The Governing Body believes that the young people of Totnes should learn in an inspirational environment that provides state-of-the-art, flexible, and adaptable facilities; that embrace the use of new technologies and meet the broad needs of a comprehensive, kind and inclusive school committed to the absolute best for its students.

We also want to involve our community in the life of our College because we know that the more people that come through our doors, the more people will engage with, and invest in, the success of our College.  We also believe that by providing excellent facilities that are accessible to the wider community we not only benefit the College and students who attend here but also contribute to the success of Totnes and the wider area as a whole.

There are compelling educational and economic reasons to rationalise the learning environment by concentrating main activities in a smaller area, and the vision of a medium-sized comprehensive College that serves its local communities does not necessitate continued long-term use by the College of all of its current land.

Our vision for the use of the College site reflects the College’s values and our vision. We will seek to make decisions about the College site based on these, mindful both of our duty to secure use of the land that represents the best value for the College and its students, and our commitment to the very best for students currently at the College and those who will come here in future.

We will engage throughout this process with transparency and honesty with our partners and our community. This will enable us to get the very best outcome for our students, our College, and the wider community. We will work with the stakeholders in our community to secure the very best for the young people who attend and will attend our school.  Our vision for the College site is:

To create a single site school, that enables best value deployment of all College resources

• We need facilities that are as efficient as possible in their use of physical resources, with particular attention to maintenance, durability, and running costs.
• Running provision on separate sites requires significant additional expenditure that far outweighs any extra financial income or educational value. We are committed as a College to maximising the impact of the money we spend in a time of sustained budgetary pressure.
• Running provision on separate sites creates significant logistical pressures around timetabling, movement of students, and efficient use of staffing resources.
• Whilst Post-16 students enjoy the feeling of difference from being at Redworth House, we believe we can retain the benefits of the sixth form's unique atmosphere and ethos whilst providing modern, distinct, social, and study facilities as part of a single site, a common model locally and nationally for schools with Post-16 provision.

To create an outstanding environment with learning spaces that . . .

• Always meet basic human needs in terms of temperature, light, and comfort
• Enable teaching and learning being delivered to be visible and shared
• Enable colleagues to work collaboratively on both a planned and ad hoc basis
• Are flexible and can meet the needs of different groups in terms of size and level of study
• Enable a blend of formal instruction and informal study, and anticipate the use of new technologies
• Are flexible and wherever possible, multi-use (this includes outdoor spaces).

Provide excellent sporting facilities that can support physical education for students and wider participation by members of the local community.

• Rationalise facilities on one site to enable safer, better, and more efficient use
• Provide well-drained, usable sports pitches throughout the year
• Provide modern, fit for purpose changing facilities
• Provide facilities for a wider range of sports thereby encouraging wider participation in physical activity
• Enable community use of the facilities while keeping students safe at all times

To create a safe and secure environment for our students

• Students should have access to excellent facilities during their break and lunch to enable them to relax safely. This should include access to excellent catering and toilet facilities, areas to read or study quietly, and areas to enjoy safely outside and during poor weather.
• These facilities should be safe, and should therefore be designed with ease of adult supervision and oversight in mind, including outdoor and indoor areas and in line with concepts of passive and informal supervision.
• The College environment should be designed to facilitate the highest standards of safeguarding for students, including a particular emphasis on adults visiting and accessing the school site during the school day.

We believe that the best way to achieve this vision is by following the proposals set out in this document.

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