Every child achieving in a great school.

Welcome to Westcountry Schools Trust (WeST), a close and connected family of schools rooted in the communities of the South West. Our Trust is built on the principle that strong relationships, shared purpose and geographical proximity enable us to serve children, families and communities with coherence, care and ambition.

Our journey began in 2011 as a small partnership of two schools. Since then, WeST has grown thoughtfully and deliberately, evolving into the organisation we formally launched in September 2017. From the outset, our ambition has been clear: to deliver exceptional education for children and young people aged 2–19, while also contributing to the wider system through high-quality professional development and postgraduate study via the WeST Training Institute.

Today, our family comprises 31 schools, including 23 primary and 8 secondary settings. A defining strength of our Trust is the natural transition our pupils experience, with all WeST primary schools feeding into a WeST secondary school. This is not simply a structural arrangement, but a deliberate commitment to continuity of curriculum, pastoral care and aspiration. As we look ahead, strengthening this all-through experience remains a central priority, ensuring that every child benefits from a seamless and ambitious educational journey.

Our 2030 strategy builds on these foundations. We are committed to securing excellent outcomes for every pupil, closing gaps where they exist, and ensuring that all children, regardless of background or need, are able to flourish. Our mission is rooted in a simple but powerful belief: that every child deserves access to a great school and the opportunity to achieve in every sense of the word. Our vision extends beyond academic success alone, encompassing character, wellbeing, and the knowledge and skills required to thrive in modern Britain and beyond.

At the heart of WeST are our values. We believe in responsibility for all children across the Trust, not just those in our immediate setting. We value collaboration over isolation, recognising that by sharing expertise, challenging one another constructively, and aligning around what works, we are stronger together. We are ambitious, not only for outcomes but for the lived experience of our pupils and staff, and we are committed to continuous improvement in all that we do. At the same time, we recognise that each school serves a unique community and must retain its own identity, culture and voice. Our role as a Trust is to enable that individuality to flourish within a shared framework of excellence and support.

Looking to the future, we are open to growth, but only in ways that are aligned with our principles. We are not seeking expansion for its own sake. Instead, we will grow carefully and deliberately, ensuring that we remain connected to the communities we serve, that our schools continue to feel part of a close family, and that our culture of collaboration is preserved and strengthened. Any new partnership must enhance, rather than dilute, the trust and coherence that define WeST.

As part of this ambition, we are particularly keen to explore opportunities to broaden our expertise in supporting children with additional needs. We already have a strong track record, including highly effective Additionally Resourced Bases (ARBs), and we see clear value in extending this further. In time, we would welcome the opportunity to bring specialist SEND provision into the Trust, enabling us to deepen our impact and ensure that more children with complex needs can thrive within high-quality, inclusive educational environments.

We are proud of our schools, our staff and our pupils. We recognise the privilege and responsibility we carry as a Trust, and we approach our work with both humility and determination. Every success is shared, every challenge is collective, and every child is our responsibility.

Together, we strive not simply to maintain standards, but to raise them continually, ensuring that every child, in every WeST school, achieves and belongs in a truly great place of learning.

Nat Parnell

Chief Executive Officer