The Hermitage Junior School Review 2026: Inclusive junior school in St John’s, Woking

Junior schools can feel like a reset button, new teachers, bigger expectations, and a sharper focus on independence. The Hermitage Junior School leans into that transition, with a clear message that high standards and inclusion sit side by side. The latest Ofsted inspection in June 2024 confirmed the school continues to be Good, with effective safeguarding arrangements.

This is a three-form entry junior school (Years 3 to 6) serving St John’s and nearby parts of Woking. Leadership is shared across the Hermitage schools, with Mrs Clare Spires named as executive headteacher. For families balancing academic progress with a genuinely supportive approach to additional needs, that combination is a defining feature here.

A good junior school helps pupils feel older without forcing them to grow up too quickly. Here, the tone is purposeful, but not brittle. External evaluation describes pupils as happy and safe, with high expectations for behaviour that most understand and meet. A useful detail for parents of children with additional needs is the way peers are encouraged to recognise that some classmates need different support to manage behaviour, and that this is treated as normal rather than exceptional.

Inclusion is not framed as a bolt-on. The inspection narrative repeatedly returns to the idea that pupils with special educational needs and or disabilities learn the same curriculum content as their peers wherever possible, with adaptations such as simplified materials and extra resources. For parents, the implication is practical, your child is less likely to be separated from the mainstream experience, and more likely to be supported within it.

The school also puts deliberate effort into experience and participation. The same inspection points to a wide range of opportunities, naming events such as an annual talent show and a termly art competition. This matters because junior years can be where confidence is built, especially for pupils who do not always find classroom learning straightforward.

Leadership details are publicly available, and two sources align on the current executive headteacher being Clare Spires. Local reporting indicates she took up the executive headteacher post at the beginning of the 2021 to 2022 academic year.

The headline Key Stage 2 picture is steady rather than showy, with stronger subject scores than the combined measure alone suggests. In the 2024-25 / 2025 dataset, 60% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics combined, while 0% achieved the higher standard across the combined measure. Reading and mathematics scaled scores were 106 and 104 respectively, with grammar, punctuation and spelling at 106. Taken together, the published figures suggest a school where parents should look beyond the combined headline and ask how higher attainers are stretched across subjects.

The FindMySchool ranking context reinforces that this is not a top-of-the-table results outlier, and parents should read it that way. Ranked 8,275th out of 14,978 schools in England for primary academic outcomes and 12th in Woking for the overall primary ranking, this places the school below the national midpoint overall. These are proprietary FindMySchool rankings based on official data from the 2024-25 / 2025 dataset.

That does not contradict the higher-standard signal. It is common to see a school with a strong high-attainer group but a broader cohort where outcomes are more mixed. The practical question for families is where your child is likely to sit in that spread, and whether the school’s teaching approach helps them move up it.

The curriculum is described as ambitious and engaging, including for pupils with special educational needs and or disabilities, with current work underway to refine subject planning and resources. For parents, the most useful detail is not the label, it is what teaching looks like day to day.

In mathematics, the inspection highlights a focus on reflection and journaling to help pupils connect new learning to what they already know, building confidence with key skills. That tends to suit pupils who benefit from slowing down their thinking and explaining it, rather than racing to answers. In reading, the report indicates that most pupils learn to read accurately and fluently, supported by a well-stocked library and a renewed emphasis on phonics for pupils who are not yet fluent. The implication is reassuring for parents of late readers: support is structured, and there is an explicit intention to help pupils catch up.

Support for additional needs is treated as part of teaching rather than separate from it. Barriers to learning are identified quickly, supportive plans are put in place, and staff training is used to ensure teachers can meet needs across the cohort. The report also references the Orchard Centre and its integration with main classes for parts of learning, which matters for pupils who need specialist support but also benefit from belonging to a mainstream peer group.

A fair caveat is included in the inspection narrative: in some lessons, gaps in understanding are not always recognised early enough, and the recommendation is for teachers to check recall and conceptual understanding more carefully so pupils can use knowledge accurately. Parents of children who can appear confident while quietly missing foundational ideas should pay attention to this point and probe how teachers spot and close those gaps.

As a junior school, the exit point is Year 6, with pupils moving into Surrey secondary provision at Key Stage 3. The school’s published material describes transition work designed to make the move to secondary school feel exciting and manageable, including liaison between special educational needs coordinators where a child’s needs require it.

What this usually means in practice is two layers of preparation. For all pupils, there will be the universal pieces, routines that build organisational habits, a ramp-up in homework expectations across Years 4 to 6, and increasing emphasis on independent learning. For pupils with additional needs, there is often extra scaffolding, additional visits, transition booklets, and structured conversations with the receiving school.

Because secondary destinations depend heavily on home address, family preference, and the coordinated admissions process, parents should treat transition planning as a two-track job: educational readiness (which the school supports) and admissions logistics (which sit with families and the local authority). Surrey’s secondary timeline sits separately from the Year 3 junior admissions process, so it is worth diarising well in advance.

Entry is into Year 3, and the school’s published admission number for initial Year 3 intake is 90. Admissions for the normal intake follow Surrey’s coordinated scheme for primary, infant and junior schools, rather than a direct school-run process.

The key deadline for September 2027 entry is clear. Applications open on 2 November 2026 and must be made by 15 January 2027, and Surrey will issue offer outcomes on 16 April 2027. If you are making an exceptional social or medical case, families should check the current trust policy for evidence requirements and timing.

Oversubscription criteria for Year 3 intake follow a structured order: looked after and previously looked after children, exceptional social or medical need, siblings, children of staff, children attending The Hermitage Infant School, then other applicants. Where a tie-break is needed within a criterion, priority is determined by straight-line distance to the official school gate, measured using the local authority’s geographic system.

. A practical step is to use FindMySchool’s Map Search to sense-check your home-to-gate distance before you build a shortlist around this option.

The pastoral baseline looks strong, with behaviour expectations understood by pupils and a culture that treats difference as normal. The inspection narrative describes bullying and unkind behaviour as rare, with adults acting quickly when issues arise. For parents, the useful implication is consistency. Junior pupils usually respond well when they know exactly where boundaries sit and believe adults will follow through.

Safeguarding is addressed plainly, with the June 2024 inspection stating safeguarding arrangements are effective. This is the one area where parents should expect tight routines, clear reporting pathways, and a culture that encourages pupils to speak up early.

Attendance is also discussed, with the school working closely with families and agencies where pupils are persistently absent, and improvement noted. Families dealing with complex health or anxiety-related attendance should see that as a sign the school is used to multi-agency work, but it is still worth asking how individual plans are put into practice.

A junior school’s wider offer matters because it is often where confidence shows up first. Here, there is evidence of both performance opportunities and structured clubs.

The school’s own clubs timetable (Autumn 2024) gives unusually concrete detail. Activities listed include hockey for Years 4 to 6, choir for all years, football options across year groups including girls’ football, netball for Years 5 and 6, tennis for Years 3 and 4, and a drama club branded On-Stage Now. There is also a Year 4 science club running in a named STEM Room, which is a useful signal that enrichment is not limited to sport and performance.

For families with children who thrive on routine, it matters that the timetable includes both before-school activity (for example, a martial arts session shown as running 7:45am to 8:30am) and after-school slots, which can help working parents and can also reduce end-of-day behavioural wobble for some pupils.

The inspection evidence complements this by noting a focus on broad experiences and naming whole-school events such as an annual talent show and a termly art competition. The best implication is social, children who may not be first in line academically can still shine, be seen, and belong.

This is a state school with no tuition fees.

The published school day timings distinguish between infant and junior phases. For the junior school, drop-off is from 8:30am, with the school day running 8:30am to 3:20pm. Gates open at 8:30am and 3:10pm, with gates closing at 8:40am and 3:30pm. Wraparound care is available through breakfast club and after-school club, with after-school club running until 5:45pm.

For transport planning, St John’s is well placed for local walking and short car journeys around Woking, but parents should still check parking and drop-off patterns at peak times, as junior schools of this size can become congested.

• Results profile is mixed. In the 2024-25 / 2025 dataset, 60% met the combined expected standard and 0% reached the combined higher standard. Parents should ask how gaps are spotted early and how pupils with higher prior attainment are stretched across individual subjects.

• Teaching consistency is an improvement focus. The inspection notes that, at times, gaps in understanding are not recognised quickly enough, and teachers are expected to check recall and conceptual understanding more carefully. Families may want to probe how this is being embedded in day-to-day lessons.

• Admission logistics matter for Year 3 entry. The published admission number is 90 and the process runs through Surrey’s coordinated scheme with a fixed deadline. If you move house or change circumstances, the timing and evidence requirements can be unforgiving.

• Support for additional needs is a strength, but still ask about fit. The Orchard Centre and the broader approach to SEND are described positively, with integration into main classes where possible. Parents should still ask what support looks like for your child’s specific profile, especially around reading fluency and classroom independence.

The Hermitage Junior School is best understood as an inclusive, well-run junior phase with clear behaviour expectations, a broad set of experiences, and a serious approach to supporting additional needs. It will suit families who want a structured school day, visible enrichment beyond lessons, and an environment where pupils with different needs are expected to belong and achieve alongside peers. The main decision point is whether your child needs a consistently high-performing results environment, or a balanced setting with particular strength in inclusion and wider participation.