St James School in Exeter, part of the Ted Wragg Trust family, recently hosted the Devon Physical Disability Super Sports Event alongside Devon’s Physical Disability Team.

Twenty five students from across Devon attended the event and the school’s Year 9 Sports Leaders were on hand to help out on the day.

On the menu for the day was inclusive tennis, wheelchair basketball and a multi-sports skills session. There were also games of boccia, a game where athletes throw, kick or use a ramp to propel a ball onto the court with the aim of getting closest to a 'jack' ball.  It was designed specifically for athletes with a disability affecting locomotor function.

St James School is housed within a purpose-built modern building with very attractive school grounds and sports areas. Their external sports areas include an all-weather pitch, athletics field, tennis courts and also a rugby pitch.  This is in addition to their sports hall and dedicated dance studio.  

Emily Harper, Head Teacher at St James School said:

“It was brilliant to host the Devon Physical Disability Super Sports Event at St James this term.  Meeting the young people from across Devon was so lovely and it was great to have our Year 9 Sports Leader on hand, they were a real help and credit to the school.”

Moira Marder, CEO of the Ted Wragg Trust said:

“Everyone at the trust is so pleased that St James was able to host this important event for young people across Devon.  It sounds like it was an amazing day and I am glad that St James could share their excellent sporting facilities for the benefit of others.”

Pupils and staff at Exwick Heights Primary School, part of our Ted Wragg Trust family, have been celebrating Earth Day this week.

Earth Day is an annual event held on the 22nd of April encouraging people to demonstrate support for environmental protections. The first Earth Day was held back in 1970 and it has grown to include a wide range of events coordinated globally by Earthday.org including 1 billion people in more than 193 countries. The official theme for 2024 is "Planet vs. Plastics" and the organisation is calling for a 60% reduction in the production of all plastics by 2040. 

After completing a successful project last summer at the school, staff were pleased to recently welcome back Arque Ltd employees to help get the nature area ready for its grand reopening. The nature area has long been a key feature of the school and it creates a great connection between pupils, staff, and the environment. 

Richard Boyter, the caretaker of the school, has been the driving force behind this project and under his direction two wooden structures were worked on, rotten wood was replaced, and additional support columns were added.  The damaged roofing felt was also replaced and rainwater goods were added to allow for water harvesting.

Mrs Gemma Wills, Headteacher at Exwick Heights Primary School said:

“At Exwick Heights we believe it’s imperative that children learn about the importance of environmental conservation and looking after the planet. I am delighted that our nature area has reopened in time for Earth Day, which was a brilliant reminder to encourage us all to work together to create a brighter future for young people and the earth.”

Moira Marder, CEO of the Ted Wragg Trust said:

“Everyone at the Ted Wragg Trust is so grateful to Arque Ltd for giving their time to support the improvements in the nature area at Exwick Heights. It is such a beautiful space and I know how excited the children there are to use it again.”

Pupils at Marine Academy Primary, in St Budeaux in Plymouth, are celebrating after being recognised by SSAT (The Schools, Students and Teachers Network) in this year’s Educational Outcomes Awards. The award recognises that Marine Academy Primary, with its motto “where stars shine brighter”, is among the highest performing primary schools in the country, based on 2023 performance data and information from Ofsted.

The School was recognised in two categories, receiving awards for being in the top 10% of schools nationally for pupil progress and for being in the top 20% of schools nationally for pupil attainment in the 2023 KS2 tests.

The SSAT Educational Outcomes database compares all state-funded schools in England. To be recognised with an Educational Outcomes Award is a significant achievement and a testament to the work of the whole school community. 

Nicola Keeler and Georgie Reid, Co-Headteachers, Marine Academy Primary said:

“This award reflects the exceptional efforts of everyone in our Marine Academy Primary community. We are so proud of the love of learning we have created within our school community and the lasting impact we are able to make for every child. Thank you to our staff team, our wonderful pupils and their families. We are so proud of you all.”

Sue Williamson, Chief Executive of SSAT said:

“Congratulations to Marine Academy Primary on winning two SSAT Educational Outcomes awards. This success is down to the superb learning and teaching, outstanding support and inspirational leadership of students, staff, parents and governors. You have made a huge difference to the lives of the young people in your school. Thank you.”

Staff from West Exe School and the Ted Wragg Trust attended a fundraising quiz for the Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival this month.

The festival this year will run from the 18th to the 22nd of September. As a registered charity, their mission is to celebrate books and their authors and promote the art of writing and the enjoyment of reading in the East Devon community and in other local schools.

Chloe Fox, a Senior Leader at West Exe School and Carrie McMillan, Director at South West Teacher Training and the Ted Wragg Trust Professional Development Lead were invited to attend the fundraiser quiz at the new cricket club to raise funds to facilitate the festival's target of reaching over 2000 children this year with their talks and workshops.

Last year West Exe School hosted author Manjeet Mann to talk about her book as part of the Budleigh Literary Festival schools outreach program. Her debut novel RUN, REBEL for young adults was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal in 2021 and won the CILIP Carnegie Shadowers Choice Award, The UKLA Award, Diverse Book Award and Sheffield Children's Book Award. It was also a Guardian best book of 2020. Manjeet’s second novel The Crossing, won the Costa Book Award for a Children’s Book in 2021 and was also named the Sunday Times Children's Book of the Week. She also founded Run The World, a not for profit organisation that uses sport and theatre as a means to empower women and girls. 

Sue Briggs Chairperson of the Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival said that she was thrilled to have Ted Wragg Trust schools as part of the programme and that she is looking forward to working more closely with the trust in the coming years.

Julie Fossey, Headteacher at West Exe School said:

“Developing a lifelong love of reading makes all other forms of learning easier and at West Exe we will continue to put literacy at the heart of our curriculum. I am looking forward to working closely with the Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival team again this year; it’s clear how much benefit their outreach programme brings to students. We have taken part in their poetry slam competition several times too (even winning it once!). These events bring the written word to life for our students and we are very proud to be associated with the festival.”

Moira Marder, CEO of the Ted Wragg Trust said:

“I am delighted that West Exe and Ted Wragg staff took the time to go and help fundraise for the Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival.  It’s such a brilliant event and brings so much to the South West in terms of cultural capital.”

Tor Bridge High celebrated World Book Day last week (7th March) by putting on a range of crafts, quizzes, games, and competitions! 

Years 7, 8 and 9 were able to choose a free World Book Day book from school during the week and World Book Day tokens were available to students so that they are able to choose another book for free from venues such as Tesco, Asda, The Works, Sainsbury's and Waterstones!

The school also organised a book swap and a treasure hunt of Carnegie Medal winning books around the site, as well as transforming the library into a Starbooks cafe - to help students find the perfect blend of book. Displays and activities were on offer to help students pick a book that is right for them; a 'tall' short story, a regular-sized 'grande', or a lengthy 'venti!’ 

The school library is often a hub of literary action hosting four massive events a year, Harry Potter Week, Book Week, Sci-Fi Week and Marvel Week. Harry Potter Week held earlier in the year saw themed activities arranged from enabling Year 7 students to be ‘sorted’, to making their own wands, taking part in quidditch, experimenting with alchemy and much more. Little Hogwarts was also opened up so that family members and the wider community could come along and join in the magic.

As part of Book Week earlier in the week, Tor Bridge was delighted to welcome author and actor Joseph Elliott into the school to speak to Year 7 and 8 students about what life is like as an actor and author.  

Alongside starring in CBBC’s Swashbuckle and writing for programmes such as Horrible Histories, Joseph wrote in secret for years. His debut novel, The Good Hawk, released in 2020, was nominated for several awards and was The Times' Book of the Year. The sequels – The Broken Raven, and The Burning Swift – were released to similar critical acclaim.

Tracy Stephenson, Headteacher at Tor Bridge High said:

“I am so grateful to the staff members who work so hard to put our library at the heart of the student and wider community. Getting children to enjoy reading is central to them getting the most out of their education and it’s clear how much fun our students have had this World Book Day.”

Plymouth schools have been celebrating World Book Day this week (7th March.)

World Book Day was created by UNESCO in 1995 as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, it is marked in over 100 countries.  The World Book Day charity’s Strategy 2023-27 sets out that its aim is “more children, from all backgrounds, developing a life-long habit of reading for pleasure, benefiting from the improved life chances this brings them.”

Lipson Academy, part of the Ted Wragg Trust (TWT) family of schools held a ‘design your own book token’ competition as well as running badge making workshops and a literary quiz. 

Marine Academy Primary, also part of the TWT, has had a book fair running every day this week to encourage children to get reading.  The school have also transformed their classrooms to take on the theme of a book and encouraged staff and students to dress in pyjamas and costumes to take part in some cosy reading.

Staff across the Ted Wragg Trust have also been taking part in an Extreme Reading Competition where staff have submit pictures of themselves reading somewhere unusual. The winning staff member will be rewarded with a new set of books for a school of their choice. Take a look at the video below. 

The World Book Day charity promotes reading by celebrating the joy of books, authors, illustrators and reading for pleasure, along with transforming attitudes and changing behaviours by providing content to promote reading for fun.  They also ensure that every child gets to choose a book of their own with the World Book Day £1 books and tokens.

The National Literacy Trust’s Annual Literacy Survey, recorded the lowest level of reading enjoyment since the trust began its survey in 2005.  They found that just 2 in 5 (43.4%) children and young people aged 8 to 18 said they enjoyed reading in their free time in 2023, the lowest level since they first asked the question in 2005.  The survey also concluded that fewer than 3 in 10 (28.0%) children and young people aged 8 to 18 said that they read daily in 2023. 

Moira Marder, CEO of the Ted Wragg Trust said:

“Reading confidently is the foundation of education and reading for enjoyment is even better!  As such, I am so glad that our schools have made such efforts to mark World Book Day this week. I do hope our students will all be going home with something new to read.”