Dear colleagues,
We have reached the end of the year, and I find myself wanting to say something simple. Thank you. To the students, to parents and carers, to everyone working in our schools and to the team at WeST Central, thank you for the professionalism, dedication and integrity you have shown through what has been a big year for us. I hope the summer gives you proper time to rest and to be with the people who matter to you.
Before we all switch off, there are a few things from this week worth marking:
I was genuinely pleased to see the letter that arrived at Stowford from the Secretary of State for Education being celebrated this week. Bridget Phillipson wrote to recognise the outcomes achieved by disadvantaged pupils at the end of last year, noting the school sits among the best nationally on this measure. Rob Pepper and his team have built something at Stowford that speaks to what we most want for every child, which is that where you start should not decide where you end up. And on the back of the Matilda production earlier in the month, it has clearly been quite a fortnight for them.
The end of term always brings its farewells, and this year there is one that deserves particular attention. Chaddlewood said goodbye to Mrs King, who has given 29 years to that school as both teacher and headteacher. Almost three decades with one community is rare now. I doubt she can walk far in Plympton without meeting someone she once taught. We owe her a great deal.
There has been so much happening in our secondary schools that I can only gather a few threads of it here. Eggbuckland's students in Morocco reached the point where every single one of them had stood up and ridden a wave, which is no small thing when you think about the nerve it takes. Ivybridge packed their final days with challenge workshops, sports days and performances, and their Silver Duke of Edinburgh students came through their assessed expedition. I was struck too by their Year 7s working with the author Tanya Landman on murder mystery writing, suspects pinned around the edges of the page. Plymstock's Year 10s completed work experience placements across local businesses and organisations, and their Year 8 girls, alongside a few muddy parents, took on the Cancer Research Muddy 5K. Over at Sir James Smith's, the Student Council sat down with Camelford Town Council to talk through inclusive play equipment for Enfield Park, which is exactly the kind of thing I mean when I talk about our schools belonging to their places rather than simply sitting in them.
Sport gave us plenty to be pleased about. Sir James Smith's saw their U13 boys reach the county hard ball cricket final as runners-up, and one of their students helped Harbour Rowing Club win the U16 category at Brixham Regatta. Reading has had its moment too, with Ivybridge's Alphabook challenge finishing in a pizza party and Plymstock's Hogwards Book Award reaching the end of 25 books read since October.
The primary schools sent the term off in fine spirits. Plympton St Maurice held a pirate day that finished, inevitably, with a water fight. St Breward's Dolphins Class took on zip wiring, kayaking and paddle boarding at BF Adventure, and their PTA ran a fun run the children clearly loved. Oreston held an Aspirations day on Monday, with speakers giving their time to talk to children about what might be possible for them, and then said their tearful goodbye to Year 6 the same week they welcomed their new Reception starters. That contrast, one group leaving and another arriving, is the rhythm of a primary school in a single week. Boringdon rounded off a wellbeing week that ran from glow in the dark dodgeball to RNLI water safety, and found time for tennis coaching from Kevin at Plympton Tennis Club.
One quieter note. Some of our schools have published holiday safeguarding guidance this week, signposting families to support over the break. Holidays are not straightforward for everyone, and the fact that our schools keep that in mind even as they close their doors says something about the care that runs underneath all the celebrations.
That is where I will leave it for the year. In August we will gather again for results, and I am already looking forward to standing alongside our sixteen and eighteen year olds as they take their next steps, with our love and our blessing going with them.
Have a good summer.
Warm regards,
Nat Parnell
CEO
