science club, choir and film club. The school’s SEND provision is broad, supporting children with specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, speech and language needs, social and emotional challenges, and autistic spectrum disorder. With no nursery or sixth form, it is a straightforward primary option for families seeking a well-regarded local school. The nearest Outstanding-rated alternative is St Edward’s Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, about a kilometre away. Given its strong results and high demand, Gidea Park Primary is a realistic choice only for families living very close to the school or with a strong catchment priority.

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