Senior staff appointed to help shape future of new school

Two crucial appointments have strengthened the senior team leading Devon’s newest school, which is due to start delivering its specialist and innovative curriculum to students in September.

South Devon University Technical College Principal Ian Crews will be supported by Vice Principal Claire Plumb and Assistant Principal Alison Witts as the school prepares to welcome its first intake of Year 10 and Year 12 students.

The UTC, based in Newton Abbot, specialises in engineering, water and the environment, and its curriculum combines academic education with practical, work-based learning in association with its partners who include the University of Exeter, South West Water, the Environment Agency, Centrax and Galliford Try.

Mr Crews said: “Both Claire and Alison have impressive educational backgrounds which will help the University Technical College in its mission to teach the scientists, engineers and technicians of the future.”

New Vice Principal Claire Plumb is currently Assistant Principal of the Sir John Hunt Community Sports College in Plymouth. She has previously taught at the city’s University College of St Mark & St John, and at schools in Bristol and Bath.

She said: “Joining the UTC has given me the opportunity to be part of something truly amazing. I love the fact that the focus is on the students both in terms of their achievement and in helping them develop into world-class scientists and engineers of the future.

“I have been a champion for girls progressing in what we call the STEM subjects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, so I’m thrilled to be able to help both young men and women learn the skills they will need to go on and excel in their chosen roles, be that at university or in work.”

Assistant Principal Alison Witts is currently Lead Practitioner in Information and Communications Technology at the Caroline Chisholm School in Wootton, Northamptonshire. She is an Associate Tutor at the School of Education at the University of Northampton, where she is also working towards completing her Masters in Education to add to her BSc Honours degree in Human Biology and her Post Graduate Certificate in Education, in which she specialised in Secondary Science.

She said: “I am really excited to have been given this opportunity to work with this new school. The Caroline Chisholm School was set up 11 years ago and I found the experience of helping to create a new educational establishment exciting and challenging.

“I’m looking forward to using all my professional experience to help to make the South Devon UTC a successful school which serves the needs of its students and its community.”

Prof Janice Kay, University of Exeter Provost, said: “As sponsors of the UTC we are extremely pleased at the calibre of staff being attracted to this exciting new school, and extend our warmest welcome to both Claire and Alison.”

Dr Stephen Bird, South West Water’s Operations Director, said: “The UTC is a major investment in the region’s scientists and engineers of the future, which is why South West Water is one of its key sponsors. These new appointments will help the UTC achieve its mission of equipping our young people with the solid, work-based skills they need to succeed in their chosen careers.”