When should a child begin to train, and why the old fear was wrong
Most parents think lifting weights is dangerous for children. Twenty years of paediatric consensus disagree, and the reason has more to do with the nervous system than with muscle.
Your area
Children in Barking and Dagenham
How children here are doing, from the 2-year check to the end of primary school, set against England as a whole.
Health and early years
At a glance
| Measure | Barking and Dagenham | England |
|---|---|---|
| On track in all five areas at the 2 to 2½ year review 2024/25 similar | 82.1% | 81.4% |
| Good level of development at the end of Reception 2024/25 similar | 67.9% | 68.3% |
| Phonics check met in Year 1 2024/25 similar | 79.4% | 79.8% |
| Reception children living with obesity 2024/25 higher | 12.1% | 10.5% |
| Year 6 children living with obesity 2024/25 higher | 28.3% | 22.2% |
| MMR first dose by age 2 2024/25 lower | 79.5% | 88.9% |
| MMR two doses by age 5 2024/25 lower | 69.1% | 83.7% |
| 5-year-olds with visible tooth decay 2023/24 higher | 34.4% | 22.4% |
| Primary pupils persistently absent 2024/25 higher | 16.1% | 13.0% |
| Children in relative low-income families (under 16) 2024/25 higher | 23.0% | 19.8% |
“Higher” or “lower” means the difference from England is bigger than the margin of error; “similar” means it isn’t. These are figures for all children in the council area, not for any one school or child.
End of primary school
Year 6 reading, writing and maths
| Year | Barking and Dagenham | England |
|---|---|---|
| 2018/19 | 66% | 65% |
| 2021/22 | 60% | 59% |
| 2022/23 | 61% | 60% |
| 2023/24 | 63% | 61% |
| 2024/25 | 67% | 63% |
| 2025/26 | 68% | 63% |
Share of pupils in state-funded schools meeting the expected standard in all three. 2025/26 figures are provisional. There were no tests in 2019/20 or 2020/21.
Schools
Primary schools in Barking and Dagenham
49 schools
- Beam Primary School Dagenham
- Becontree Primary School Dagenham
- Dorothy Barley Infants' School Dagenham
- Dorothy Barley Junior Academy Dagenham
- Eastbrook School Dagenham
- Eastbury Community School Barking
- Eastbury Primary School Barking
- Five Elms Primary School Dagenham
- Furze Infant School Romford
- Gascoigne Primary School Barking
- George Carey Church of England Primary School Barking
- Godwin Primary School Dagenham
- Goresbrook School Dagenham
- Grafton Primary School Dagenham
- Greatfields Primary School Barking
- Henry Green Primary School Dagenham
- Hunters Hall Primary School Dagenham
- John Perry Primary School Dagenham
- Manor Junior School Barking
- Manor Primary School Dagenham
- Marsh Green Primary School Dagenham
- Monteagle Primary School Dagenham
- Northbury Primary School Barking
- Parsloes Primary School Dagenham
- Richard Alibon Primary School with ARP for Cognitive and Learning Difficulties : SEN Base Dagenham
- Ripple Primary School Barking
- Riverside Primary School Barking
- Robert Clack School Dagenham
- Roding Primary School Dagenham
- Rose Lane Primary School Romford
- Rush Green Primary School Romford
- Southwood Primary School Dagenham
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Barking
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Dagenham
- St Margarets CofE Primary School Barking
- St Peter's Catholic Primary School Dagenham
- St Vincent's Catholic Primary School Dagenham
- Thames View Infants Barking
- Thames View Junior School Barking
- The James Cambell Primary School Dagenham
- The Leys Primary School Dagenham
- The St Teresa Catholic Primary School Dagenham
- The Sydney Russell School Dagenham
- Thomas Arnold Primary School, Rowdowns Road Dagenham
- Valence Primary School Dagenham
- Village Infants' School Dagenham
- Warren Junior School Romford
- William Bellamy Primary School Dagenham
- William Ford CofE Junior School Dagenham