A Peterborough school has been chosen by the Government to be the regional lead of a national primary schools network to help improve reception provision across England.
Winyates Primary School in Winyates, Orton Goldhay, Peterborough has been chosen by the Department for Education to be a regional lead school within the Reception Network, as part of a national programme to strengthen the quality of reception year provision across England. The aim is to help 75 per cent of children reach a ‘Good Level of Development’ by 2028.
In a letter to Winyates Executive Head, Colette Firth, the Department for Education reception team wrote: “Your school stood out in a highly competitive national assessment process. We were truly impressed by the strength of your Reception practice, the expertise of your early years team, and the clear impact you are already making in your own school, and beyond — a reflection of the system leadership you are already demonstrating.
“Being selected from such a strong field is a significant achievement, and we want to congratulate you and your staff on this well-deserved recognition. Thank you for helping us lead this programme!”
As a Lead School, Winyates will act as a regional leader for Reception improvement—setting the tone, inspiring confidence, and creating a positive and ambitious culture across the region’s network.
The school, which is part of the Spirit Federation of schools, has been asked to develop and share high quality reception resources through the school’s website, host half termly virtual network meetings, and bring schools together once a term for visits or open days so they can see strong practice in action. The school leaders will also meet with other network regional leads from across England to feedback on progress and help shape and strengthen the programme nationwide.
Colette Firth, Executive Head of the Spirit Federation, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have been asked to lead the regional network for school improvement in reception.
“Reception class is one of the most important stages in a child’s school journey because it lays the foundations for their future learning. We are very excited about sharing what we do at Winyates and our other three schools to help other schools regionally and nationally on their improvement journey. We also look forward to hearing about innovative schemes from other schools that could help us develop and grow because we are passionate about learning and continuing to refine and improve the learning experiences and outcomes for all our children.”
Councillor Katy Cole, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, said: “We are immensely proud that Winyates has been asked to lead this regional primary schools’ network. This is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the excellent work that is going on in our Peterborough schools to give our children the best possible start to their education journey. Congratulations to Colette, head of school Ross Colley and the whole team at Winyates.”
The Spirit Federation in Peterborough is a partnership of four primary schools - St John's Church School, Winyates Primary School, Barnack Primary School, and Paston Ridings Primary School .