We celebrated the completion of a new school building with an official opening by Ranil Jayawardena MP and selected guests from the local community.

Mr Jayawardena, a former pupil of Hook Junior School, opened the building by unveiling a plaque to commemorate the occasion. “I was delighted to be asked to open the new school building – I attended the school many years ago and it is great to see how the ethos has remained while the school has grown. The new building is a hugely valuable addition for current and future pupils, which demonstrates the investment going into education in North East Hampshire. My thanks to Hampshire County Council for making it happen.”

Prefects gave guests a tour of the new building, which includes four classrooms, group work areas, welfare facilities, a new reception and administration centre. The school hall has also been extended to enable whole-school activities to take place and accommodate a broader range of activities.

Guests enjoyed a series of performances from children in each year group. Among these, a recital of poetry composed and performed by from children in Year 5 that summarised the history of the school and celebrated the ‘Outstanding’ judgement recently passed by Ofsted following inspection.

Representatives from Hampshire Country Council joined local community figures in the celebration, including former teacher Councillor Edgar, who praised the local authority for their commitment and foresight in expanding the Junior School in anticipation of an expected growth in the local population.

Headteacher Mrs Martin said ‘Work to construct the new school facilities has taken a year, during which time we have continued to operate and also gained an ‘Outstanding’ inspection judgement from Ofsted. Contractors Balfour Beatty have worked very closely with the school to ensure that we have been able to continue teaching and we are extremely grateful for their understanding of our needs. These new facilities enable us to continue to deliver outstanding learning experiences and ensure that we are prepared to educate future generations of children from Hook and the surrounding area as the population expands’.

Mrs Martin continued ‘The celebration today is recognition of the children being at the heart of the school; the facilities enable them to shine and develop to their full potential. We have seen this demonstrated in the performances that our guests have enjoyed and we look forward to many more generations of children displaying the same pride and enjoyment of their learning.’