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Dear Colleagues, 

As we move further into Term 6, I want to begin by acknowledging the important milestone that took place across our primary schools this week. Our Year 1 children undertook their Phonics Screening Check (PSC), and I want to extend my very best wishes and heartfelt thanks to all those involved.

This moment represents the culmination of months of expert teaching, thoughtful planning, and sheer determination. From reading leads and classroom teachers to support staff and leaders, your tireless work has laid the foundation for these children not just to meet the expected standard, but to step confidently into a lifetime of reading. Across WeST, your efforts to foster early literacy and instil a love of reading. There is no better gift than the gift of fluent reading.

On Tuesday, we had the pleasure of welcoming our Primary Headteachers for a purposeful and energising morning of discussion and collaboration. The session brought primary leaders together to reflect on the year so far and set sights on the road ahead. We explored themes including early reading, curriculum impact, inclusion, and leadership development. The strength of thought, mutual respect, and clarity of purpose was uplifting. There is something particularly powerful about leaders learning alongside and from each other—offering honest reflections, posing questions, and sharing practice in service of a shared goal. Thank you to all who attended and contributed.

Running alongside this, the Early Reading Network—led by our excellent Early Reading Lead, Heidi Longworth—met to examine phonics progress and fluency across the Trust. With just 27 school days remaining, the focus was clear: finish strong. Leaders were encouraged to double down on closing the earliest gaps, uphold fidelity to phonics programmes (RWI or Little Wandle), and embed strategies like 1:1 tutoring, shuffle time, and the ever-popular “Tiny Teachers.” Reception and Year 2 trends are encouraging, and the drive in Year 1 remains laser-sharp. A huge thank you to Heidi for her energy, expertise, and relentless drive for improvement.

Later in the week, we hosted our two-day Level 3 Child Protection Initial Training for safeguarding leads and senior staff. The training was grounded, real, and highly relevant—exploring statutory duties, managing disclosures, and working collaboratively with external partners. Participants engaged thoughtfully with complex scenarios, demonstrating the depth of care and professionalism that underpins our safeguarding culture. These sessions not only built confidence and knowledge, but also reinforced our unshakeable commitment to keeping children safe.

As always, it is a privilege to lead and learn alongside such dedicated colleagues. Whether supporting early readers, protecting the vulnerable, or shaping strategy, your work matters deeply. Thank you for everything you do.

Best wishes, 

Rob Haring

CEO

WeST Staff Survey Results!

We are pleased to include the following items for your attention this week: 

  • Executive Summary Report
  • Return Rate and Explanation
  • Full Graphical Outcomes
  • External Benchmarking
  • Appendix

These materials provide further trust-wide survey data, enhancing the information available from your school/unit reports, which already allows for the comparison of local results to the ratings of the Trust as a whole. If your leadership team has not yet shared your staff survey outcomes, please do look out for these.

The materials are also being shared with our Trustees, HABs, and union colleagues via JCNC.

Discussions on next steps centrally and locally, as a result of the trust-level and school/unit-level outcomes, will take place over the coming weeks and months and further information will follow.

Thank you once again for your participation in the survey.

With best wishes,

WeST Executive Team

Word Of The Week!

This week's word is "aspire".

Definition: Aspire means to direct your hopes or ambitions towards achieving something or to rise high. It embodies determination, ambition, and the pursuit of excellence.

Reason: Not only is aspiration one of our values, we have chosen "aspire" because of the connotations of the word. Aspire to many means to want to be something. However, for us, to aspire means reinforcing a culture of growth, ambition and continuous improvement. It encourages us to set our sights high, strive for our goals and embrace challenges with confidence. 

School Codes

The table below shows the school codes we use to identify each school within our system. Each code is a short, unique abbreviation that corresponds to a specific school, making it easier to reference them in documentation, communication, and administrative tasks. For example, Ashburton Primary School is represented by ASH, Austin Farm Academy by AFA, and Ivybridge Community College by IVY. This standardised coding helps streamline processes across our network, ensuring clarity and consistency when working with multiple schools.

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National HR Leadership Event!

The Trust is proud to announce the participation of its Director of People, Joss Davis, at the national “Empowering People, Inspiring Futures – Transforming Education Workplaces” event, which took place this week at Mander Hall, London. This high-profile gathering brought together HR leaders from across the trust sector to explore innovative strategies for talent attraction, employee engagement, and creating exceptional workplaces.

As a member of the Regional Chairs Group and a representative on the national HR Sounding Board, Joss helped to shape the day's discussions. These influential networks engage directly with national policy agendas, ensuring that the voice of the Trust sector is heard at the highest levels of decision-making on people-related issues.

The event featured thought leaders such as Georgina Reeves Saad and Mandy Coalter, and included strategic workshops, regional breakouts, and collaborative panels. WeST's contribution at this level underscores our commitment to sector-wide collaboration and continuous improvement in workforce strategy.

 

Bringing the Tudors to Life: A-Level Historians Visit Buckfast Abbey

As part of our ongoing exploration of the AQA A-Level History course (1C: The Tudors: England, 1485–1603), our A Level History students recently enjoyed an inspiring and immersive visit to Buckfast Abbey, nestled in the heart of Devon. The visit supported our studies on the Dissolution of the Monasteries, a pivotal moment in the reign of Henry VIII.

Buckfast Abbey offered a rare and valuable opportunity to experience the legacy of Tudor policy first-hand. While the current abbey buildings were rebuilt in the 20th century, the site’s rich monastic heritage—and its survival through suppression and revival—prompted deep reflection and debate amongst students. We explored how monastic life shaped the spiritual, economic, and social fabric of England, and considered the local impact of Henry VIII’s dramatic reforms.

"History isn’t just something we read in textbooks. It’s all around us, especially here in Devon. Trips like this bring the past to life and help our students connect national events to local stories and places."

The visit also sparked discussions about continuity and change, religious identity, and the role of local history in shaping our understanding of broader historical narratives. Students returned from Buckfast Abbey not only with enhanced knowledge of the Tudor period, but with a renewed appreciation for how history is woven into the landscapes and communities around us.

We are proud to continue offering enriching opportunities that deepen our students' engagement with history—and we look forward to our next historical adventure.

Mrs Carew-Rendall

Subject Leader for History

Submit an Article!

Do you have an achievement to celebrate, a job opportunity to promote, a charitable initiative to support, or an important update to share? The Weekly Whistle is your platform to keep our community informed and engaged.

How to Submit:
Send in your article by 2 PM every Thursday by emailing admin@westst.org.uk, and we’ll consider it for publication in the following Friday edition. Submissions should be clear, engaging, and relevant to our audience.

No Purchase Order (PO), no pay policy

From 1st September 2025, the Trust will be implementing a strict 'No PO no pay' policy whereby all invoices must quote a valid Trust purchase order number to be eligible for processing. It is therefore extremely important that ALL staff are aware of this change and if your role involves any form of ordering, please make sure that you are familiar with the purchase ordering system. We are in the process of communicating this to suppliers. Finance teams will be circulating the letter that is going out to suppliers in the next few weeks which will provide more details. 

Thank you!

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Joyful June

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Recruitment update:

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

Coombe Dean School are seeking to appoint a Maths Teaching Assistant. The successful candidate will have experience of working effectively in a 'team around the learner' in partnership with a qualified teacher; both with classes and in small groups or individuals. They will have a track record of raising standards for young people across the ability range, a passion for progress for all learners and the ability to work flexibly for the best outcomes for young people. For more information on this vacancy, please click here. Closing date: 20 June 2025.

Ivybridge Community College are seeking to appoint the following vacancies: 

Head of Rugby - The Head of Rugby is responsible for the coaching of rugby to teams of students at Ivybridge Community College, from the planning and implementation of coaching sessions through to team selection and organisation of matches. This forms part of the specialist Sports Academy provision of Ivybridge Community College, which strives to provide excellence, building engagement and participation, and representation at the highest competition levels. Closing date: 23 June 2025

Teacher of English (Maternity Cover) - The successful candidate will be welcomed into a thriving English Department to join this lively and committed team. The English Department shares a passion for English as an academic discipline, an art form and an essential skill which enables young people to achieve their ambitions. Our English Teachers are devoted to supporting students on their learning journey, encouraging and inspiring the love of the subject as well as securing excellent progress and outcomes. Closing date: 13 June 2025 

For more information on these vacancies, please click here. 

Westcountry Schools Trust is seeking to appoint a HR Assistant. The successful candidate will have an aptitude for acting as the face of the HR team and resolving day-to-day problems with the support of the wider HR team, a good understanding and working knowledge of administration.  They will also be committed to working to Trust values, have a working philosophy of continuous improvement and a willingness to develop professional practice excellence to meet the changing demands of the role and as part of a team. For more information, please click here. Closing date: 30 June 2025

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