Hammond stars top of the tree after Christmas

​January may be time to take the Christmas decorations, but pupils at Hammond School are getting used to life at the top of the tree after being recognised as the top performing junior school in the Surrey Heath area.

In the latest Department for Education tables, Hammond came top in five out of the seven key performance indicators, including the highest percentage of children reaching the newly-raised standards for 11 year-olds, as well as top scores in numeracy and literacy.

The school’s new status as the best performing in the locality has got the spring term off to the perfect start, says Hammond’s Head Teacher Sarah Evans.

“This is absolutely wonderful news and a huge endorsement of all the hard work done by so many people involved in school life at Hammond,” she added. “It’s not just about statistics, though – the report also showed that the level of progress the children make in their time here with us is ahead of other schools in the area, so we’re making them better prepared for secondary school, and also encouraging them to be confident, articulate, responsible young people.”

Since 2015, Hammond, together with its partner school Lightwater Village, has been a member of the GLF Schools multi-academy trust, a Surrey-based education group which now runs over 20 schools across four counties.

“Hammond consistently achieves very highly with a large proportion of children reaching well beyond the national averages demonstrating knowledge and understanding of expectations well in to the secondary curriculum,” added Ms Evans.

“Our expectations are high for all our children and we, and the Governing Body, are delighted with these outcomes. These results are testament to the hard work and efforts of all our children and the dedicated team of teaching staff that have taught them along the way. We can all take great pride in this achievement.”