Macclesfield UP CLOSE: With Wincle Primary School Headteacher Sarah Smith
Macclesfield Nub News was founded on principles of supporting our community. This includes promoting Macclesfield shops, companies, charities, clubs and more. Now and then, we profile some of these companies and organisations in a regular feature called UP CLOSE, finding out they key people behind the organisation and what makes them tick.
Recent editions include the baker for a popular Chestergate cafe, a business which recently celebrated their 60th birthday, and the owner of a Macclesfield record shop.
Today, we leave Macclesfield town centre to head to the gorgeous village of Wincle, to speak to the long-serving Headteacher at Wincle CE Primary School.
Sarah Smith became Headteacher at Wincle in 2016, she was a Junior Class teacher at Wincle for four years prior to this, before getting promoted eight years ago.
"Wincle Church of England Primary School is a small, rural fantastic school where every single child is allowed to shine, like a star and reach their full potential for the life they are going to lead", said Sarah.
"The people are what makes this school fantastic, the staff, the children, the parents, the community all work together. Every single person wants to put their best into Wincle. We are unique, we like to do things different to everyone else. We don't like to say 'no' to an opportunity.
"We want to make sure the children shine in everything they do, not just their behaviour, but their relationships their attitudes, their willingness to support others, ways to make change happen and stand up for what they want. They can do that because of the role models they have around them."
The number of pupils was 49 when Sarah took over as Headteacher, today this figure stands at 68, marking a 38.7% increase in eight years.
The hold a four class system in the morning, and three in the afternoon.
The pre-school also on site has been brought in-house to be governor led, with an ongoing crowdfunding campaign to fund a new Twincle Pre-School building. (For ages two to school age.)
There's care for everybody from quarter to eight in the morning to six at night, all by school staff.
Another huge positive of the school is its academic achievment.
Wincle C of E Primary School is celebrating its position as one of the top performing primary schools in Cheshire East, following the publication of government league tables shortly before Christmas.
The 2023 national rankings are based on the performance of 11 year old pupils in their end of year SATS exams and show that an astounding 93% of Wincle pupils achieved the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, far exceeding the Cheshire East average of 62%.
86% of pupils reached the highest Greater Depth standard in Reading, 57% reached Greater Depth in Maths and an unbelievable 100% achieved Greater Depth for Spelling and Grammar.
"It's fantastic to see the dedication and hard work of the pupils and their teachers reflected in these brilliant results," she added.
"We want every child to maximise their potential, so to have that demonstrated in the official results is incredibly rewarding.
"Our results for the past two years have been well above the national statistics, which demonstrates that we are consistently achieving at a high level.
"And it is not just attainment, it is progress, our progress scores are well above-average, meaning children make more progress that they are expected to do. But it is much more than that, our children go on to achieve more than good SATS results, they do go on to be the best-of-the-best and the nicest people possible.
The school is associated with the adjoining St. Michael's Church, and the Diocese of Chester.
Sarah emphasised that the school's idyllic, rural location is one of its strengths.
"I am a farmer's daughter and went to a small primary school near to my father's farm", explained Sarah.
"So for me, here is a home away from home. The environment that we are in is our key driver for our curriculum.
"Wincle's whole school offer is based on our rural location, we are in an area of Outstanding Beauty.
"Our children utilise that to their advantage, they are always using the environment around Wincle in their studies. We have a really good relationship with Back Dane [Trust], they work with the Peak Park, looking after it, enhancing their learning and life skills.
"We'll use our area for creative writing, we will use it for developing our social and personal skills, we've held coffee afternoons for members of the local community to come and speak to the children.
"It is about making sure the children understand the beauty of the area. God created this world, it is important they know how to look after it.
"The children are really keen eco-warriors, they have begged the Governors to change the central heating from oil.
"We've had our carbon footprint measured, and worked with Dane Valley Conservation Trust's Julian Ruddock to plant trees on our grounds, to compensate for the carbon we emit."
Giles Meadows is one of 12 Governors at Wincle Primary School.
"Wincle CE Primary School is a group of people who are passionate about providing the best educational style to local children," he said.
"It is quite inspirational for me, despite having played a tiny role in it, to see all the hard work that Sarah and staff do. I think it is phenomenal, providing that start in life to the children."
23 people are employed at the school, and they have a lot of volunteers, as well as parent volunteers.
"Our parents are really appreciative of how good the school is and how hard they work, so they equally value that," revealed Sarah.
"One of the key focuses in the school week is Celebration of Worship on Friday. The Church has a small congregation, we share a vicar with other parishes, so it is great to bring the Church alive with people using it for worship.
"Every Friday, I lead the worship from 9am, and some people from the local community come. All the children go, and most of the parents, so we have well over 100 people attending church every single Friday.
"At Christmastime we have a Carol Service where members of the local community can come. Since I've been Head, we've brought the Church alive a little bit more. And in the future, I'd love to make even closer links with the local community.
"It is a fabulous relationship we have with the Church," added Giles.
"It gives them a really good start, they learn a lot associated with the Church, such as Christian values and so on."
"I am always impressed with how the kids get on after Wincle. I am always told by their new schools how well they have done in their GCSEs and A-Levels. This year, a former Wincle pupil got one of the best results at The Macclesfield Academy."
The benefits of a small school means that pupils get more one-to-one support from staff.
"I think it is really interesting because people might suppose coming to a small school is a disadvantage for when you go on to a larger school," told Giles.
"But in actual fact, the opposite is true. There is a sort of inner confidence to a Wincle pupil, which comes from the way the day and the world around them is constructed here."
"Everybody has the opportunity to do everything," declared Sarah.
"Nobody is selected because they are the best at something. An example would be, we got to the regional basketball finals in 2022. We sent a Girls team, Year 5/6, [who were] our only Year 5/6 Girls.
"They all took part, and they won the Macclesfield competition, getting through to the regional finals. Some of those Girls would have never took part in a basketball competition [at another school].
"Because of that, they are given the opportunity to try new things they potentially would not have. They are put in circumstances and situations that they are a little out of their comfort zone in, but I would say resilience, preservation, and determination are key values for our Wincle children. And that gives them the confidence."
When asked about her favourite part of the job, Sarah had this to say: "Absolutely, it is the children."
"They are so keen to learn, and if I am not in the classroom, I am not making a difference and I can not inspire my teachers and staff to do the same if I am not doing it either."
Going forward, Sarah would like to work with other schools to share values, and appreciate the diversity of the world today.
Whilst the deadline for the September 2024 cohort is just days away, The school has an open door policy for parents interested, all-year round.
Macclesfield: You can learn more about Wincle Primary School on their website and last year's OFSTED report. Contact details are on their website.
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