Year 6 pupils at Marine Academy Primary in Plymouth, part of our Trust, have watched an inspiring webcast with Hedi Argent MBE,  organised by the Holocaust Education Trust and hosted by Natasha Kaplinsky OBE, where Hedi provided a testimony of her survival during the Holocaust.  The children found the session incredibly moving and it complemented their History learning about Civil Rights and 20^th Century Conflict effectively.

The webcast was designed to have them learn more, and reflect on, the holocaust after Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) on Saturday the 27th of January.  The 27th of January marks the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp and the theme of this year’s HMD was the fragility of freedom.

Hedi Argent was born in 1929, and lived in a suburb of Vienna in Austria, the anti-Jewish laws and backlash that accompanied Hitler’s annexation of Austria in 1938 were something Hedi remembers very well.  She remembers seeing Jews being made to scrub the pavements and having stones thrown at them. Hedi’s family arrived in England in 1939 and stayed in a safe house.  After the war, Hedi and her parents wrote to the Red Cross to try and find their extended family; they found out that most of their other family members in Europe had been murdered during the Holocaust.

The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust encourages remembrance in a world scarred by genocide, they promote and support Holocaust Memorial Day  to remember the 6 million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, alongside the millions of people murdered under Nazi persecution of other groups and during more recent genocides. 

Nicola Keeler and Georgina Reid Co Headteachers at Marine Academy Primary said:

“It’s really important for children to learn about the Holocaust and understand the history of our society.  It is of course a sensitive topic, but children are resilient, and it was helpful for them to hear Hedi Argent’s inspiring story, which they clearly found incredibly moving.”

Moira Marder, CEO of the Ted Wragg Multi-Academy Trust said:

“It’s only right for schools to take action to mark Holocaust Memorial Day and I was glad to hear that Marine Academy Primary made sure to educate their children about this in a sensitive and reflective manner.”

Kylie Rio-Wood, Trust Leader for Speech and Language and Lead Speech and Language Therapist at the Ted Wragg Multi-Academy Trust tells us more. 

It was revealed this month that almost two million school children are behind their peers in talking and understanding, the highest on record.  Different reasons have been attributed to this jump, from the pandemic to the use of screens. However, the main takeaway is that thousands of children are now waiting over a year for speech and language therapy. 

As the trust leader for speech and language at the Ted Wragg Multi-Academy Trust and the trust’s lead speech and language therapist, I believe schools are going to have to invest more in services like speech and language therapy (SALT). These have traditionally been provided or commissioned by local authorities, but now have long waiting lists, and the state of council finances nationwide suggest these will only get longer. 

Children who do not receive SALT in a timely manner can see both their wellbeing and outcomes suffer. Their development can stall, leading to poorer mental health and even unemployment in adulthood.  For children who need it, SALT can transform life chances by supporting them to access education properly and to manage socially.   

Responding to the headline figures in The Times, Speech and Language UK’s chief executive, Jane Harris called on schools to put in place group programmes to help children with communication needs. This is what we have been doing trust-wide. Our team currently consists of a SALT assistant and three specialist TAs in Speech and Language.  We’ve conducted speech and language screenings for two years and are working towards every child in every school in our trust being screened for speech and language needs and supported by us if needed.    

I started this work by creating an informal assessment which covers areas of speech and language that, from evidence, a 4-year-old would be expected to be able to reach. We use this screening tool to assess children who start in reception, and from this we create booster sessions for children who have fallen short in certain areas. The SALT team run these sessions so that teachers don’t have to.  

We then use an online assessment programme called Secondary Language Link, which is a unique, comprehensive package for supporting students with speech, language and communication needs.  The package combines a robust standardised assessment with planned and fully-resourced, targeted small-group interventions and a staff training toolkit.  We use this to screen every year 7 in all of our schools, and then run intervention groups as required. 

Thanks to both of these screenings we are also able to identify any children with very significant needs who would meet the NHS SALT threshold. This allows us to refer them to this service sooner rather than later. It also means we can signpost other NHS services we think may help such as GPs,  audiologists, and ear, nose and throat specialists.  

Our Trust has also invested in an external provider of virtual SALT assessments and therapy for children in other year groups who staff are concerned about and think they might benefit from further support.  These assessments can then also be used to help support any education, health and care plan (EHCP) referrals.  

Taken together, all of this means more children than ever are being seen and supported, and much sooner than would otherwise be the case, which benefits everyone. It helps children catch up with their peers, supports teachers to deliver the best classroom experience for all pupils, and alleviates pressure on public services in the long term.  

More Multi-Academy Trusts doing this sort of work internally or collaborating with each other to share these services would also reduce demand on local authority services, to the benefit of students in non-academised schools. 

But above all, it’s clear how much children benefit personally from support with speech, language and communication needs. With almost two million children in need of that support, I hope more trusts will collaborate and consider how they can take a lead on this pressing issue.  

Whipton Barton Federation, part of our family of schools, welcomed two members of the Torquay Museum Education Team to the school this month to run a fun filled history workshop about ancient Egypt with Year 1 pupils. 

The children learnt all about the mummified boy, which is on display at the museum, how they know how old he is and about his family’s status. They then participated in the reenacting of a purification and mummification of a body. There were lots of steps involved and they found out that the whole process takes 60 days! They also got the chance to write their name in hieroglyphics, using a reed and paint; and create a scarab beetle from clay as well as create papyrus paper.  

400 million years of Torbay’s heritage can be discovered at the Torquay Museum, which is a hands-on and family friendly place to visit. Until the 18th of February the fascinating story of how hieroglyphs were decoded is being celebrated in a national touring exhibition called Egyptian hieroglyphs: unlock the mystery.   

Torquay Museum is the last stop on the tour, this follows the major show at the British Museum, marking the bicentenary of this breakthrough. Objects on display include an extract from the Book of the Dead, belonging to the priestess Nestanebetisheru, and a large limestone lintel revealing the name of Pharaoh Ramses III.  

Louise Moretta. Executive Headteacher at Whipton Barton Federation said: 

“I want to say a big thank you to Claire and Stacey from the Torquay Museum for taking the time to come and visit us. I know that the children thoroughly enjoyed themselves and Claire and Stacey were impressed with their fantastic behaviour and their thirst for knowledge.” 

Moira Marder, CEO of the Ted Wragg Trust said: 

“Everyone at the trust was delighted to hear about the ancient Egyptian workshop that took place at Whipton Barton Federation. It certainly looks as though the children had a wonderful time and took a lot away from this memorable, hands-on learning experience.

“The Ted Wragg Trust’s ‘Common Primary Curriculum’ aims to ensure students become independently minded and confident citizens of the future who will contribute positively to our society and it’s great to see this in action at Whipton Barton Federation.” 

Students and staff at St James School in Exeter, part of the Ted Wragg Trust family, are celebrating after being rated Good by Ofsted. 

The Ofsted report notes that the school motto of ‘work hard, be kind’ is lived by the pupils and staff at St James School and that it is an inclusive school built on warm, respectful relationships. That the school has high expectations for behaviour was also singled out, along with the fact that the calm school environment enables students to focus on their studies.  

Inspectors stated that the school provides opportunities for pupils to have new experiences and develop their talents and that the school has planned an ambitious curriculum. High quality support for students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) was also commented on with the report noting that teachers know the needs of these pupils well and support them to learn the curriculum.  

Other comments from the inspectors included the following: 

• The school actively promotes the importance of regular attendance. Staff work with pupils and their families to provide the support needed to overcome any barriers they might have to coming to school. As a result, attendance continues to rise.  
• All pupils take part in an extensive range of weekly creative, active and service electives. For example, pupils learn about bike maintenance, sign language and sea safety while others prepare for the school show, learn to knit and create artwork inspired by performance poetry. Pupils enjoy physical challenges such as taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme.  
• Pupils read a wide range of books as part of the ‘St James canon’. Books have been deliberately chosen to represent a range of authors and cultural experiences. The school identifies the weakest readers and the reasons for their difficulties. It provides support for pupils to build their accuracy and fluency with reading.  

Ofsted inspectors visited the school last November for the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. They had discussions with school leaders, met with staff and considered responses to Ofsted Parent View as well as responses to staff and student surveys.   

Deep dives were also carried out in several subjects including maths and modern foreign languages, for each of these inspectors’ held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some students about their learning and looked at samples of work.  

Emily Harper, Headteacher at St James School said: 

“I am delighted that St James has continued to be rated Good by Ofsted and I want to say a big thank you to all our staff and students for making this happen. I would also like to say how much I appreciate the support of all our families and the wider community in making St James the kind and successful school that it is.   

“It was lovely to hear that our students feel safe and supported and that they are proud of the school, welcoming visitors with enthusiasm. I was also pleased that the Ofsted inspectors took time to note how much our young people value the St James Baccalaureate, which is our planned personal development curriculum preparing them for adulthood and life in modern Britain.” 

Moira Marder, CEO of the Ted Wragg Trust said: 

“Congratulations to everyone at St James, this Ofsted outcome is a reflection of the hard work and dedication of our staff, students, families, governors and volunteers. It was especially heartening to hear Ofsted comment on the sense of community at the school.  It was also lovely that inspectors could see that St James students feel confident in making choices about their future thanks to the work the school does with education and apprenticeship providers, as well as local businesses, to support their transition to post-16 education.” 

To read the full report click here. 

Around 60 Year 9 students at West Exe School, part of the Ted Wragg Multi-Academy Trust, have taken part in an enterprise market at the school this month.  

The market is the culmination of the £5 enterprise challenge, those taking part conducted market research, visited the market at Exeter Cathedral, then got to work on planning, pitching and promoting how they were going to use their £5 budget to create something to sell to other students.  Some intrepid students even sought wider investment to help boost their chances of success. 

The final market where students showcase their products is a much loved yearly event at the school and the whole project teaches those involved a sound understanding of business concepts.  A wide variety of festive goods were on offer from decorative wooden reindeer and reindeer cookies to waffles and popcorn bags.  

This year’s market was a huge success with many groups turning their £5 investment into over £30 of profit, one group even generated a whopping £72!  Overall they managed to turn an £80 investment into over £300. 

Julie Fossey, Headteacher at West Exe School said: 

“I am so proud of each and every group, they demonstrated brilliant teamwork and problem-solving skills, along with a good serving of creativity.   They have all gained a sense of achievement  and success from taking part in the £5 enterprise challenge.  We will now spend the rest of the year building on this business experience, which in turn will help these children achieve excellent results and improve their life chances.” 

Moira Marder, CEO of the Ted Wragg Multi-Academy Trust said: 

“I was delighted to hear about the success of the £5 enterprise market at West Exe.  The challenge is a great way to get children thinking about entrepreneurship and the fact that they managed to create such amazing levels of return on investment is very impressive!” 

After many months of fundraising the Marine Academy Plymouth Campus in St Budeaux is delighted to announce they have a brand new 3G football pitch!  

The campus consists of Marine Academy Primary and Marine Academy Secondary, both part of the Ted Wragg Trust family of schools, and educates children from the ages of 2 to 18.  An official opening ceremony for the new state of the art pitch will take place in the Spring but it’s now open for kick off.

3G stands for a third-generation synthetic surface which consists of three elements: synthetic turf, sand infill and rubber infill.  The pitch has been funded by the Ted Wragg Trust, Plymouth City Council, and a grant from the Football Foundation.  

The Football Foundation is the Premier League, The FA and Government’s charity which delivers outstanding grassroots facilities, more and better places to play, transforming lives and communities where it’s needed the most.  The foundation’s goal is to unlock the power of pitches to transform lives and strengthen communities, ensuring everyone has a great place to play regardless of gender, race, disability, or place.

The 3G pitch, constructed by Tiger Turf UK and McArdle Sport Tec and overseen by MGAC, will enable the Marine Academy schools to provide opportunities for their students to participate in physical activity outside all year round.  It will also grow the opportunities and capacity for their resident football club Marine Academy FC.  

The community will benefit as they will be able to use this fantastic football facility through the ‘Just Play’ initiatives delivered by coaches from the Marine Academy Plymouth Community Sports Complex; local teams and organisations are also able to hire the pitch.  Outside of the school day, when the schools have sole use of the pitch, the facility will be open for the community during the weekday evenings and daytime during the weekends, whilst during the school holidays, holiday club programmes and bookings will be available. 

The Community Sports Team at Marine Academy are excited to be able to release the new community 3G usage programme for January and are encouraging people to look out for their new sessions for children and adults. 

Siobhan Meredith Executive Director of Education, of the Ted Wragg Multi-Academy Trust said:

“There are so many thank yous that we owe to a whole range of individuals but most importantly, we would like to thank the Football Foundation, Plymouth City Council and our Trust, the Ted Wragg Trust, for their financial contributions to make the dream of a 3G pitch a reality. 

“We would also like to thank the construction teams – Tiger Turf UK and McArdle Sport Tec – and Johnny Mercer MP, in addition to our Local Councillor, Pat Patel for their ongoing support. 

“At the Ted Wragg Trust we believe in strengthening our communities and this is enabling us to do exactly that. We cannot wait to see the children of Marine Academy Primary and Marine Academy Plymouth and the St Budeaux community using this facility.”