Exeter School is the recipient of a UK Heart Safe Award. The co-educational independent school for girls and boys aged 7-18 won the award for the Education category of the awards, hosted by Jenny Powell and the Hand on Heart Charity.

The prestigious award was made for Exeter School’s investment in five defibrillators for school and community use. In the last twelve months, Exeter School has acquired two new defibrillators to add to the three already available across the 25-acre site.

School Nurse Lisa Barlass said she was absolutely delighted Exeter School had been recognised as a heart safe environment.

“We believe it is extremely important to have defibrillators on site; as a very busy and active school, our facilities are used all year round.

“We know that defibrillators save lives and I am proud to work at Exeter School where we provide this service and facility for our school and local community. Thank you for our award.”

Operations Manager Craig Stewart said: “We hire our facilities to many public groups and wanted to make sure our life-saving equipment was on hand, should the need arise.

“Two defibrillators are housed in accessible cabinets on the school grounds; one is outside the headmaster’s office and the other is on the external wall of the astro turf changing rooms. There are three more - in the swimming pool reception, sports hall reception and in the medical room. The school is a secure site with CCTV but the cabinets housing the defibrillators are not locked so these can be accessed at all times.”

114 members of staff have been trained in the use of a defibrillator - 21 of whom in the past year. The school’s first aid training incorporates defibrillator training so all staff who attend this are trained.

In-house defibrillator training delivered by the School Nurse is run during the Health & Safety inset training day, held once a year. Two further qualified members of staff deliver defibrillator training to pupil lifeguards, of whom there are currently 28. This training is refreshed as appropriate in the half termly training sessions for the lifeguards.

Pupils who are involved in the Combined Cadet Force also receive defibrillator training too. Around a dozen Upper Sixth (Year 13) pupils in the RAF section undertake training every year. Every year, around 30 Year 10 pupils participating in the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme undergo lifesaving training as part of the Skill section of the Bronze Award. This lifesaving training includes the use of a defibrillator via the Life Saver website which includes an interactive video https://life-saver.org.uk/

School Nurse Lisa said: “This school year, as well as training our staff, pupil life guards and Combined Cadet Force pupils, we are also planning to roll out further defibrillator training to even more pupils. We believe the lifelong educational value in making children aware of the presence and operation of defibrillators is priceless.”

Exeter City Swimming Club trains daily in the four-lane, 25-metre indoor swimming pool. Over 20 external organisations hire the school’s facilities on a weekly basis from archers to hockey and football players to korfballers! There are another dozen who make use of the school’s extensive grounds and facilities a few times a year, from musicians wishing to use the Music School to Laser Camp, the holiday childcare provider, which hires the school every Easter, May half term and for four weeks over the summer, to the IPC which provides English language tuition to foreign students.

Clear signage can be found at the site of each defibrillator. Exeter School is a landing site for the Coastguard helicopter and used on occasion for emergencies due to our location next to the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital.

The 8th annual UK Heart Safe Awards took place on Friday 4 October at the AJ Bell Stadium. The Awards were hosted by Jenny Powell and the Hand on Heart Charity, a charity with a mission to keep children safe and prevent the deaths of 12 young people who die each week due to sudden cardiac arrest.

Jenny Powell said: “It was an utter pleasure to host the UK Heart Safe Awards this year supporting Hand On Heart Charity. It was an emotional and heart-warming time of celebration and reflection and I felt honoured to be amongst so many wonderful people committed to such an important cause!”

For further information on the charity visit www.handonheart.org or for more information about the awards visit www.ukheartsafeawards.co.uk.

An Exeter School pupil’s work has been shortlisted in The BBC Young Writers' Award 2019.

Lower Sixth Former Eleanor Clark’s short story, Insula, made it to the final five.

Eleanor attended the award ceremony where she met BBC Radio One’s Katie Thistleton and author Kiran Millwood Hargrave of The Girl of Ink and Stars - both of whom were judges.

She also attended a workshop on Virginia Woolf delivered by the University of Cambridge and was able to learn more about studying English Literature at university.

Eleanor is interested in pursuing this when she leaves Exeter School and her long-term ambition is to write professionally in some capacity or other.

Eleanor’s story is an evocative coming of age story about a young woman who is making a journey away from the safety of the island community where she grew up. It can be listened to online: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2Cw8SJ3SH3hxMqD2dblmrdr/the-bbc-young-writers-award-2019-winner-announced

Exeter School is delighted to offer eight free places to children from the local community for the third year running.

There are three bursaries - called Foundation Bursaries and funded from alumni legacies and gifts - on offer for entry into Year 7.

Three full bursaries are on offer for the Sixth Form funded from the St John's Hospital Educational Foundation grant. Two further free places to study the Sciences in the Sixth Form, 'The George Williams Bursaries', have also been made possible by a generous bequest and continuing donations from the estate of a prominent deceased Old Exonian.

Families interested in making the most of this opportunity are encouraged to visit the school at the 'Into the Sixth Form' Open Evening on Wednesday 23 January, 5.30-8pm, or book an appointment to meet the headmaster.

Places are on offer to pupils who pass the entrance examinations, which are held in January 2020, and whose parents could not afford to send their child to Exeter School without financial assistance. Exeter School has always provided a significant number of means-tested bursaries at the School for those in need of support, and these will continue to be provided and at the same level as before.

Headmaster Bob Griffin said: “Now that some of our first Free Place holders have passed through the school and onto university, it is clear that both the school and those children benefit greatly from the opportunity that they have to study here.

“They bring their talent and enthusiasm to our life and we offer them academic and extra-curricular experiences to enjoy, and on which to thrive. We look forward to welcoming many other children to our school under this scheme in the coming years.”

Further information about bursaries can be found on the school website: http://www.exeterschool.org.uk/admissions/scholarships-and-bursaries

The deadline for September 2020 entry registration is 2 December and the deadline for bursary applications is 6 January 2020.

Exeter School Lower Sixth Former Eddy Lister featured on BBC Radio One’s podcasts, Life Hacks, talking about his Young Enterprise (YE) team’s Mindfulness card game.

The YE team devised the game as a way of tackling anxiety and entrepreneurial Eddy contacted the radio station as a way of promoting his product.

Lower Sixth Formers James Broderick and James Heard joined YE Advisor Ian McGregor on the trip to BBC Broadcasting House, London, where Eddy was interviewed by broadcaster Katie Thistleton.

The YE team – Fire Dragons – came up with the mindfulness card game to help fellow pupils deal with exam stress and other pressures. Their product has taken off with Kitsons Solicitors, HSBC and Stephens Scown, amongst others, placing orders. Educational institutions, including Plymouth University and local schools have also placed orders.

Eddy said he really enjoyed the experience and thanked Head of Economics Stuart Mackintosh and his YE advisor Ian McGregor for their support.

“Afterwards, we were all buzzing with happiness, knowing that it had been a very fun yet very successful day,” said Eddy.

The interview can be listened to at one minute: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p07fbw41

The team has now set up as an independent business in order to spread the concept and idea, and have patent pending on their idea.

Exeter School’s Senior School Science department welcomed pupils from four local primary schools for an exciting day of Science.

Pupils from St Leonard’s Church of England Primary, St Sidwell’s Church of England Primary School, St Michael’s C of E Primary Academy and Newtown Primary School enjoyed a day of Biology, Chemistry and Physics experiments – with the exciting addition of a brand new STEM activity.

The pupils were busy all morning using microscopes, making gooey slime, playing with Cartesian divers and creating their own games controllers out of Haribo and tin-foil hats!

A Science Show in the afternoon involved Star Wars science, blowing up balloons, burning things in dry ice and tricking their brains with illusions.

Biology teacher Mrs Johnson said it was a fantastic day of exploring Science.

“We thoroughly enjoyed getting to know and work with our local schools. The Science Department are looking forward to developing future projects where we can work collaboratively to promote Science to future budding Scientists!”

St Sidwell’s Church of England Primary School teacher, Miss Woodhouse said: “The children and myself really enjoyed ourselves and they were talking about what a great day it was all the way back to school!”

An Exeter School Sixth Former has been given the opportunity of a lifetime thanks to a former pupil.

Lower Sixth pupil George Heard has been offered an all-inclusive work experience placement in China thanks to the generosity of leading educational consultant Julian Fisher (1993 -2000).

Seventeen-year-old George will spend three weeks in Beijing, working on a variety of projects, learning about the local working environment and understanding how entrepreneurs are succeeding in today’s China.

This is the first work experience placement of its kind offered to an Exeter School pupil by one of its alumni and Sixth Formers currently studying Business Studies or Economics were invited to apply for the opportunity.

The opportunity arose following a visit to China by Exeter School’s Bursar Miles MacEacharn, Headmaster Bob Griffin and Deputy Headmaster James Wilson during which the trio met with Julian, Senior Partner of Venture Education and Vice Chair of the British Chamber of Commerce in China.

On a return visit to Exeter School, Julian gave a talk to Lower Sixth pupils, sharing his advice and experience as a business influencer, and made his generous offer.

George explained how his passion for business was sparked by taking part in the Student Investor Challenge which involves investing into the FTSE 100 and trying to gain the highest returns in order to win the competition.

“Over 5,000 teams of students and teachers take part each year and my team, The Dream Crushers, qualified to the semi-finals. It was my role to monitor the current state of the stocks and if we should sell or hold. Furthermore, we were able to learn about the stock market and investing.”

Since then George has played an important role as Managing Director of the school’s Young Enterprise team, creating a mindfulness card game that allows people to interact on a personal level with mindfulness.

“We used mindfulness to help people connect with others in the workplace. It is designed to help address mental health issues within the workplace. We decided to develop and sell this idea firstly because we saw a gap in the market and secondly, because we wanted to bring the highest amount of value possible to the consumer.”

The game has attracted interest from both South West and international companies such as Devon County Council, Kitsons solicitors, Tozers Solicitors, Bishop Fleming accountants, Francis Clark LLP, Ashfords Solicitors, Gregory Distribution, Delt Services, HSBC and Deloitte, and recently featured on a BBC Radio One podcast.

George said he was looking forward to increasing his knowledge of the China market.

“I would like to find out more about how China developed from an industrial powerhouse to a new middle class of 200 million developing as well as new markets in the form of technology firms in new tech hubs such as Shenzhen,” he said.

“I am looking forward to visiting the Great Wall of China and learning from Julian and his knowledge of business in China. I am especially looking forward to learning about the way in which business connections are made in China in the form of guanxi. In China this is the system of business and social networks that allow dealing and business to take place."

George is currently studying Computer Science, Biology, Business Studies and Geography and in the future would like to develop start-up companies of his own implementing knowledge learnt through the China internship, the YouTube channel valuetainment and further internships to learn about the systems in business and how larger businesses reduce costs by implementing systems.

Julian said: "China's global importance is not always matched by awareness in the UK and there is no better way to understand a country than to live and work in it. George will have a life-changing trip including cultural experiences, language learning and a lot of meetings with entrepreneurs and thriving businesses.

“We'll also meet with Nicholas Smith OBE, another Old Exonian who lives in Beijing and received his award from Queen Elizabeth II in 2011 in recognition of his services to music in China and to Sino-British relations."

Head of Economics Stuart Mackintosh said this was an incredibly exciting opportunity for a pupil to gain an insight into the business world in China.

“The contrasting way in which business is conducted in China will provide George with an insider knowledge which will put him in great stead when he enters the world of work.”

Exeter School pupils and staff were delighted to welcome celebrity chef James Tanner.

The ambassador for Independents by Sodexo’s, Exeter School’s catering provider, spent time with Junior School and Sixth Form pupils giving demonstrations on cooking with wonky veg and fresh fish.

In the morning, James and Sodexo chef Tom Allen spent time talking to Lower Two pupils about fresh fruit and vegetables. The pupils were given the opportunity to taste and look at some more unusual fruits and vegetables, such as dragon fruit and star fruit from warmer climates, and artichoke and fennel. The chefs talked about how pupils could incorporate different fruits and vegetables into the food they already enjoy eating.

The chefs and Catering Manager Michelle Hendrick made a delicious fruit salad and smoothies for pupils to try, as well as a scrumptious smelling risotto.

They shared top tips for the fruit salad, such as preparing a syrup for the fruit, made from water with a little bit of sugar. They encouraged the pupils to notice the different meals they might eat in the school dining room, such as the fish, which might be goujons or fish cakes, and that all fish served at school is from the UK. Pupils were also asked to consider the distances some food might have to travel to reach our plates.

In the afternoon, James and Tom spent time with Lower Sixth pupils talking about fresh fish, how it is caught and the benefits of eating it. They also discussed sustainability and the Marine Conservation Society’s measures to help consumers, members of the fishing industry and retailers make the right sustainable seafood choices.

The chefs invited pupils to help make a wonderful fish stew which they all tasted. They extolled the benefits of buying fresh, local and seasonal ingredients and gave advice for the Sixth Formers, helping them to preparing for life beyond school.

The entire school enjoyed a street food inspired menu, made by the Sodexo catering team with the assistance of James and Tom. Pupils and staff tucked into zingy mini fishcakes, salt chilli squid, breaded sole goujons and mackerel paté.

Exeter Junior School pupils relished the opportunity to try new foods. Poppy Sadeghi, Lamorna May, Alice Brauer and Connie Kemmish said the fruit salad was heavenly. “You could taste all of the fruit in there,” they said. “It felt very fresh and tasted tropical. The fruit was amazing.”

Seb Hemmings learnt that a lot of different fruits can be really nice. “I learnt about how fruit and vegetables can help you a lot, such as vitamins in broccoli. I now know the names of different fruit and vegetables, such as dragon fruit, star fruit and fennel. I loved it!”

Catering Manager Michelle Kendrick enjoyed meeting James Tanner as he shares the Sodexo team’s ethos and passion for using fresh, local, sustainable ingredients.

“Talking about healthy eating and demonstrating to pupils that cooking is indeed a very valuable life skill for us all,” she said.

Exeter School Headmistress Sue Marks said James Tanner had an engaging manner with pupils.

“They were hooked on his demonstration and learned so much about where the ingredients came from and how important fresh fruit and vegetables are to maintaining good health.”

Head of Sixth Form Ali Marsh said James Tanner came to speak to the Lower Sixth during their Futures Week activities, preparing for life beyond Exeter School.

“He was totally inspiring, highlighting the impact of fishing and sustainability on the oceans and fish stocks. He discussed his journey as a chef and how important sourcing his food locally. He prepared a very delicious fish stew which the Sixth Form had the opportunity to taste.”

Sixth Formers Martha Halse and Lily Alford said they enjoyed listening to James Tanner talk about sustainable fishing and the struggles yet opportunities in his field of work.

“We were lucky enough to try the delicious food that we saw being prepared for us in the session made up of fresh fish and vegetables in a creamy white sauce,” they said.

Celebrity chef James Tanner has worked with Independents by Sodexo’s since 2015 as an ambassador for its ‘fresh food from scratch’ ethos.

He said he was really passionate about educating young people not only about the vast range of fruit and vegetables that are available, but also about the importance of using seasonal, local and sustainably sourced ingredients.

“The pupils at Exeter School were all really keen to try some of the different foods we offered them, and I hope that they gained an interest in cooking! Thanks to everyone at the school for the warm welcome.”

Exeter School is taking steps to ensure its environmental stewardship is an inspiration to the school community. The co-educational school for 7-18-year-olds takes environmental issues very seriously and has introduced a number of measures to minimise the school’s impact on the climate, follow environmental guidelines and reduce carbon emissions.

Pupil-led Eco Soc is a newly-formed environmental society, under the direction of Assistant Director of Music Tom Brimelow and School Chaplain Reverend Tom Carson. As part of the school’s drive to re-use, recycle and reduce waste, pupils have been recycling pens since September. These are donated to Nourish, Exeter’s first zero-waste store, on Magdalen Road. All pens are given to TerraCycle, whose aim is to recycle the ‘non-recyclable’, with profit going to Topsham Primary School. The pupils have also begun collecting batteries in a similar scheme called the Big Battery Hunt. There are bins for dry mixed recycling around the site: and the Society has publicised the introduction of new labelled bins to optimise pupil and staff recycling.

The Society has invited inspirational speakers including parent and Arable and Soils Advisor Jerry Alford from the Soil Association, Business Development Director Richard Marsh from Coastal Recycling, as well PhD student Olivia Milton-Thompson who spoke about fracking. As a result of the Society’s eco efforts, all computers are set up to power down after school has finished for the day, and the number of lights left on around the site at night has been reduced.

All of the school’s food waste and glass are recycled and single-use plastics have been removed from the Sixth form vending machines and the catering provision, under the helm of Catering Manager Michelle Hendrick. The school has introduced meat-free Thursday which is currently once every three weeks but will be once a week as of September due to its popularity with pupils and staff. This is in keeping with a UK Committee on Climate Change report released earlier this month which recommended a 20% decrease in meat consumption and an increase in the consumption of plant-based proteins.

Exeter School’s new facilities are built to BREEAM standards: this is the leading industry specification, which follows a sustainability assessment method for all projects. Several years ago the school installed solar photovoltaic panels on two buildings, and there is a solar thermal system which pre-heats the swimming pool water; an air source heat pump heats the pool itself. The school also has a rolling programme of window improvements, LED light installation and improving insulation to reduce energy consumption, under the stewardship of Operations Manager Craig Stewart.

The school’s grounds are treated with organic products, including seaweed, instead of fertilisers whenever possible. Organic waste, such as grass cuttings, is mulched and re-used where possible and when pesticides are used, they are limited to controlled areas. Electric options for maintenance equipment, to reduce fuel use, have also been introduced.

The well-being of staff and pupils is never far from mind and there is new increased provision for secure cycle storage on site to reduce car use for school journeys as well as improve the school community’s fitness levels.

Sixth Form pupils who are due to set off on an expedition to Borneo over the summer recently took part in a beach clean in Dawlish as well as filling in a survey for the Marine Conservation Society. The school is travelling to Borneo with STC Expeditions who donate money to projects run by the international charity, Friends of Conservation. This charity works directly with local communities to protect endangered wildlife and their habitats, producing tangible results at grassroots level.

The future is certainly green at Exeter School and aspirations include the recycling of crisp packets and other difficult-to-recycle materials through TerraCycle; a vegetable garden and greenhouse for the Junior School and electric charging points for cars on site.

Tom Brimelow said pupils and young people in general are only too aware of the dangers of climate change as they are the generation that will have to live with the choices we make now.

“Their readiness to engage with these crucial issues is rejuvenating, as is their belief that action is not only the responsibility of governments and corporations, but falls to all of us today. I hope that the promulgation and propagation of a sustainable ethos will stay with our pupils throughout their lives.”