Hamer Community Primary School

About Hamer Community Primary School

Hamer Community Primary School sits within the Rochdale local authority, a borough with 69 primary schools where only seven currently hold an Outstanding Ofsted rating. Among its 52 state primary peers, Hamer ranks 15th, placing it comfortably in the top third locally. Its nearest Outstanding-rated neighbour, Kentmere Primary Academy, is just 0.3 kilometres away, but Hamer holds its own against the top performers in the area. The three highest-scoring peers in Rochdale are All Souls Church of England Primary School, Hollin Primary School, and Healey Foundation Primary School, all of which sit above Hamer in the local rankings. Still, with a ranking score of 69, Hamer sits within the top 50 nationally for its key stage 2 expected standard measure, and its position reflects solid, consistent performance rather than flashy outlier results. The school serves a community with high levels of disadvantage — 54.1 per cent of pupils are eligible for free school meals — which makes its local standing all the more notable.

Academically, Hamer’s most recent key stage 2 results, from the 2023/24 academic year, show 69 per cent of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. That is eleven percentage points above the Rochdale local authority average of 58 per cent, and a strong outcome for a school with above-average levels of pupil deprivation. In maths, 78 per cent met the expected standard, with an average scaled score of 105, while reading saw 76 per cent at the expected level and an average score of 103. Higher-standard attainment is more modest: 33 per cent achieved the higher standard in maths, 20 per cent in reading, and just 7 per cent in writing. The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection, an ungraded visit in March 2024, confirmed that the school remains Good and is improving. The previous graded inspection, from 2013, also rated overall effectiveness as Good, with leadership and management and early years provision both scoring 2 out of 4 at that time.

Hamer is a three-form entry primary with a nursery, offering 35 reception places for the 2025/26 academic year. It is oversubscribed: 99 families applied for those places, with 30 first-preference offers made, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.83. The school’s facilities include a gymnasium, library, ICT suite, music rooms, playing fields and a sports hall, and it runs clubs covering film, science, gardening, art and coding. Sports on offer include dance, netball, tennis and athletics. The school has a broad range of SEND provisions, including support for specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, and autistic spectrum disorder. This is a school that delivers above-average results in a challenging context, and its oversubscription suggests strong local confidence. It would suit families in Rochdale looking for a well-regarded community primary with good academic outcomes and a wide range of enrichment activities.

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