In what was probably the final Ofsted inspection of a school before lockdown, school inspectors have confirmed that Colyton Grammar School has maintained its ‘Outstanding’ rating while praising its students, staff and wider school community.
Colyton Grammar School is a state school with 954 students who come from across Devon, Somerset and Dorset.
The school was inspected following a decision by the Department for Education to revisit all schools with an ‘Outstanding’ rating. A previous ruling had deemed that ‘Outstanding’ schools need not be inspected which meant that...
The phased reopening of Devon’s Household Waste Recycling Centres for essential use only has gone 'relatively well so far' says Councillor Andrea Davis, 'but we are experiencing some problems with traffic queuing back onto the public highway causing a safety issue, which we're having to address.’
Public safety is paramount to Devon County Council, but despite their appeals for the public to use the recycling centres only when they're unable to store waste safely at home or legally dispose of it some other way - with repeated warnings that there will be queues and therefore people...
The coronavirus lockdown and its after-effects are likely to impact on the delivery of the County Council’s highway maintenance schemes this year, councillors heard today (Wednesday 13 May).
The caution comes as Devon County Council’s Cabinet set out the authority’s capital and revenue budgets for highway maintenance for the current financial year.
The lockdown prompted many contractors, suppliers, quarries and material manufacturers to temporarily close, and by the end of March most highways work was limited to essential safety work. Some schemes from last year have had...
Hedgehog Street, a nationwide campaign set up by wildlife charities the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) and People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES), to halt the ongoing decline in native hedgehogs, has this week launched ‘ Hedgehogs After Dark’ .
This exciting new citizen science initiative asks Hedgehog Champions across the UK to record hedgehog behaviours. Over the course of several weeks Champions are being encouraged to carefully observe hedgehogs at a distance in their gardens, recording all the different behaviours they see. This will allow...
Like many voluntary groups and organisations, youth clubs in Devon are struggling right now to stay afloat, with bills to pay and no income to supplement them. It's left many in a hard place, and yet they're part of the solution in helping young people in the transition back to normal life.
The Youth Work in Devon Partnership is happy to announce that we have been successful in securing additional emergency funds for the youth sector. They are currently distributing over £60,000 to youth clubs across the county to ensure they can operate after COVID-19.
The seven remaining East Devon District Council gardens which have been closed since the coronavirus lockdown will reopen from tomorrow. (Wednesday May 13)
The decision has been reviewed following the Prime Minister’s announcement on Sunday where new measures for exercise were introduced. Although the gardens will reopen, the council is reiterating that the strict social distancing measures must be followed by everyone.
Last month, the council reopened the majority of the district’s large or easy to access park sites after they were closed due to the lockdown measures...
A new community project designed to celebrate and explore the Exe Estuary and coast, has been launched.
The project, called Tidelines and run in partnership with the University of Exeter, brings together arts, science, local knowledge and academic research to engage local members of the community with the estuary.
Project coordinators Jo Salter and Anne-Marie Culhane, will create a Community Hub to foster collaborative research between Exe estuary residents, students and researchers, to inspire new ideas to make a direct and positive impact on the local area.
One of the Westcountry’s leading suppliers of quality meat and game to the catering industry is providing vital help sourcing and delivering meat to food banks and charities while undergoing huge upheaval and change to its own business during the coronavirus pandemic.
M C Kelly supplies the catering trade, employing 80 staff at its headquarters at Elston Farm, Copplestone in the heart of Devon. Established for 65 years, it is a key employer in the area, with most of its employees living locally to the village.
However, with the hospitality industry curtailed through Covid-...
The National Trust is calling for people around the UK to share their letters with the conservation charity and its followers and members, about their lockdown experiences. The Trust plans to add a selection to its historic collection of letters.
In the two-week period from 11-25 March, the charity saw a 1,000% jump in visits to the notecard category of its online shop, suggesting people were anticipating that traditional handwritten notes and letters would be a key way to keep in touch during the lockdown.
The National Trust’s Head Curator, Sally-Anne Huxtable, says: “...
Food charity, FareShare South West , has announced that it will now support 5 organisations across Devon & Cornwall with emergency food support in response to the impact of Coronavirus.
FareShare South West, an independent franchise of FareShare UK, take in-date, good quality surplus food on scale from right across the food industry and redistribute it to more than 260 partner charities and settings who support the most vulnerable. Their current list of partners spans school breakfast clubs, community centres, homeless shelters, refuge centres, elderly people’s lunch clubs,...
