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.
Bedford · Central Bedfordshire
Thomas Johnson Lower School
Community school · ages 3–9 · 91 pupils
9% free school meals
Year 6 results
Reading, writing and maths
This school's pupils leave before Year 6, so it has no Year 6 results. Look up the junior school most of its pupils move on to.
Inspection
What Ofsted found
Good overall, report published 16/01/2023
Most recent check, 03/12/2019: School remains Good (Concerns) - S5 Next.
Ofsted stopped giving a single overall grade in 2024 and moved to report cards in November 2025. Older grades and new report cards aren't directly comparable.
The local area
Children in Central Bedfordshire
| Measure | Central Bedfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|
| Good level of development at the end of Reception 2024/25 similar | 68.2% | 68.3% |
| Phonics check met in Year 1 2024/25 similar | 79.2% | 79.8% |
| Year 6 children living with obesity 2024/25 lower | 17.9% | 22.2% |
| MMR two doses by age 5 2024/25 higher | 87.9% | 83.7% |
| Primary pupils persistently absent 2024/25 lower | 11.3% | 13.0% |
| Children in relative low-income families (under 16) 2024/25 lower | 11.7% | 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.