Some Year 9 female students from St Luke’s Church of England School, Isca Academy and St James School, part of the Ted Wragg Trust, joined students from other schools around Exeter for a special workplace event at law firm Michelmores this month, which aimed to introduce them to career opportunities within professional services.

The girls took part in a workshop on communication skills and confidence run by Judy Salmon, a professional business coach and personal development consultant.  They also listened to a talk on early careers opportunities at Michelmores.  The day concluded with an office tour by the firm’s trainee solicitors, apprentices and placement year students.

The firm hopes that sessions like these will help to make a career in law more accessible and they have introduced various initiatives which focus on social mobility and inclusion.  The event was coordinated with the support of Empowering Girls Exeter which links Year 9 girls from local secondary schools with professional women in the city for a programme of mentoring. 

Harrison Littler, Headteacher at St Luke’s Church of England School said:

“I want to say a big thank you to Michelmore for giving our students the opportunity to spend some time with their fantastic employees hearing about a career in law.  I know the students took a huge amount away from the session and that it got them all thinking hard about their futures.”

Moira Marder, CEO of the Ted Wragg Trust said:

“It’s great to hear about the work Michelmores are doing with local young people to make sure that they consider careers in professions like law.  At the Ted Wragg Trust, we want children to reach high and fulfil their full potential and partnerships like this are a brilliant way of inspiring that.”

Children and staff at Marine Academy Primary school in Plymouth, part of the Ted Wragg Trust, have had a brilliant day fundraising for Children in Need, raising over £6,000. 

Primary Open Events will be taking place across our family of schools. This is an opportunity for all preschool families to come and see what our ambitious and inclusive schools have to offer. Please see information below for individual schools. 

Students and staff at Queen Elizabeth’s School are celebrating after receiving a prestigious Artsmark Award.

Artsmark is the only creative quality standard for schools, accredited by Arts Council England. It supports them to develop and celebrate arts and cultural education across the whole curriculum, bringing learning to life for children and young people.

In order to achieve their Artsmark Award, QE had to develop their arts and culture provision to embed a broad and balanced curriculum. This was achieved by creating an overall plan that was committed to and delivered across the whole school.

QE was supported by Real Ideas in planning and developing their objectives. Real Ideas worked alongside the school at various stages to support their Artsmark Award achievement.

The Artsmark assessor commended QE, noting that the school ‘remained steadfast in its provision of discrete arts teaching at Key Stage 3 and has sustained its range of arts qualifications. Results have been strong at GCSE and A level and pupils go on to study arts subjects in higher education. You have restored and sustained your performance opportunities, with your Jazz Band performing in the wider community and with primary schools being welcomed to your musical theatre productions. Primary schools have also been involved in Drama and Music workshops and your transition events have a strong arts base. You have enhanced your extra-curricular provision, with the QE Theatre Academy being a particular strength. The Carnegie Competition where students work in small groups to present a short performance, telling the story of their chosen book from those on the Carnegie shortlist, gives pupils ownership of their arts learning. You have done well to sustain and strengthen the arts through difficult times and we look forward greatly to hearing how you build on this as your journey continues.’

On receiving the award, Paula Smith, Acting Headteacher said: “We’re extremely proud of achieving our Artsmark Silver Award. We are committed to delivering a high-quality arts and cultural education and we look forward to continue to grow with Artsmark.”

Dr Darren Henley OBE, Chief Executive of the Arts Council, said: “I would like to congratulate Queen Elizabeth’s School on their Artsmark Award. Becoming an Artsmark school demonstrates that through offering a broad, balanced and creative curriculum, young people have the opportunity to develop character and resilience, increasing their knowledge, curiosity and skills that will remain with them through to adult life.”

DfE data release shows Exeter students bucking national trends to achieve excellent results in core subjects 

Students, families, staff and volunteers from Ted Wragg schools across Plymouth had a brilliant time at the Ted Wragg Awards on Thursday the 12th of October at Sandy Park in Exeter. 

The awards were particularly auspicious as they also marked ten years since the creation of the Ted Wragg Trust and were an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of students, staff members and volunteers from across school communities.

The evening kicked off with a performance from the talented Lipson Co-operative Academy Band who were also nominated in the Student Teamwork category. Guests were also treated to performances by the Ted Wragg Choir between the three different award categories, Ambition Awards, Collaboration Awards and Selflessness Awards in line with Trust values. The choir which included primary school, secondary school and sixth form students from schools across the Trust came together for the first time to perform at this event. Their performances were a special part of the celebration evening and they received a well-deserved standing ovation at the end of the night.

Winners from Plymouth schools included,

• Lily-Ann Brockman, Marine Academy Primary, Student of the Year
• Julia Mes, Marine Academy Plymouth, Teacher of the Year
• Yvonne Rowe, All Saints Academy Plymouth, Co-Professional of the Year
• Student Services team, Lipson Co-Operative Academy, Staff teamwork of the Year
• Peter Friend, Lipson Co-Operative Academy, Student Community Leadership award

The awards were kindly sponsored by a range of organisations and businesses including, the University of Exeter, City College Plymouth, Bromcom, Pinnacle Group, South West Metal Finishing, Exeter College, Steplab, COREUS, Sam Hatton-Brown Creative Content, Plymouth City Bus and PHP Law LLP.

Moira Marder, CEO of the Ted Wragg Trust said:

“It is a huge honour and privilege to be the CEO of the Ted Wragg trust and I am so proud of what we have achieved and the remarkable journey that we have been on in the last ten years. 

“It was only fitting to mark this momentous occasion by celebrating the achievements of our wonderful students and the unwavering impact and service of our colleagues, volunteers and community members. 

“Everyday in my job I witness the incredible power of collaboration, compassion and commitment in transforming education and the lives of children and it was great to take an evening to celebrate this. 

“I would also like to thank our sponsors, the many generous local businesses and educational institutions that made the awards possible, everyone at the trust is very grateful to them for their kindness.”