Dear Colleagues,
Welcome to the final Weekly Whistle before half term. It has been a rich and rewarding week, and I want to share some highlights with you.
A-Level League Tables: A Landmark Moment for WeST
Let me begin with what is, without question, the headline story of the week and one of the most significant endorsements of our collective work in recent years. On Thursday, the national A-level league tables were published, and the results across our sixth forms are outstanding. In Devon, out of 58 schools and colleges, Ivybridge Community College holds first place for progress made at A level, with South Dartmoor Community College in tenth. In Plymouth, the picture is equally remarkable: Coombe Dean School is first out of 23 schools and colleges, ahead of both private and selective institutions, with Hele's School third and Plymstock School fourth. Over in Cornwall, Callington Community College holds an impressive eleventh place out of 24 providers. I want to pause on why this matters so profoundly. At A level, the grades our young people achieve directly determine the doors that open for them; the university places they can accept, the apprenticeships they can secure, the life paths available to them. Unlike GCSE results, which are often aggregated as a measure of school performance, these outcomes belong personally and immediately to each student. That we are adding such significant value, grade by grade and student by student, is testament to the skill, determination and care of the leaders, teachers and support staff across every one of those sixth forms. We knew our primary outcomes had been excellent and improving for several years; we knew our Key Stage 4 results had shown an astonishingly sharp uptick over the past two years for whole cohorts and disadvantaged students alike. Now, post-16 has followed suit. We are not complacent: that work continues, but this is a moment to celebrate and to feel genuinely proud.
Welcome to Our New Chief Operations Officer
I am also delighted to confirm that Paul Ottewell, our new Chief Operations Officer, has formally taken up post this week. Paul brings significant expertise and energy, and he is already getting straight into the work of helping us become even more efficient and provide an even better service from the centre to the schools and communities we serve. Please do give him a warm WeST welcome.
Strategic Conversations: CST, RISE and Place-Based Work
Earlier in the week, I was privileged to join a meeting with Leora Cruddas, Chief Executive of the Confederation of School Trusts. CST has become an increasingly vital voice for the academy sector, and Leora herself engages regularly with ministers, policymakers and senior civil servants. Our conversation ranged across the RISE programme, th forthcoming White Paper, upcoming SEND developments and the Plymouth place-based work in which we have been a founder partner and which the Ted Wragg Trust has driven forward so impressively in recent years. I also had the pleasure of meeting with Moira Marder, CEO of the Ted Wragg Trust, with whom we share a significant number of overlapping projects and a commitment to high expectations and compassion in equal measure. These kinds of strategic conversations are important: they ensure WeST's voice is heard at a national level and that we stay at the forefront of developments that affect our children and communities.
Student Voice and Civic Responsibility
At Coombe Dean, the whole-school Senate Meeting this week was a powerful example of student voice in action. As a school, Coombe Dean wants every student to express their opinions in a clear, logical and meaningful way, and the Senate provides exactly that platform. This kind of civic engagement sits right at the heart of our Trust values and our strategic commitment to developing character and civic responsibility in every young person. Enrichment, Music and the Arts. It has been a wonderful week for music and creativity across the Trust. At Plymstock School, Year 7 students were treated to a truly special assembly featuring saxophone, clarinet and violin performances; a vivid reminder of how music can inspire and unite. Over at St Breward Community Primary School, Years 1 and 2 welcomed visitors from the local handbell group, exploring different sounds and following the music to play well-known rhymes. At Chaddlewood Primary School, Year 3 have been learning to play glockenspiels with Mrs Hewlins, singing and playing along to Bob Marley's Three Little Birds... a fitting soundtrack for any school week. And the creative curriculum does not stop there: Year 1 at Chaddlewood have been learning brilliant dance sequences taught by a dance teacher from Plympton Academy, a lovely example of our cross-phase collaboration in action.
Outdoor Learning and Early Years
Chaddlewood's Foundation children have been bringing the story of Stickman to life during their weekly Forest School sessions, crafting their very own stick men in the great outdoors. It is this kind of purposeful, imaginative play that embeds a love of learning right from the start. Sporting Confidence and Physical Education.
Plymstock School
At Plymstock, PE lessons this week produced a wonderful moment: a class that began the session saying "there's no way I can do that" ended it with 95% successfully dive forward rolling and many progressing further still. That shift from self-doubt to self-belief in the space of a single lesson is what great teaching looks like.
Languages and Academic Ambition
Coombe Dean welcomed representatives and student ambassadors from Exeter University as part of the Languages for All programme, giving students a first-hand insight into studying languages beyond GCSE. Broadening academic horizons like this is exactly how we open doors and raise aspirations.
Celebrating Achievement Across Our Primaries
Oreston Community Academy celebrated its weekly certificate winners — a simple but important tradition that recognises effort and achievement. Across our primary schools, newsletters from Boringdon, Oreston, Plympton St Maurice and Woodford kept families connected to the life of their school communities. At Hele's School, preparations are under way for the Year 9 Options Fair, an important milestone for students and families as they begin shaping their Key Stage 4 pathways.
A Rejuvenating End to the Half Term
I want to close on a personal note. After a long and, I will not pretend otherwise, taxing half term, I spent this morning at Austin Farm Academy alongside Ruth Baptiste and her exceptional team. Sitting with a group of utterly enthusiastic Year 3 pupils learning about Honolulu, Hawaii and the extraordinary fact that people live on volcanoes, something I confess I learned alongside them, was the most rejuvenating end to the term I could have wished for.
Austin Farm continues to do exceptional work in relatively challenging circumstances, and it was a privilege to see it first hand.
Thank you for everything you bring to WeST. Have a wonderful and well-earned half term.
Warm regards,
Nat Parnell
CEO
