Headteacher

Ruth Westwood

I was born in Leicestershire but my family moved every couple of years so I experienced a variety of schools in the UK and abroad. I qualified as a Systems Engineer at Warwick and worked in the food production and tyre manufacturing industries for several years working on quality assurance, process development and production planning and management. After a break I completed a PGCE in maths and taught in a range of secondary schools in the southwest before moving into alternative education. During my time at ACE I have had a variety of middle and senior leadership roles before leading the school to a Good Ofsted Judgement in February 2019 as Acting Head.

As Head Teacher of ACE Schools I am very proud of the work our staff do to support a wide range of children across the Southwest to succeed. We are a nurturing inclusive community where everyone can thrive. We have a strong safeguarding ethos and I, and many other school staff are involved in wider safeguarding work, particularly in Plymouth where I chair the Safeguarding in Education Reference Group (SERG).

Outside of school I keep busy with gardening, crafting such as silver-smithing, knitting and sewing, and looking after a range of animals, with as much reading as I can fit in between.