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Dear Colleagues,

The Spring Term has flown by and we now look towards the final week of Term 4.

This week began with us having the pleasure of hosting external visitors – Adrian Rogers (CEO)  & Julian Axford (Director of School Improvement) - from Chiltern Learning Trust on Monday and Tuesday. The schedule was filled with visits to several of our secondary schools, showcasing the significant improvements being made daily to improve our schools. On Day 1, the visitors toured Coombe Dean School, South Dartmoor Community College, and Eggbuckland Community College. Day 2 was equally busy, with visits to Ivybridge Community College and another session at Eggbuckland Community College. The day concluded with a discussion involving several of our Executive Directors of Subjects, focusing on the curriculum across our secondary schools. A huge thank you to everyone who was involved for hosting these visitors and demonstrating the excellent work being done.

We are delighted to inform you that the WeST Staff Survey will be launched on Monday 31 March. This is a fantastic opportunity for everyone to share their thoughts, experiences, and feedback. Your input is crucial in helping us understand what is working well and where we can make improvements. The survey will be open until Monday 28 April 2025. By participating in the survey, you are playing a vital role in shaping the future of the Trust. Your contributions are highly valued and will help us create a better and more effective organisation. We encourage you to participate in the survey and share your valuable feedback.

We started off the week with our Attendance Network. Attendance is one of our key priorities as a Trust and is vital to ensure our pupils are in school, receiving the best possible education. We are committed to working closely with families, staff, and the wider school community to promote excellent attendance, remove barriers, and ensure that every child has the chance to thrive. The session on Monday brought together staff members to discuss strategies and share best practices for improving attendance across our schools. The Headteacher of Ugborough Primary School, Lucy French, did a presentation talking about how we can support families where a child is displaying emotionally based school non-attendance. A huge thank you to everyone who is striving to improve attendance across our schools.

Our Director of Education (Secondary), Naveed Khan, ran a CPD session for middle leaders at Coombe Dean School and Plymstock School on Monday. The session focused on leadership values and behaviours, emphasising the importance of prioritising tasks to overcome procrastination. Drawing from Brian Tracy's productivity guide, the presentation highlighted the concept of tackling the most important and challenging tasks first to achieve greater success and fulfilment. Key techniques discussed included goal setting, the 80/20 rule, and the importance of continuous learning. Colleagues were encouraged to reflect on their own characteristics and behaviours to become more self-aware as leaders and to develop habits that enhance productivity and task completion.

Tuesday included our New WeST Primary Leaders session, led by Katie Patrick and Susie Evans. One of our HR experts presented on key aspects of the HR function, including the relationship between HR and line management, the PDR process, managing performance, staff wellbeing, and attendance management. The presentation emphasised the importance of collaboration between HR and line managers to ensure effective people management and the alignment of HR strategies with organisational goals. Attendees were encouraged to prioritise professional growth, support career development, and foster a positive wellbeing culture. The session also highlighted the significance of early intervention in managing performance and attendance issues, as well as the role of HR in providing coaching and development opportunities for managers.

Tuesday afternoon concluded with our Primary English Leads session, led by Rebecca Cosgrave from Devon Education Services and our Geography Heads of Department with Nicola Dowling, our Executive Director of Geography.

On Wednesday, we held our HR Matters forum, which was expertly led by the central HR Team. This forum provided an invaluable opportunity for staff to discuss key HR topics, share insights, and address any concerns. The collaborative environment fostered open dialogue and the exchange of ideas, helping to strengthen our HR practices and support our team's professional growth. Thursday featured our Sensory & Physical meeting, where staff members came together to explore strategies for supporting students with sensory and physical needs. This meeting was a crucial step in ensuring that we provide an inclusive and supportive learning environment for all students.

The week concluded with a Science CPD session on Friday, offering staff the chance to enhance their knowledge and skills in science. It was a fantastic opportunity for professional development and collaboration, helping to ensure that our science curriculum remains engaging and effective.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone for their incredible dedication and collective efforts this week in driving continuous improvement across our schools. It’s through your hard work, collaboration, and commitment that we continue to create positive, enriching learning environments where our pupils can thrive. Every contribution — whether big or small — makes a meaningful difference, and we truly appreciate the passion and determination you bring to helping our schools grow stronger every day.

Best wishes, 

Rob Haring

CEO

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Staff Survey 2025

We are excited to announce the upcoming launch of our annual Staff Survey, which will run from Monday 31 March to Monday 28 April. This is your chance to make your voice heard and contribute to workplace improvements. Your feedback is invaluable to us and plays a crucial role in shaping the future of the trust.

The survey is designed to be quick and easy to complete, taking only a few minutes of your time. By participating, you have the opportunity to share your thoughts, ideas, and experiences, helping us understand what we are doing well and where we can improve. Your input will directly influence the decisions we make to enhance our working environment, policies, and overall employee satisfaction.

Our goal is to exceed last year's response rate of 70%, and we believe that with your support, we can achieve this target. Remember, your opinion matters, and this is your chance to make a real impact. Let's work together to create a workplace that we can all be proud of.

Please keep a watchful eye out for launch information, which will include a link to the survey, and then take a moment to complete the survey and encourage your colleagues to do the same. Together, we can make a difference!

Thank you in advance for your time and participation.

Word Of The Week!

This week's word is "optimistic".

Definition: Having a positive outlook or expecting the best possible outcome, even in difficult situations. It can describe someone who tends to see the bright side of things and believes that things will improve or turn out well.

An optimistic mindset often leads to finding solutions instead of focusing on problems. It can help to find the "silver lining" to a situation that can be quite difficult or cognitively exhausting. 

WeST Sustainability Strategy 

In 2023, the DfE launched its Sustainability and Climate Change strategy for education and children services. Part of the requirement was for all trusts to develop and implement their strategy and to meet the target of the UK reaching net-zero by 2050 for carbon emissions. For the link to the DfE strategy, please click here.

WeST is excited to fully support the DFE strategy, which is very good and helpful. It has been realised that by combining the land and buildings of over 22,000 schools across England, together we can have a tremendous and positive impact on the climate. However, if we do not change our ways, we can equally have a negative impact. I am thrilled to share the link to the WeST sustainability Strategy for you to review.  Please click here. 

The highlights from the strategy that I would like to bring to your attention are as follows:

  • WeST have worked with an external consultant to help develop our strategy to ensure we secure the specialist skills required. In order to develop a full understanding of views across WeST, we undertook a survey of staff, parents and secondary school children. We had an amazing response from our children, showing their incredible passion and commitment to sustainability. 
  • We have ensured that our strategy aligns with our values and strategic objectives for the next 5 years whilst considering our social and environmental responsibilities and our governance and implementation of the strategy to ensure the long term success. We already report annually on our carbon footprint of direct fuels used such as gas (known as scope one) and purchased electricity (known as scope 2). This is known as Streamlined Carbon and Energy Reporting (SCER). The strategy goes further in understanding our full carbon impact on items such as travel to and from work, business travel, third-party suppliers (known as scope 3), such as catering, paper for photocopiers, the purchase of books for our children. Recycling of waste, single-use plastics. Many of these things we are familiar with in our daily lives. Scope 3 accounts for 77% of our carbon emissions

The strategy focusses on key areas such as infrastructure (our buildings and grounds being part of this), operations and supply chain. Engagement and governance are key, ensuring we all understand our roles and what we should do to make a difference to ensure the strategy is delivered effectively. Finally, we have set ourselves commitments, because there is no one solution but a collaboration of tasks that will lead us to meet our net-zero carbon position by 2046.  Our next phase is currently in progress of developing a carbon action plan for WeST.

WeST have been very fortunate in that we have secured a significant grant from the DfE. This is the first phase of many and will help us better understand our estate and prioritise higher carbon-generating schools. I ask that you read the strategy that will not take long but affects every single one of us. I will provide further updates throughout the year. Your positive involvement and support will help to ensure the success of this strategy.

Thank you, 

Mark Bullard

Director of Estates

Teachers Take on the Dartmoor Classic for Charity!

We are thrilled to announce that a team of dedicated teachers from our school will be taking on the Dartmoor Classic, a gruelling 68-mile bike ride through the stunning yet challenging terrain of Dartmoor, on 22nd June – all in support of a cause close to our hearts. The teachers taking part in this event are: Mr Thomas, Mr Sinclair, Mr Wilson, Mr Grenney, Ms Burns and Mr Dunstan...and any others who have yet to join. 

They are riding to raise funds for 'We Care', our school charity dedicated to supporting children of bereavement, young carers, and service families. These children face unique challenges, and with your help, we can provide them with the care, resources, and opportunities they deserve.

Donations will be made via Parent Pay or Westcountry Schools Trust, Coombe Dean School  - WE CARE

Lloyds Bank 

Account Number: 43599168  

Sort Code: 30-94-58  

We wish them the best of luck!

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Mindful March

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Internal Primary Headteacher Vacancies

We are pleased to share the following vacancies, which are now open to internal applicants and accessible via the links below:

  • Headteacher Woodlands Park Primary School - open to current Headteachers and Deputy Headteachers - https://mynewterm.com/jobs/Westcountry-Schools-Trust/3547/internal/EDV-2025-WST-63890/Headteacher-at-Woodlands-Park-Primary-School
  • Headteacher Manor Primary School - open to current Headteachers and Deputy Headteachers - https://mynewterm.com/jobs/Westcountry-Schools-Trust/3547/internal/EDV-2025-WST-93783/Headteacher-at-Manor-Primary-School

Both positions close to applications at 9am on 22 April 2025. Interviews will take place on 29 April 2025.

Recruitment update:

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

Ashburton Primary School are seeking to appoint a Y1 Teacher. The successful candidate will encourage a love of learning in their classroom, be able to create great relationships with children and be committed to achieving high standards across the school. For more information, please click here. Closing date: 1 April 2025. 

Boringdon Primary School are seeking to appoint a Y6 Classroom Teacher/ Senior Leadership Team Member. The successful candidate will be an established leader, who will strive to ensure the possible standards of pupil achievement, personal development and wellbeing are met. For more information, please click here.  Closing date: 18 April 2025.

Ivybridge Community College are seeking to appoint Casual Examinations Invigilators. Hours of work are by negotiation, to cover examination sessions throughout the year. The ability to work at least three days a week during the peak times in May and June. Full day, morning (start 8.30am) and afternoon sessions are offered. For more information, please click here. Closing date: 18 July 2025. 

Westcountry Schools Trust are seeking to appoint Secondary Initial Teacher Trainees (unpaid). Are you passionate about teaching and ready to make a significant impact on the lives of young people? We are seeking an exceptional individual with vision, energy and passion to join us as an Aspiring Secondary School Teacher, to uphold our core values and guide our vision of Every Child in a Great School. This is a 12-month, full-time, postgraduate programme in a Secondary School environment where you’ll experience a mix of study modules, live training sessions and classroom practice. Study modules can be completed at your own pace through our online learning platform, which will provide you with a foundation of theory to build your practice on. At every stage, you'll be guided by your own personal mentor. For information, please click here. Closing date: 20 June 2025. 

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