Wincle Primary School earns top marks in Ofted Inspection
Wincle Primary School chalked up top marks in a recent Ofsted inspection – receiving the top grade of outstanding in almost every area. Inspectors found that standards at the end of Years Two and Six were well above the national average in writing, reading, maths and science – in the top ten per cent nationally.
They wrote “This is an outstanding rather than good school in virtually all respects.”
Inspectors also picked out a selection of comments made by parents, including “this is not just a school but a whole community which excels in caring”, and that the school gives children “the best possible start in life”.
The only suggested improvement was to deliver planned changes to increase accommodation at the school which currently teaches 45 pupils.
At the same time, a separate Ofted inspection was being carried out at Twinkle Pre-School which revealed it to be a “good” village nursery.

If you'd like to know more about the school, visit the school’s website at www.wincleschool.org

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Property Web Page
The property web page on the Wincle web site in the “Living Here” section has several additional properties that have recently come on the market for sale within the Parish.
Each entry includes information on the price and number of bedrooms, along with the name, telephone number and email address of the estate agent handling the sale. There is also a link to the agent’s website for pictures and further details of each property.

For further details of these properties please go to Properties for Sale.
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Broadband in Wincle
Wincle – population 150 – has become one of the first places in the UK to be simultaneously enabled with two broadband technologies – ADSL and SDSL!

The hard work of the Wincle Exchange Broadband Campaign Group (WEBCG) paid off in June 2005 when all telephone numbers on the Wincle exchange (i.e. those starting with 01260-227) were able to access this service.

The WEBCG was set up in April 2004 to find ways of making broadband available to people on the exchange. After an initial phase investigating the various types of broadband that might be suitable for the area and possible sources of funding, the WEBCG contacted the Cheshire and Warrington Economic Alliance (CWEA), acting on behalf of the North West Development Agency (NWDA). The CWEA set up a project, called the broadbandConnect to promote broadband in general and find a provider for Wincle and five other Cheshire villages using NWDA funding. The result was a groundbreaking contract between broadbandConnect and BT making Wincle one of the most broadband advanced places in the country.

The initial maximum (download) speed on the exchange was 2Mbps, but as from April 2006 speeds of up to 8Mbps are now possible. The exact speed will depend on your distance from the exchange and line quality. You can check on the BT web site for an indication of the maximum ADSL line speed available to you (go to www.bt.com/broadband and fill in your phone number where it says “Can I get broadband?”).
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are aware that broadband has been implemented on the exchange, so you can look around to see what the best deals are. Information and advice can be found in many places, such as PC magazines, Which? magazine and web sites like www.adslguide.org.uk. The recent Carphone Warehouse announcement offering 'free broadband' has led to more intense competition, depressing prices even further, so it is worth looking around (unfortunately the CW offer isn't available here so far). Those of you who had already signed up to broadband prior to the 8Mbps upgrade might like to enquire of your ISP whether they are prepared to offer you a faster speed - they might even do so for nothing.

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