Year 9 students Zack, Daisy and Maisie from West Exe School, part of the Ted Wragg Trust, cooked a hot homemade meal for the homeless clients of St Petrocks this month.

Originating as a community project providing humanitarian response to rough sleepers in Exeter, St Petrocks officially opened its doors in December 1994, having been given permission by the Central Parish of Exeter to adapt two thirds of St Petrock’s church for use as a homeless centre.  Over 600 people every year face homelessness and multiple disadvantages in Exeter and the surrounding areas.  

Many of those who use St Petrock’s are people often viewed as being on the fringes of, or outside of, society. They include rough sleepers, those being supported in accommodation subsequent to homelessness, those facing imminent homelessness, those released from prison and those discharged from hospital, mental health facilities/specialist accommodation.  

The students have been mentored by the paralympian David Hill as part of his work with the Dame Kelly's Trust.  The four Year 9s are all taking part in AQA’s Unlocking Potential Programme which is run by the trust and donating the meals was part of the project’s social action component. 

The Dame Kelly Holmes Trust was set up in 2008 by double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes. It supports retired athletes as they transition from sport and uses their skills and experience to transform the lives of young people through mentoring programmes.  The AQA Unlocking Potential programme, run jointly with the trust aims to bring out the best in young people so that they can achieve their goals.  

The mentors know what it takes to overcome adversity and have the will to succeed not only in sport, but in life too.  Paralympic swimmer and triathlete David Hill grew up by the sea where he learnt to swim at a young age. Despite being born with no left forearm; David was earning swimming badges by the age of 3! His talent was nurtured until David qualified for the 2004 Paralympic Games. He was world silver medallist in swimming in 2006 and took bronze medals in 2009 in both European and World competitions.

The group from West Exe also went along to visit St Petrocks, along with their mentor David, and they were given a guided tour and told more about the charity’s work.  Zack, Daisy and Maisie are now partnering with St Petrocks for a ‘sock collection’. They are asking their fellow students to consider donating a new pair of socks for a rough sleeper.  The ‘give a pair to show you care’ drive is another part of the students’ social action work to impact the local community. 

 Julie Fossey, Headteacher at West Exe School said:

“I am so proud of Zack, Daisy, and Maisie for the work they have done on their social action project.  They all really wanted to do something that would benefit the local community and I know they took a lot away from their visit to St Petrocks.  I hope the sock drive will be a big success!”

Moira Marder, CEO of the Ted Wragg Trust said:

“Being part of and contributing to the local community is a key part of the Ted Wragg ethos and I am delighted that these West Exe students have given their time to help those less fortunate than themselves.  I also want to say a big thank you to the staff and volunteers at St Petrocks, not only for everything they do to help the homeless, but for taking the time to show these students around and help them learn more about social issues.”

https://www.radioexe.co.uk/news-and-features/local-news/students-cook-for-homeless-in-exeter/

Aspens Services, the catering company at West Exe School, part of the Ted Wragg Trust, have served up a ‘no waste’ lunch for students this week.

Nothing was wasted in the preparation of the ‘root to stem’ meals which included a variety of dishes that are good for both people and the planet!

On the menu on Tuesday the 23rd of April was:

• Chickpea and vegetable stew
• Arrabiata stew with crispy parsnip and skin on mash
• No waste mince and onion pie and skin on mash

Aspens Services, is a market leading contract catering company specialising in school food and they often put on themed menus to tie in with special awareness or cultural days.  Aspens are passionate about serving fresh, high quality and locally sourced food.

Food available at West Exe includes a choice of hot meals each day (including a vegetarian option), a pasta bar, salads and sandwiches, as well as drinks and snacks.  A free breakfast is also provided to all students at the school from 8.15-8.30am daily in the canteen.  Students can also access Chrome books during this time to allow them to work on any extended practice they may have. 

 Julie Fossey, Headteacher at West Exe School said:

“It was great to offer up these ‘no waste’ dishes on the lunch menu this week, especially as it was Earth Day on Monday.  It’s brilliant for our students to try all sorts of different dishes and anything that focuses their minds on both healthy eating and the sustainability of the planet can only be a good thing in my book!”

Moira Marder, CEO of the Ted Wragg Trust said:

“It’s great to hear that Aspens are doing such great work at West Exe to offer students a range of, not only delicious, but thought-provoking meals.  I know they have some really creative chefs that work hard to provide schools with a wide variety of exciting cuisines.”

Students from West Exe School, part of the Ted Wragg Trust, represented the school at a mock trial recently. 

The mock trial event was run by the University of Exeter Law Society and hosted by the Maynard School.  The students were given some witness statements and then had to prepare and present part of the prosecution’s case against the defendant. 

Despite having never done anything like this before, they did a phenomenal job of preparing an opening statement and writing examination-in-chief and cross-examination questions, all in a very short amount of time.

The event was presided over by a retired Circuit Judge, some circuit judges deal specifically with criminal or civil cases, while some are authorised to hear public and/or private law family cases, and some sit across a range of jurisdictions.  Others may sit more or less on a full-time basis in specialised civil jurisdictions, such as Chancery or as judges of the Technology and Construction Court.   There are currently over 600 circuit judges throughout England and Wales.

The University of Exeter Law Society supports its members from the moment they join their legal community through to graduation and beyond.  They support their members through law school with academic, careers and welfare events, and provide an array of extra-curricular activities such as advocacy, mooting, intramural sport and pro-bono volunteering.  The Maynard School is the South West's top school & a leading UK Independent Girls School.

Julie Fossey, Headteacher at West Exe School said:

“I am so glad that some West Exe students took part in this mock trial, and I am very grateful to the University of Exeter and the Maynard’s School for enabling them to.  I was delighted to hear that the retired Circuit Judge stated that our team was excellent and that we should be very proud of them, which of course we are!”

Students at West Exe School, part of the Ted Wragg Trust, are taking part in the 15th celebration of Sustrans #BigWalkAndWheel, the UK's largest inter-school walking, wheeling, scooting and cycling challenge.  Sustrans is a UK based walking, wheeling and cycling charity, and the custodian of the National Cycle Network. 

The challenge aims to inspire hundreds of thousands of students to get active on the school run and over a period of 10 days, schools record the number of students walking, scooting or cycling to school.  Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel inspires students to improve air quality in their neighbourhood and discover how these changes benefit their world.

At West Exe School, they are using sports leaders to go around to tutors each day and record the numbers for how students got to school.  The school is going to award prizes for the tutor group with the highest number across the 10 days in each year group and a prize for the overall tutor leading the scoreboard across all five years.  As a school, West Exe is also competing against different schools from across the country.

Currently over two thousand schools are taking part across the country with 728, 953 children taking part, Sustrans has a live journey counter on their website, showing all the journeys that have been taken so far.  The challenge runs from the 11th to the 22nd of March.

According to Cycling UK, on average just 2.2% of children cycle to school and 35.4% are driven, they estimate that if just one child cycled to school instead of travelling by car for a year, it would save almost half a tonne in carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to growing eight trees for a decade or charging 58,388 mobile phones.

Julie Fossey, Headteacher at West Exe School said:

“I am so proud that we are taking part in Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel challenge. Over 200 children at West Exe cycle to the school everyday and we also have a very active staffing body, many of whom choose to beat the traffic and ride in daily. 

“ I am delighted that so many of our students make the choice to cycle in everyday and we will continue to support others to complete the training needed to feel safe and confident cycling to school.”