We believe Trusts are civic anchors. This means that we have a responsibility to help improve the education system as a whole so it better serves all children.  

We work in collaboration with other trusts, schools and organisations to strengthen the learning experience of all children across the South West and beyond. This includes: 

• Marine Academy Primary, St James School and Cranbrook Education Campus all serve as National Attendance and Behaviour Hubs, helping to support other schools to deliver the best for all children. 

• Advocating for system wide improvements such as the auto-enrolment of Free School Meals, now rolled out across Devon. 

• CEO Moira Marder serves as Regional Co‑Chair for the South West Key Stage 3 RISE Alliance, helping to raise standards and improve outcomes in Key Stage 3. 

• Siobhan Meredith, Executive Director of Education, serves as a DfE RISE Adviser, helping schools across the country to grow and share best practice. 

• We hold an annual open day event, offering colleagues across the education sector the opportunity to discover how we work. Through this we share our practice and insight on a range of topics from school improvement to strengthening communities.  

Our place-based approach  

At the Ted Wragg Trust, we believe the best solutions are often found when people who know a place well come together and work on the things that matter most to local children and families. 

Our place-based approach starts with listening. It means taking time to understand a community, its strengths, its challenges and the experiences of the people who live and work there. It brings together schools, local authorities, community organisations and other partners so they can look at the bigger picture and decide what they can do better together. 

Our role is not to arrive with the answer. We agree shared priorities shaped by local leaders and rooted in the needs of the place. 

This matters because many of the things that affect children do not sit neatly within one organisation. Attendance, belonging, SEND, family circumstances, transition and access to support are often closely connected. When partners work together, they are more likely to spot concerns earlier and put the right help in place before problems become harder to change. 

Place-based work in action 

We have supported place-based work in Plymouth, Torbay and Dorset. The work has looked different in each area because every community is different. However, the same approach has run through all of it: listen carefully, understand the local context, build trust and support local leaders to work together on shared challenges. 

In Plymouth, this has grown into a citywide approach focused on identifying vulnerability earlier and strengthening attendance, inclusion and achievement. In Torbay, the work has helped leaders build a stronger shared understanding of local need and develop closer working relationships across the area. Our work in Dorset has given us further insight into how strong local partnerships can support change. 

We are now using what we have learned from to help shape place-based work in Exmouth and in other parts of the country.  The priorities will be different in every place, but the idea is simple: local leaders working together to improve the lives of local children. 

A case study with more information about our work is coming soon! In the meantime you can find out more about our work in Plymouth in this article for the Confederation of School Trusts here.  

You can also keep up to date with our work on our News Page.