Windmill Primary School

Windmill Primary School is an inclusive and nurturing school where pupils mostly feel happy and build warm relationships with staff. After several changes in leadership, the school is now more settled, and recent work on phonics and the curriculum is beginning to have a positive impact. Safeguarding is effective. However, pupils are not yet achieving as well as they should because the curriculum is not consistently taught well enough, pupils' knowledge remains weak in many areas, and teaching sometimes presents too much new information at once, particularly affecting pupils with SEND.

Strengths

• Inclusive ethos with warm, nurturing relationships between pupils and staff
• Pupils are mostly happy and enjoy the increased range of clubs and activities
• Stronger phonics teaching following whole-staff retraining and regular checks on pupils' progress
• Effective early reading support, including daily fluent reading and vocabulary explanation
• Early years support for children's speech and language difficulties
• A well-designed, ambitious curriculum has been introduced
• Many appropriate adaptations are made for pupils with SEND, supported by specialist training
• Pupils have opportunities to take responsibility through the school council and kindness ambassadors
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective
• Trust support helps the school meet statutory responsibilities, and staff feel more settled

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum implementation is inconsistent, leaving pupils' knowledge weak in many areas
• Teachers sometimes overload pupils with too much new information, particularly affecting pupils with SEND
• Subject leaders do not always have a secure understanding of how well their curriculum is being implemented
• Behaviour expectations are not applied consistently, and low-level disruption is not always addressed swiftly
• Some pupils use derogatory language or show a lack of respect for property
• Some pupils do not attend school as often as they should
• Pupils' understanding of fundamental British values and differences between people is underdeveloped
• Stakeholder communication is insufficient, leaving some parents unsure about behaviour approaches
• Some staff feel overwhelmed by the significant SEND needs they are supporting, and other pupils worry
• Personal development is not yet preparing pupils well enough for life in modern British society

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Windmill Primary School attended 93.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 17.0% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 3.5% of pupils at Windmill Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). 2 pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Windmill Primary School had 21.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.9% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 12.0% of pupils at Windmill Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 9.0% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Windmill Primary School received £6,706 and spent £6,827 for each of its 370 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £138,000 (£373 per pupil).

Across all 8 schools of Nene Education Trust, income was £6,877 and spending £6,854 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Wellingborough · North Northamptonshire local authority: places and applications

Windmill Primary School is part of Nene Education Trust, which runs 8 schools. The nearest others:

• Raunds Park Infant School Wellingborough
• Manor School Wellingborough
• St Peter's Church of England Academy Wellingborough
• Stanwick Primary School Wellingborough
• Woodford Church of England Primary School Kettering
• Newton Road School Rushden
• Redwell Primary School Wellingborough

What is Windmill Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Windmill Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was Windmill Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Windmill Primary School was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Windmill Primary School have?

Windmill Primary School has 343 pupils on roll.

What age range does Windmill Primary School cover?

Windmill Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Windmill Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 39% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Windmill Primary School?

Windmill Primary School is at Windmill Lane, Raunds, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, NN9 6LA.