The origins of the school date back to the Victorian times, when the mergers of a number of smaller schools resulted in the creation in 1889 of two National Schools: one for boys at the end of Cowick Street, and another for infants and girls adjacent to Emmanuel Church on Okehampton Road.[6] In 1900, when St Thomas became part of the city of Exeter, control of these schools moved to the Exeter School Board. The Board moved the boys' school to the bottom of Dunsford Road, and in 1917 the girls' school was destroyed by fire.[7]
In 1921, the Dunsford Road Boys' School was renamed to the John Stocker School, after John Stocker, the recently retired chairman of the Education Board.[8] In 1930 the boys' school was split into John Stocker Senior Boys' School and John Stocker Junior Boys' School, both of which still used the Dunsford Road site. The site on Cowick Street used by the boys' school until 1900 was taken over by a number of girls' and infants' schools that had previously been based in different locations around St Thomas, Redhills and Exwick.[9]
The schools were all merged into a single Boys' Secondary Modern School and Girls' Secondary Modern School in 1967,[citation needed] and in 1972 the two were merged into a single comprehensive school. In 1973 the two halves of the newly united school started using a new site on Cowick Lane, being renamed to Exeter St Thomas High School under the headship of Bill Ridley, who was in post from 1973 until 1997.[9]
Under new headteacher Steve Maddern the school was renamed to West Exe Technology College and a new school logo designed in 1998 to reflect its status as a specialist Technology College under the Government's Specialist Colleges programme. In 2005, a new school building was completed on the playing fields of the St Thomas High School and a new rugby field was built on top of the old building.[9][better source needed]
Following the end of the Government's Specialist Colleges programme, the school was renamed to West Exe School in 2014, and a new logo was adopted.[10][failed verification]
A report commenting on the school's subsequent improvement spoke of West Exe as "troubled Exeter school" in these years.[11] In June 2016 it had previously described West Exe school as having a reputation for controversy,[12] and when reporting on the November 2016 riot, described the school as "in the spotlight again".[13]
Academy status
Ready to Learn expections on a classroom poster and printed in a student planner at West Exe School in 2018.
The Ted Wragg Multi-Academy Trust began setting policy at the school in September 2017.[14][better source needed] The Trust introduced the strict Ready to Learn behaviour policy,[11] later renamed "Reset".[14]: 10
On 28 February 2018, the school became an academy and formally acceded to the Ted Wragg Multi-Academy Trust.[15]
In April 2023, a parents' campaign group, Reset Ted Wragg, was established to oppose the Reset behaviour policy at West Exe and other schools in the Ted Wragg Multi-Academy Trust.[16][17] The Trust initially agreed to review its policies,[18] but the group dismissed the proposed amendments to the RTL system as inadequate.[19][20]
In April 2024, West Exe School was named in the top five best secondary schools in Devon for "pupil progression".[21]
