Elizabeth Selby Infants' School

An infant school that starts early, with places for children from age two, and a clear emphasis on children’s rights, routines, and confidence. The school’s RISE values, Respect, Inclusion, Safety and Equality, give a practical lens for behaviour and day to day decision making, rather than an abstract poster on a wall.

It is also a school built around working family logistics. The school day runs 8.55am to 3.25pm, with wraparound care running from 8.00am to 4.30pm, plus a structured breakfast club 8.00am to 8.55am and an after school club 3.30pm to 4.30pm on weekdays in term time.

As a state school in Tower Hamlets, there are no tuition fees. Admissions are coordinated through the local authority for Reception, with separate nursery application timelines.

The school’s identity is closely tied to the story of Miss Elizabeth Selby, who led the school from 1975 to 1986, and whose legacy led to the renaming from Lawdale Infant School to Elizabeth Selby Infant School in 1990. That history matters, not as nostalgia, but as a clear signal that leadership and community memory are taken seriously.

Today’s leadership team is clearly presented on the school website, with Shahi Ahmed listed as Head teacher. For parents, that transparency tends to show up elsewhere too, in how routines are explained and how responsibilities are shared between school and home.

The Rights Respecting approach is more than a badge here. The school describes having achieved UNICEF’s Rights Respecting Schools Gold Award, and explicitly frames its School Council around the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, including children having a say in matters affecting them (Article 12). This tends to suit families who want a calm, respectful tone, where children learn the language of rights alongside the responsibility to respect others.

Because this is an infant school (up to age seven), parents will not get the same headline national measures that exist at the end of primary school. The better indicators are the clarity of curriculum planning in early reading and language, the consistency of routines, and external evaluation.

The latest Ofsted inspection, published on 25 May 2023 following an inspection in March 2023, judged the school Good.

The report describes pupils behaving well, engaging readily in lessons, and benefitting from wider experiences such as educational trips that build confidence.

Early reading and communication sit at the centre of the infant years, so parents should look for the practical mechanics. The evidence base here points to children joining in with stories and rhymes and building confidence through structured experiences and trips.

Outdoor learning is another distinctive strand. The school’s Forest School offer is described in concrete terms, including den making, camp fires, a mud kitchen, and the use of tools, with sessions planned around year group and current topics. For younger pupils, this can be a strong complement to table based learning, particularly for self regulation and language through shared play.

For two year olds, the school describes a pre nursery class focused on confidence, independence, and consistent routines with a familiar peer group and staff team. This is a good fit for families looking for a steady step into school life, rather than a purely ad hoc childcare model.

Pupils leave at the end of Year 2, so the key question is transition into junior schooling and how the local authority manages allocations. In Tower Hamlets, families should plan this pathway early, particularly if you are aiming for a specific junior school, and keep an eye on application windows and any supplementary requirements.

A practical approach is to use FindMySchool’s comparison tools to shortlist likely junior options by distance, transport route, and headline context, then validate details through the local authority admissions guidance.

For Reception entry, Tower Hamlets' coordinated admissions timetable for September 2027 entry opens on 1 September 2026, with the closing date for applications on 15 January 2027. Offers are issued on 16 April 2027, and families are asked to confirm acceptance by 30 April 2027.

Nursery admissions have a separate schedule from Reception. The supplied 2027 fact pack does not include an automatic-use nursery timetable for this school, so families should verify the current nursery closing date and offer timetable directly with Tower Hamlets before applying.

Demand indicators suggest a competitive but not extreme picture. For the primary entry route, the school recorded 67 applications and 48 offers, which is about 1.4 applications per place offered. The result is oversubscription, so precise preferences and timelines matter. (Figures reflect the latest available admissions results in the input.)

The Rights Respecting model gives a coherent pastoral framework, particularly when it is connected to explicit routines like charters and regular pupil voice through the School Council.

Wraparound provision can also be a pastoral strength when it is stable and familiar, because it reduces daily transitions for younger children. In local authority materials, the headteacher describes the wraparound model as built in response to working family needs, with structured time for socialising and enrichment activities.

For infant aged children, enrichment should look like confident talk, purposeful play, and early independence, not just a long list of activities. Three specific strands stand out here:

• Forest School as a practical, hands on outdoor learning offer, including den building and tool use.

• Rights Respecting School Council, giving children structured ways to contribute ideas and learn responsibility through rights language.

• Breakfast Club and After school club, with defined timings and a stated focus on structured activities plus free play, which can be especially valuable for children who benefit from predictable routines.

The school day is 8.55am to 3.25pm. Wraparound care runs from 8.00am to 4.30pm, with breakfast club 8.00am to 8.55am and after school club 3.30pm to 4.30pm on weekdays in term time.

For travel planning, families should use a realistic door to door route at peak school run time, especially if you are coordinating nursery drop off and onward commuting. If you are weighing multiple local options, the FindMySchool Map Search is useful for checking true walking distance from your home to the school gate.

• Separate admissions timelines. Nursery and Reception operate on different application calendars, with different closing dates. Missing a deadline can limit options.

• Oversubscription pressure. With more applications than offers recorded, families should plan preferences carefully and keep evidence and paperwork organised.

• Wraparound is a key part of the offer. If you need childcare beyond 4.30pm, you will likely need a secondary plan, so map this early against your working hours.

• Infant to junior transition. Your child will move on after Year 2, so think about the next step from the start, not halfway through Year 2.

A well defined infant school offer, especially strong for families who value structured routines, early years outdoor learning, and an explicit rights based ethos. Best suited to local families who want a clear wraparound childcare solution alongside a values led approach to behaviour and pupil voice. The main challenge is managing admissions timelines across nursery, Reception, and later the Year 3 transition.