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.”

West Exe School, part of the Ted Wragg Trust, welcomed members of the economics department from the University of Exeter to the school this month as part of a joint initiative from the university and the ‘Discover Economics’ programme.

Discover Economics is on a mission to increase the diversity of economics students. They aim to broaden the appeal of economics to potential students, change their perceptions of economics and economists and attract more students from under-represented groups (women, state school/further education college students and minoritised ethnic groups).

Budding economists and entrepreneurs taking GCSE Business Studies heard from three current Exeter university students who ran brilliant sessions looking at topics such as, what is gross domestic product and how your take home salary is affected at different income levels. Students were shocked at what their take-home salary would look like after they’ve paid their income tax and national insurance!

The group went on to look at the government's current budget deficit, and what approaches politicians could take to address this. They had a large debate about whether tax should be increased for top earners and what other ways more income could be brought into the UK.

The university students will be back again later this term to examine other careers in economics and answer questions.

Economics students at the University of Exeter cover a variety of topics including inflation, monopoly control, the study of developing economies and the finance of multinational companies. The University is in the top ten in the UK for economics.

Julie Fossey, Headteacher at West Exe School said:

“I want to say a big thank you to the Exeter University students who took the time to come and discuss economics with our Business Studies class. It was great for them to be introduced to some new concepts and to have them start thinking about the wider applications of what they are studying.”

Debbie Du Preez, Economics lecturer and ‘Discover Economics’ lead at the University of Exeter said:

“It is a privilege for us to go into the local state schools and promote Economics to a diverse set of learners. We want to transform learner perceptions of what “Economics” actually is and show them just how accessible and rewarding a career in Economics can be.”

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

“At the Ted Wragg Trust we are really keen to see organisations in our communities collaborate and this was a great example of how local educational institutions can work together for the benefit of all young people.”

West Exe School, part of the Ted Wragg Trust, recently hosted their first inter-school chess competition with 9 of the school’s Year 8 students who attend a lunchtime Chess Club taking on their counterparts from Matford Brook.

There were a few nerves alongside a lot of excitement amongst the students who were proud to represent the school.  Both sets of students played some excellent chess over the course of the afternoon, with a lot of incredibly close games as students got to grips with the pressure of playing under timed conditions for the first time. 

The West Exe students ultimately won the majority of the games played, claiming an overall victory on the day!  Overall, it was a fantastic afternoon with students from both schools showing both a competitive spirit, as well as fantastic sportsmanship all round.

Texts referencing the origins of chess date from the start of the seventh century.  The game received a surge in popularity in recent years following the TV show The Queen’s Gambit which centres on a woman trying to become a chess champion.

 Julie Fossey, Headteacher at West Exe School said:

"I am delighted that West Exe students won our very first inter-school chess tournament and want to offer everyone who took part a big congratulations!  Watching our Year 7s take such joy not just in their chess, but in hosting students from MBA was the highlight of my week.  I am incredibly proud of them all."

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

“It was great to hear that West Exe has hosted this chess challenge and to see that so many students were excited to take part.  Many congratulations to the West Exe students for their victory.”