Windmill Primary School

About Windmill Primary School

Windmill Primary School in North Northamptonshire was rated Requires Improvement in its most recent Ofsted inspection in December 2024, a drop from the Good rating it had held since its previous inspection in 2015. The school’s most telling academic metric is its Key Stage 2 combined reading, writing and maths expected standard attainment, which sits at 45 per cent. That is well below the local authority average of 61 per cent for primary schools in North Northamptonshire, and it places Windmill 79th out of 90 primary schools in the area — in the bottom half of the league table. Within the East Midlands region, it ranks 1,135th out of 1,353 schools, and nationally it sits at 11,708th out of 13,686. The Ofsted report judged every inspected category — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision — as requiring improvement, with no area rated higher.

Looking more closely at the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, individual subject scores tell a slightly mixed story. In reading, 62 per cent of pupils reached the expected standard, with an average scaled score of 104, and 20 per cent achieved the higher standard. In writing, 70 per cent met the expected level, though no pupils reached the higher standard. Maths saw 60 per cent hit the expected standard, with an average score of 102 and 12 per cent achieving the higher level. The school’s progress scores for reading, writing and maths are not available in the data, so it is hard to say how much value the school adds relative to pupils’ starting points. The school has 370 pupils against a capacity of 420, and 22.4 per cent are eligible for free school meals, which is slightly above the national average for primary schools.

Windmill is oversubscribed for the 2025/26 intake, with 56 applications for 40 places and 35 first-preference offers made, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.4. The school offers a range of facilities including a sports hall, forest school, art studios and an outdoor playground, and runs clubs in chess, drama and gardening. Sports on offer include gymnastics, cricket, cross country, tennis, athletics and dance. The school’s SEND provisions cover a wide spectrum, including support for autistic spectrum disorder, speech, language and communication needs, social, emotional and mental health difficulties, and physical disabilities. Parent View responses from 57 families show a mixed picture: 61 per cent would recommend the school, but only 42 per cent of respondents said their child has SEND, and of those, only 38 per cent agreed that the school gives SEND children the support they need. This is a school that may suit families who value its broad extracurricular offer and forest school, but who are aware that academic outcomes and Ofsted ratings are currently below the local average.

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