Wynstream Primary School were thrilled to welcome Steve Race MP for a visit last month (25th October.)

During his visit, the school’s impressive 45-member choir, conducted by Miss Passfield, sang songs welcoming Mr Race ahead of a ribbon cutting ceremony. One visitor even commented, “Simply the best school choir I have heard in 35 years in education.” 

Mr Race came along to formally open the school’s new library extension. Wynstream’s librarians, led by Mrs Regan proudly showed Mr Race the library space whilst explaining about the importance of books and reading; a key focus area for the school.   

The newly elected School Council then had the opportunity to discuss their role and the process by which they are elected to office with their MP. Some council members then showed Mr Race around the school before he finished up by having a delicious and nutritious school lunch with some Year 6 children and staff members. 

At Wynstream Primary School the English curriculum is designed to develop lifelong and avid readers. Reading is key to unlocking the world around us and staff want all pupils to leave the school a fluent, competent and critical reader.

This year Wynstream’s overall phonics check score was 75%, up 5% from last year, meaning that three quarters of children passed the check. When only assessing the children who have been with the school for their entire learning journey, then the pass score was 88%. Even more impressively, 31% of children scored the full 40 marks (only 3% of Wynstream pupils achieved this last year.)

Mr Race posted the following about his visit on LinkedIn:

I had a fantastic time meeting pupils at @wynstreamexeter yesterday:
 
📚 I helped to open the new library with the young librarians, and we talked about their favourite books, and my favourite books growing up. They are clearly passionate about reading, taking books home and reading with family or on their own before bedtime
 
🎶 we listened as the school choir sang beautifully for the pupils as they ate their lunch
 
🗳️ the school council led a tour of the school, and we talked about being on the school council was similar to my job as member of parliament
 
🍽️ and I had a delicious baked potato lunch with other pupils!
 
The school was calm but happy, and many of the children were confident and articulate, excitable but always polite. There’s clearly a lot of very good work going on there.
 
It was helpful to sit down and talk to the teachers, staff, and volunteers who all make any primary school work. There are lots of challenges in primary education at the moment, including supporting schools to ensure children with hashtag#SEND can get a good education by staying mainstream schools.
 
Thank you for a lovely visit!

 Elise Redman, Headteacher at Wynstream Primary School said:

“Reading is one of the key areas of focus for our school. As evidence shows, reading improves the life chances for every child so investing in books and fostering a love of reading is of paramount importance to all at Wynstream.

“We are so grateful to Mr Race for coming along and opening our new library extension, it was great for him to meet some of our pupils and to be able to show him how proud they are of their school.” 

Matthew Shanks, CEO of Education South West said:

“Many thanks to Mr Race for taking the time to come and visit Wynstream and to the Council Localities Fund, the Topinambour Trust and the Angela Gallagher Memorial Fund, as well as the local community, all of whom helped to fund the newly extended library.

“It’s brilliant that the children now have an even bigger space in which to enjoy reading. I know from the school’s excellent phonics checks results this year just how much effort Wynstream staff have put into ensuring that children have a great start when it comes to understanding the importance of reading.”