Windmill pupils celebrate results in phonics and times tables

We are celebrating outstanding results in this year's national phonics and times tables assessments, outperforming national averages.

Phonics is a method of teaching reading and writing by correlating spoken sounds with letters or groups of letters in the alphabet. It teaches children to “decode” words by sounding them out rather than memorising them as a whole.

At Windmill, 90% of Year 1 pupils met the expected standard in the phonics screening check, building on last year's 88% pass rate.

The improvements reflect a wider trend across GLF Schools, where the average phonics pass rate rose to 87.4%, up from 86.4% the previous year and well ahead of the 80% national average recorded last year.

Pupils also performed strongly in the Year 4 multiplication tables check, with Windmill's average score improving to 24.7 out of 25, comfortably ahead of the 21.0 national average score recorded last year.

Nicola Cotter, our Headteacher, said: “We are delighted with these results, which reflect the strong foundations we have built in early reading and maths at Windmill. 

“Our pupils and staff should be very proud of what they have achieved this year.”