About our Federation

Welcome to Exe Estuary Federation



Wednesday 27^th April 2022

Dear Stakeholders,

As you are aware, we have been in a consultation period about forming a new Federation with Marpool Primary School, Countess Wear and Clyst Heath, which ended on Monday 25th April. The governing bodies of these schools met on the Tuesday 26^th April at Countess Wear Community School and at the meeting, in separate votes, they voted unanimously to federate.

We are delighted with the outcome of the vote and are excited about the challenges and opportunities this will bring for the schools and our communities.

Governors and Leaders have been discussing the name of the Federation over the last few weeks as they wanted the name to reflect the locality and connection between all three schools.

‘Throughout its journey from source to sea, the River Exe forms an central part of the lives and identities of those who live along its banks. Every stretch of this iconic river offers beautiful scenery, rich wildlife and a space to be explored and admired by all those who make their way to this stunning corner of the world.’

We felt that this reflected how all the children in our schools are on a journey with us. With that in mind, we have agreed that from Monday 6th June 2022 our Federation will become Exe Estuary Federation.

We would like to thank you for your support and involvement during the consultation period.

Claire Foster (Chair of Governors Marpool Primary School)

 Sue Keatt (Chair of Governors Countess Wear and Clyst Heath School)

Rachel Pattison (Executive Headteacher)

Exe Estuary Federation financial benchmarking information is available here.  Exe Estuary does not have any staff on an annual salary over the threshold of £100,000.

What is a Federation?

A Federation is a family of schools with each retaining its own unique character and continues to serve its own community. There is no single blue print for a Federation and each is tailored to the needs of its schools. Currently, there are approximately 35 Federations across Devon which involve over 80 schools.



Each school has its own Ofsted Inspection and the performance data is published separately. Admissions Policies remain linked to individual schools but the Federation shares a Governing Board which consists of representatives from other schools and communities. The Governing Board work closely with the Executive Headteacher and Senior Leaders  to ensure that they have an have an oversight of all Federation Policies and are proactive in their implementation and impact across both schools.



Our Federation has been formed with the desire to ensure that strong leadership and high standards of teaching and learning prevail whilst maintaining each schools individual ethos and values.  The Executive Headteacher oversees qualities and standards in all areas, for both schools, whilst the Executive Business Manager runs and oversees a single Federation budget.



Each school has a designated Headteacher who leads and manages on a day to day basis. They work in partnership with all staff, implementing the Federation policies and working to achieve the agreed vision and strategic aims.



The Headteachers and staff from both schools share training, equipment and resources as well as take every opportunity to work collaboratively and ensure the highest quality teaching and learning is delivered for all children across the Federation.



We aim to minimise and remove barriers in learning so that each child is able to make sustained and appropriate progress.

 Our vision for our Federation

• Improve outcomes and raise standards for all pupils across both schools
• Provide high quality inclusive environments for rich learning to take place
• Develop teaching and learning through collaboration and trust, share expertise and participate in high quality professional development
• Secure excellent leadership capacity and succession through professional support and challenge
• Provide opportunities to enrich the lives of all children in our communities

We will achieve this by:

• Collaborating to moderate standards and assessment judgements
• Delivering high quality training through utilising shared funding
• Sharing resources, policies and ideas
• Engaging in School to School support, sharing best practice and expertise
• Participating in curriculum and learning events for children across the range
• Building strong relationships between staff at all stages of their career
• Being outward looking and collaborate with other partners beyond the Federation