HASLEMERE Educational Museum is officially top of the class after winning the Sandford Award for Heritage Education 2016.

The prestigious award is an independently judged, quality assured assessment of education programmes at heritage sites, museums, archives and collections across the UK.

It is a major recognition of the excellent work undertaken by Kay Topping, education officer, and her dedicated team of volunteers.

The museum now joins a select group of heritage education providers that have won the award since 1978, which focus on formal, curriculum-linked education opportunities offered to schools,

Recognition is also made of informal learning such as family programmes. Haslemere runs a wide range of interactive workshops drawing inspiration from its remarkable collections.

The schools programme supports the national curriculum and includes sessions on Ancient Egyptians, Greek theatre, rocks and fossils, dinosaurs and invertebrates.

Commending Haslemere as a “worthy winner”, the judging panel commented: “One would expect a museum with education in its title to deliver a quality experience for visiting school parties. Haslemere Educational Museum does not disappoint.

“We are absolutely delighted to have won this accolade,” Kay said. “We strive to provide engaging learning experiences of the highest quality and are proud to provide an exciting and immersive programme, so it is fantastic to have this recognised. Our diverse collections provide a vast range of material to inspire learning for all age groups as well as adult and family learning opportunities.”

Staff will attend the special awards ceremony in November. Curator Julia Tanner said: “We are absolutely delighted to have won. It is a great achievement that celebrates both the excellent quality of our schools programme and a credit to the hard work and expertise of Kay and her volunteer team.”