Another Full On Week of Achievements at TA

 

Karate Success

26.2.16 Denning Karate

Connor Denning (Year 13), Harvey Denning (Year 10) and Charlotte Denning (Year 7).

During half term all three successfully graded to their Karate Black Belt. They have been training together for 4 years with the Doryoku Ryu Karate Justu Club in Torbay. The black belt grading started at 5 am in the morning (in Plymouth) and lasted until 12.30 (7.5 hours). Regardless of age and gender they all undertook the same grading and passed. Karate has been a fantastic discipline for all three of them and I am sure it has enhanced their achievements in school also.  Well done to all 3.

 

 

Student Commitment to Success

26.2.16 Maths Revision

February 16th 2016 was a special date for our Yr 11 Maths GCSE Students as the 100 day countdown to their first Maths exam commenced.  It was no coincidence that on the same day during last week’s half term break we had over 50 Yr 11 students come into the first of our additional Maths GCSE Revision sessions. These sessions are led by our experienced GCSE Maths Teachers and shows not only the commitment of our staff but also the increasing commitment of our students as they prepare for their exams.  The sessions were led by Mr Bindon, Mr Bestwetherick and Mr Penrice.

 

 Achievement and Effort Boards

26.2.16 Achievement Boards

Students are keen to find out their position on the new Average Effort Boards from the last teaching and learning cycle, as you can see in this photo.

 

Dance Workshop

26.2.16 Dance Workshop

This week students in Year 7 were lucky enough to take part in two professional dance and drama workshops hosted at the Academy. Professional contemporary dancer Richard Chappell and theatre specialists Michael Smith (Paddle Boat Theatre Company) and Meghan Searle (Doorstep Arts) visited the Academy and worked with the Year 7 students exploring physical theatre workshops.
These workshops are titled Bounce Back Dance and are part of the Doorstep Arts Open Doors schools outreach programme, funded by Awards for All. The students thoroughly enjoyed themselves and produced some excellent final dance pieces.

 

Football Focus

6th Form too strong for Truro

26.2.16 6th F T United 126.2.16 6th F T United 2

On Wednesday the first 11 played their home game against Truro College at The Launa Windows Stadium home of Torquay United as part of the new partnership we have set up with them. The team was extremely excited about the opportunity to play at the stadium and did not disappoint with a performance that can only be described as dominant. The team ran out 7-0 winners with goals from Connor Stewart x2, Owen Stockton x2 and substitute Alex Constantinou grabbing a hat trick. The team will be back at The Launa Windows Stadium next week for their league clash against Bideford.

 Year 11 march on to South Devon Cup Final

On Monday the Year 11 football team made it through to the South Devon Final after a 6-1 victory against South Dartmoor. TA dominated from the start and were far too strong for their opponents – the goals came from Callum Morton x4, John Bowden and Shaun Johannesen

 

Year 7 Football

The Year 7 football team travelled to Kingsbridge on Tuesday afternoon for a South Devon Cup fixture. They played on a wet and heavy pitch in very difficult conditions this became less of a football match and more of a hard-fought battle.

TA started brightly and scored within 30 seconds when Jacob Almond Abraham Thomas broke down the right hand side, showed good skill and then struck a good, low drive that nestled in the net for 1-0. We then had some good passages of play, managing to pass the ball quite well on a pitch, not conducive to free-flowing football. Towards the end of the first half, Kingsbridge came into the game and had a couple of chances but they were dealt with well by the impressive defending of Adam Warner and Sean Coulson.

As the second half wore on, the pitch became even more challenging, and as Kingsbridge sent more attackers forward in an attempt to find an equalizer, TA came under quite a bit of pressure from some big, strong players but some resolute defending and outstanding goalkeeping from Sam Carroll, kept them at bay until 10 mins from time. Eventually Kingsbridge’s long ball eluded everyone, allowing the striker to run through and finish past Sam for 1-1. Right at the end, Josh Watt produced a fantastic bit of skill to get a shot away from 20 yards, but his effort rattled the crossbar.

So to extra time, which was fairly even and few chances given to either side. Spencer Artz came on and performed admirably in defence to help thwart any further Kingsbridge attacks, and Charlie Clarke, Ryley Steele and Archie Farkins worked tirelessly to help find us a winning goal, but to no avail. We had a late chance to steal the win when Josh Watt was through one on one, but the goalkeeper pulled off an excellent save.

The penalty shootout that then followed was of very high quality, with only 1 of the 8 penalties being missed. Sadly this was by TA and ultimately saw us bow out of the South Devon Cup. However, credit must go to all of the 4 penalty takers for having the courage to take a penalty. The Year 7 team can learn a lot from this game, as sometimes you have to adapt your game to suit certain circumstances or conditions. The boys did that well, and showed excellent grit and determination to battle throughout this game, although their passing and ability to play quick football was unable to be demonstrated. Good effort boys.

 

Year 8 Football

The squad travelled to Dawlish for their South Devon Cup fixture on Wednesday. The team started brightly, and Christian Rodriguez toe-poked us in front after 5 minutes. TA dominated the first half, going down the hill and had several chances to increase the lead, with some good passing moves creating several opportunities. However, it took until just before half time for Josh Haydock to turn and shoot, doubling the lead.  The message at half time was to try and kill the game off, as playing up the hill was going to be a challenge. The boys scored three quickfire goals (Jamie Watson, Lennon Berryman, Louie Goulding) to put the game beyond doubt. There was time for a late Dawlish consolation, with TA scoring an own goal.   A very encouraging, confidence building performance from the team as they continue to improve. Well done to all 16 members of the squad who all played their part.

 

 

Centre Parcs Badminton Tournament

26.2.16 Centre Parcs Badminton

Further success in the sporting arena followed, with our KS4 boys’ Badminton team (George Fenn, Cameron Knowles, Edwin Chan,Niccolo Guastella) winning the regional round, held at PCSC , for the third consecutive year in a row. They will now compete in the Devon Finals on the 1st March, a stage they have yet to conquer . Some fantastic Badminton was played all afternoon, including from our two KS3 teams and KS4 “B” team, many of whom were playing in their first ever tournament and they coped admirably with the pressures. More success is bound to follow with new and emerging talent. Well done to all who played.

 

 

Rugby Success for Year 7 and 8 Girls

26.2.16 Y7 & 8 Rugby

A squad of ten talented and enthusiastic girls travelled to Teign School shortly before half term to participate in the first ever South Devon Schools Rugby Festival. All girls were absolutely outstanding in the quality of rugby played, determination and their attitude to fair play. Winning all their games bar two, they qualified in 3rd place and are through to the Devon Finals on Thursday 10th March, to be held at Topsham Rugby Club. Well done girls, a fantastic achievement.

 

Sound Gallery Studios Visit


Just before half term, the Creative Arts department organised an incredible opportunity for five of our Music Technology sixth form students. The students were taken on an experience day organised by Mr. Brinson at a professional recording studio based in the Phoenix in Exeter.

The purpose of the visit was so the students would have an opportunity to take the skills they have been developing throughout their Music Technology lessons and apply them to a real-life recording scenario in a professional studio. As well as applying the skills they have already learnt, the students were learning from a real sound engineer who was able to broaden their understanding of Music Technology and challenge the students to an extraordinary level.   Throughout the day the students were given the opportunity to create a multi-track recording of a song of their choice. As the majority of students are also Performance students, they quickly jumped at the chance of getting one of their songs recorded in a real recording studio. From this they were then all given the opportunity to perform whilst learning how to record each other within the studio environment.  It was a long and challenging day, but the knowledge and skills the students came away with are absolutely essential in ensuring that they will achieve above the ordinary – which is a result we strive to achieve from all of our students.

To listen to the incredible work the students achieved, please click the link below!

Students of the Week

26.2.16 Students of week

Students of the week this week with Mrs Nicol and Mr Fuller are Joshua Poston, Shaun Peter, Elle Bryant, Robbie Shaile, Adam Pinter

 

Student Blog

Year 7 Science

For Science in Year 7, we are learning about the night sky and astronomy. So far we have learnt about the Big Bang Theory and the life cycle of stars. The experiments so far have been fascinating and have been  fun. Teachers have been very helpful and explain a lot about the Earth and beyond.
Bethan Jackson (Year 7)

What is Life Like in School?

We are already halfway through the school year. And I really like this school. I realised it is hard to get lost. The lessons are really exciting. For example, in Science, we started learning about the night sky. I learnt a lot of new things in this school. I also made a lot of friends.
Aisa Kana (Year 7)