William Davies Primary School

About William Davies Primary School

William Davies Primary School is a state-funded mixed primary in Newham, London, serving children aged 3 to 11 under headteacher Sally Norris. It sits at rank 61 out of 61 primary schools in the borough, placing it at the very bottom of Newham’s local league table. For context, the top-performing local peers are Tollgate Primary School, Cleves Primary School, and Rosetta Primary School, all of which score significantly higher on the same ranking metric. The nearest school rated Outstanding by Ofsted is Monega Primary School, just 0.3 kilometres away. William Davies itself holds a Good rating from its most recent graded inspection in 2012, and an ungraded inspection in 2021 confirmed the school remains Good. With 244 pupils against a capacity of 262, it is not full, and 40.3 per cent of pupils are eligible for free school meals — well above the national average, reflecting the high deprivation levels in the local area.

Academically, the school’s Key Stage 2 results for 2023/24 show a mixed picture. Just 50 per cent of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing, and maths combined, compared with a Newham local authority average of 74 per cent. Only 4 per cent reached the higher standard across all three subjects. In individual subjects, 61 per cent met the expected standard in reading, 64 per cent in writing, and 68 per cent in maths. Average scaled scores were 101 in reading and 103 in maths. Nationally, the school ranks at percentile 77.8, meaning roughly 78 per cent of primary schools outperform it on the combined expected standard metric. Within London, it sits at percentile 91.3. There is no progress score data available for reading, writing, or maths, so it is not possible to say how much value the school adds relative to pupils’ starting points.

The school offers a nursery provision and a range of facilities including a Forest School, library, playing fields, sports hall, ICT suite, music rooms, and an outdoor playground. Sports on offer include athletics, cross country, football, and cricket, and there are clubs for drama, science, and book club. SEND provisions cover social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, visual impairment, and autistic spectrum disorder. For the 2025/26 intake, the school was oversubscribed: 100 applications for 30 places, with 33 first-preference applications and 29 first-preference offers, giving an oversubscription ratio of 3.33. This suggests strong local demand despite the low ranking, likely driven by its inclusive SEND offer and nursery provision. William Davies will suit families who prioritise a supportive, well-resourced environment with strong pastoral and SEND support over headline academic results.

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