Rainbow

Principal's Blog

Friday 30 January 2026 Year 8 reach national semi-final, Year 9 netball one game from national finals, Cadets thriving Our Year 8 boys delivered an outstanding performance against last year's elite national cup winners Aldenham school, showcasing determination, discipline, and superb teamwork throughout.
Friday 23 January 2026 House sport, teamwork and brilliant competition Our Year 12 Art students have been exploring experimental printmaking through TetraPak etching and gelli printing, developing both technical skill and conceptual depth. Inspired by the Ghostbuildings series of Karen Wicks, students transformed recycled TetraPak cartons into etched printing plates, capturing architectural forms, negative space, and a sense of absence through line, texture, and tone. Alongside this, students worked with gelli plates to experiment with image transfer and layered texture stencils, building complex surfaces through repetition, transparency, and mark-making. The combination of sustainable materials and layered processes encouraged risk-taking and thoughtful reflection, resulting in prints that balance structure with atmosphere and demonstrate a sophisticated engagement with contemporary print practices.
Friday 16 January 2026 Student leadership, creativity and a brilliant Fun Friday Our Student Leadership Team made us proud today with an amazing assembly to the year 7s.
Friday 9 January 2026 Music, creativity, community and house pride On Thursday the year 12 music students visited DBS Plymouth for a taster day in higher education within music.
Friday 19 December 2025 Spectacular Christmas Concert, TA’s Got Talent and House results As the final echoes of the Siberian rock guitars fade and the stage fog clears, I am left reflecting on a truly spectacular Christmas Concert. The scale of the evening was breathtaking, with a capacity audience of 360 cheering on 162 student performers. Supported by 42 dedicated staff, the stage was alive with 23 guitars, 2 drum kits, 3 Wise Men, and two very special Angels.
Friday 12 December 2025 New Head Boy and Head Girl, Bushcraft Adventures, and Elite Training Camp for Sixth Form Players We are delighted to announce the appointment of our new Head Student Team of: Head Boy, Lewis Watt, Deputy Head Boy, Jim Billingham, Head Girl, Lyra Bowstead, Deputy Head Girls, Emma Matthews and Abi O’Leary-Black
Friday 5 December 2025 Parliament Visits, Festive Celebrations and Netball into last 16 in the country Our Year 12 and Year 13 Economics students enjoyed an unforgettable visit to London this week, accompanied by Mr Shute and me. The day offered a rare opportunity to see economics, politics and government brought to life beyond the classroom.
Friday 28 November 2025 International Success, University Inspiration and Huge Sporting Achievements We are delighted to share some incredible news. Willow has now been officially recognised as an International Athlete.
Friday 21 November 2025 Learning Legends, Photography exhibition and Wimbledon This week marked the end of our first Teaching and Learning cycle and a brilliant celebration of the hard work happening across every classroom at Torquay Academy. Throughout the cycle, students in every year group earned Learning Legend tickets for their effort, focus, and commitment to learning. At the end of the cycle, every ticket from each year group was placed into a prize draw to select a grand winner.
Friday 14 November 2025 Remembrance, Live Music and Community Spirit This morning our entire school community came together in the main atrium for our annual act of Remembrance. With more than 1,650 students and staff gathered in one space, the atmosphere was powerful and deeply moving. The two minutes of silence were observed with complete respect, creating a moment of stillness that reflected the significance of the day and the shared understanding across our community.
Friday 7 November 2025 A Champion, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, and Silver DofE We are incredibly proud to share that Farah has been crowned a double World Champion after representing Great Britain at the IDO World Tap Dance Championships in Prague.
Friday 24 October 2025 An England call up, Greenpower racing and air-powered drag racing Willow has been selected to compete for England in her first International assignment at the Caledonia cup in November. The youngest gymnast in the English squad, it’s such an amazing achievement to get an international call up as a first year aspire. Well done, Willow!
Friday 17 October 2025 Girl guides, art work and a very successful sporting week The new year 7 girl guides are settling in well and pushed themselves out of their comfort zone this week on the climbing wall, continuing to achieve their objective to 'have adventures'. It was lovely to see our year 8s supporting and encouraging their younger peers.
Friday 10 October 2025 Ten Tors, national cup progress and recreating history Last weekend, our Ten Tors hopefuls headed out onto the moors for their first training walk and camp. Thirteen Year 10 students set up camp on Saturday evening in a sheltered spot, safely tucked away from the strong winds. After cooking dinner and making s’mores, they settled into their tents for a good night’s sleep ahead of a busy morning.
Friday 3 October 2025 Girl Guides, flying a plane and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang TA now has an official Girlguiding unit known as 7th Torquay. We had our first camp last Friday where our year 8s stayed the night in tents!
Friday 26 September 2025 Personal development day, open evening and lots of Art We were delighted to welcome hundreds of families into school on Thursday evening. I began the evening by speaking to parents and carers in The Platform, before they were taken on a tour of the school led by our teachers.
Friday 19 September 2025 Learning legends, house awards and Year 11 Prom video Learning Legends are our exciting new way of celebrating students’ achievements every single day. At the end of each lesson, teachers award a Learning Legend certificate. The certificate comes in two parts: one to take home and share with parents and carers, and the other as a tear off slip.
Friday 12 September 2025 Fun Friday, CCF and Year 7 Our latest Fun Friday was packed with energy, laughter, and a brilliant variety of activities across the year groups. Year 7 and 8 students showed off their star quality in a karaoke session that had the audience singing and cheering along.
Friday 5 September 2025 Back to school, meeting Cody Gakpo and climbing mountains Theo, Jayden, Toby, Diego and Colby enjoyed an unforgettable experience yesterday at the launch of the brand-new Puma Football boots, hosted by Pro:Direct Soccer. The event was made even more special by the appearance of Liverpool FC striker Cody Gakpo, who joined to showcase the new range.
Thursday 21 August 2025 GCSE Success for Torquay Academy Students We are absolutely thrilled to celebrate the fantastic achievements of our A-level and Applied course students, who received their results this morning. The outcomes this year show an improvement on last year's results, with strong performances across all subjects.

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