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News20th June 2025

Â鶹avÓ³»­´«Ã½â€™s Hastings primaries scoop national excellence award

Â鶹avÓ³»­´«Ã½â€™s three primary schools in Hastings – Â鶹avÓ³»­´«Ã½ Blacklands, Â鶹avÓ³»­´«Ã½ Castledown and Â鶹avÓ³»­´«Ã½ Little Ridge – have won the award for ‘Transformation and Impact’ at the prestigious MAT Excellence Awards.

Â鶹avÓ³»­´«Ã½ Blacklands Primary AcademyÂ鶹avÓ³»­´«Ã½ Castledown Primary AcademyÂ鶹avÓ³»­´«Ã½ Little Ridge Primary Academy

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Leaders from Â鶹avÓ³»­´«Ã½ primary schools in Hastings

At a ceremony in London last night (Thursday 19 June), the schools were recognised for their rapid improvement and ongoing commitment to exceptional educational outcomes.

Prior to joining the Â鶹avÓ³»­´«Ã½ network, all three Hastings primaries had outcomes well below the national average. Two were in Special Measures and one was ranked in the lowest 10 percent nationally.

But within their first year of transition to the Â鶹avÓ³»­´«Ã½ network, they all achieved results significantly above the national average. Since then, they have maintained these high outcomes, placing them among the top performing schools across the country in 2024.

The national average for pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths at age 11 is 61 percent. By contrast, 86 percent of pupils at Â鶹avÓ³»­´«Ã½ Blacklands meet the expected standard, and Â鶹avÓ³»­´«Ã½ Little Ridge’s results have risen from 57 percent to 76 percent. Â鶹avÓ³»­´«Ã½ Castledown has jumped from just 18 percent to 75 percent – a dramatic 57 percentage points increase.

Â鶹avÓ³»­´«Ã½ Blacklands and Â鶹avÓ³»­´«Ã½ Little Ridge are now both rated Outstanding by Ofsted, and Â鶹avÓ³»­´«Ã½ Castledown is rated Good, with leadership and management graded Outstanding.

Last year, Â鶹avÓ³»­´«Ã½ Castledown won a Centre of Excellence IQM award for its inclusive practice and Â鶹avÓ³»­´«Ã½ Blacklands was awarded the Equality Award in recognition of the work the school does to close the gap for disadvantaged pupils.

Pupils at all three schools have funded access to mental health support via Place2Be and Â鶹avÓ³»­´«Ã½ Little Ridge has exceptional support for pupils with SEND through their speech and language centre.

Â鶹avÓ³»­´«Ã½ Regional Director for Hastings Lorraine Clarke OBE said, “We are thrilled that our Hastings primaries have been recognised with this prestigious MAT Excellence Award.

“Our teachers and wider school staff have worked tirelessly to drive up standards, and I’d like to thank the whole school community for their support.

“Now all our pupils are benefitting from an improved education that prepares them well for the future .�