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Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to this week’s edition of the ‘Whistle.’

As December approaches, the commencement of Advent this Sunday marks a moment of reflection and excitement as the Christmas break draws near—a well-deserved pause for all of us after an intense and rewarding term.

This week began as we welcomed colleagues from the Safeguarding Network for an external review of our safeguarding practices. Safeguarding remains a cornerstone of our commitment to the well-being of every student, and reviews like this ensure that we continuously refine our systems, uphold vigilance, and incorporate best practices from external insights. I extend my gratitude to everyone who contributed, directly or indirectly, to this critical piece of work. 

The week also highlighted our ongoing pursuit of improving literacy. Our commitment to ensuring every child can confidently decode the alphabet and develop fluency in reading is unwavering. It was terrific to colleagues enthusiastically participating in professional training focused on phonics instruction. We are aiming high with our target of 92% of Year 1 pupils meeting the Phonics Screening Check (PSC) standards next June.

Best wishes, 

Rob Haring

CEO

We welcomed our RWI Leaders to West HQ on Tuesday for training on providing phonic tutoring to our pupils. RWI consultant for WeST, Katie Kerr-Brown, led an informative session for our staff, helping us continue to foster our ethos 'Strong together... every child in a great school'.

A huge thank you to everyone who attended. 

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Flu Vaccinations - 2024/2025

WeST continues to support staff wellbeing and is pleased to offer staff access to flu jab vaccinations this winter. Last year we issued over 350 flu jab vaccination vouchers to staff members across the WeST network!

Following your feedback, this year we have partnered with Doctorcall to deliver a limited number of e-voucher flu vaccinations via participating pharmacies. 

We are enhancing the NHS free flu vaccination by offering vaccines to staff who are not eligible via this pathway. These vaccinations are provided at no cost to staff members and we encourage all staff to take up the offer of a flu jab.

Flu vaccination voucher

To request you flu vaccination voucher, please visit here or scan this QR code:

Vouchers are to be used at one of the participating pharmacies (Found here: https://doctorcall.co.uk/pharmacy-finder).

You will be able to book an appointment at a time and location that suits you.

Pharmacies include Tesco, Day Lewis, +Well and Asda.

For further information please contact WeST HR via hr@westst.org.uk

Early-Career Payments for eligible teachers

Eligible chemistry, languages, mathematics and physics teachers can apply to the DFE directly for early-career payments between October and March.

You can can apply from 14 October to 31 March for the 2024 to 2025 academic year.

For more information, please visit: 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/early-career-payments-guidance-for-teachers-and-schools

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New Ways November 

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Recruitment update:

We are delighted to inform you of the following exciting career opportunities within our Trust:

Arena Sports Partnership are looking to appoint an Outdoor Learning Development Coach. You will administer high quality Outdoor Learning coaching for 4 - 11 year olds across the Arena Partnership enabling individuals to develop according to their abilities and encouraging them to sustain activity levels. For more information, please click here. Closing date: 2 December 2024. 

   Eggbuckland Community College are looking to appoint Casual Exam Invigilators. As an invigilator, you will assist examination staff with their examination processes. This activity may include setting up examination venues by laying out stationery, equipment and examination papers in accordance with strict procedures. For more information on the above vacancy please click here. Closing date: 9 January 2025.

Plymstock School are seeking an organised and creative Reprographics Assistant to support their busy Reprographics Department during a period of maternity. The successful candidate will assist with the provision of the whole school reprographics, producing materials for teaching/presentation purposes and also offering a design service. For more information, please click here. Closing date: 2 December 2024. 

Westcountry Schools Trust are seeking to appoint an ICT Operations Manager.  Are you an experienced ICT operational manager ready to take the step into strategic leadership and with a passion to make a difference in education? This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in shaping and implementing an ICT strategy that will support our schools' commitment to quality education and operational excellence. For more information, please click here. Closing date: 2 December 2024. 

Yealmpton Primary School are seeking to appoint a skilled 1-1 Teaching Assistant to be part of our incredibly supportive, hardworking and successful team. For more information, please click here. Closing date: 5 December 2024.