Field trip, art update and girls rugby

Year 12 Geography Fieldwork at Lyme Regis

The Year 12 A level Geographers completed a day of coastal fieldwork at Lyme Regis in preparation for making the decision about their upcoming NEAs. Whilst at Lyme Regis, students experienced a range of data collection techniques such as beach profiles, sediment size analysis, bipolar analysis and flood risk mapping. Students worked really hard throughout the day, even finished off work enjoying a tasty ice cream on the beach!

Calling all Torquay Academy / Audley Park / Torquay Community College alumni — and those who know them!

Did you or someone you know attend our school — whether it was as Audley Park (founded 1938), Torquay Community College (1994), or since we became Torquay Academy in 2012?
We’re incredibly proud of our history and of the many former students who have gone on to achieve amazing things in sport, performing arts, business, and in making a difference to others — whether locally, nationally or globally.
Now we’d love to hear those stories.
You might want to tell us about yourself, someone you know or are related to — someone whose journey deserves to be celebrated. We’d be delighted to make contact or share their story (with permission).
By sharing these stories, you can help inspire our current and future students with what’s possible after school.
Get in touch by message, comment below or email admin@TQacademy.co.uk — we’d love to hear from you.

year 11 final assembly

leaving video

For the final Year 13 assembly Kole produced this video that was shown.

Year 8 High Performance Academy

Last Tuesday the Year 8 High Performance Academy met to give presentations on the research they have been carrying out this term in robotics, genetic engineering and the colonisation of Mars.

After submitting their research students then created PPT presentations to teach the other students about what they have been learning. They also celebrated their hard work with lots of Dominio's pizza! Both the research and presentations were of exceptional quality. Prizes for the best research went to May McDonough (Engineering), Gabriela Piasta (Biology) and Harry Rowlands (Physics) while prizes for the best presentations went to Emily Bowden (Biology), Esme Poole (Biology) nad Harry Austin (Physics).

Well done to everyone for your incredible hard work this term and many thanks to Mr Hadley, Mr Hanley and Mr Broome for running seminars and judging the students' work.

Cadets - Fieldcraft & Flight Simulators!

This week’s cadet session at Torquay Academy was a brilliant display of leadership, teamwork, and skill-building across both the Army and RAF sections.

Our senior cadets from Year 9 and 10 took charge, stepping confidently into teaching roles as they delivered a range of fieldcraft lessons to the Year 8 recruits. It was fantastic to see their hard work and training pay off as they demonstrated and taught essential skills including tactical hand signals, movement with and without a rifle, and how to build effective two-person shelters. They also introduced key principles of battlefield first aid—an important part of any cadet’s training.

The Year 8s responded brilliantly, showing focus, discipline, and enthusiasm throughout. The hands-on experience and peer-led instruction helped build confidence and set the foundation for their journey through the cadet ranks.

Meanwhile, our RAF cadets took to the skies—virtually—as they continued their flight simulator training. With a keen eye on detail and precision, they practised control, navigation, and situational awareness. In addition to sharpening their flying skills, they spent time perfecting their drill movements, maintaining the high standards expected of the RAF section.

It’s been another proud week for the Torquay Academy Cadet Force—skills were sharpened, leadership was tested, and every cadet stepped up to the challenge. Well done to all

Year 7 Geography

Miss Fannon’s and Miss Holland’s 7T9 Geography class completed their end of cycle microclimate investigation on the school grounds last lesson in the glorious sunshine.

Students had to work to investigate which area of the school would be the most suitable location if we were going to build a swimming pool. They had to weigh up factors such as wind speed using anemometers, Temperature using thermometers and aspect and direction using their compass points and their own observations. Data was collected and analysed back in the classroom, helping them make their overall decision!

Students worked really hard and have done all cycle. What a lovely way to end cycle 3!

Year 13 product design

The Year 13 product design class have been busy in their final creations for their assessments. They have had to gather feedback on a wider range of categories for their creations, including stability, safety and aesthetics. Below, some unbiased Y13s tested out the creations, ranging from chairs to drawers to TV stands!

7T5 Maths With Miss Wooldridge

Year 7 have been working hard demonstrating how well they have mastered their understanding of equivalent calculations when working with fractions. They have used their knowledge of forming reciprocals to divide fractions and practised pre-cancelling to simplify multiplying fractions with great success!

They have also recapped how to find fractions of amounts using bar model representations and showed their understanding with some more challenging questions, finding the original amount as demonstrated brilliantly by Ajay!

We use mini-whiteboards in every maths lesson as a really effective way to check student understanding and give immediate feedback. Any misconceptions or misunderstanding can be identified and acted on quickly to support learning. Students enjoy the opportunity for low-stakes practice and show excellent engagement and active participation using the whiteboards.

The class has really focused on improving the standard of their written presentation, making sure they show all of their written workings and editing their work carefully with purple pen when we give feedback. This gives them a reference point for other lessons to prompt and support their retention of the skills. Such superb efforts with today’s Do Now from Amaris and Nora!

art round up

Year 7

Year 7 have been practising 8 different watercolour techniques ready to apply them to their Koi fish studies.

Year 8

In art this week Year 8 have been making artworks inspired by Peter Blake and popular culture in mini sketchbooks they folded themselves.

Year 9

Year 9 have been oxiding their clay architectural responses for their Structures coursework project.

Year 12

Year 12 have been finishing their first responses for their personal investigation projects; their chosen topics are the Passage of Time, Surrealism, Identity and Imagination. Can you guess which artwork fits each topic?

house quiz competition

year 8 ready steady cook challenge

Students in year eight have been producing sweet treats for their part in the Ready Steady Cook Challenge. They have planned and produced a pudding of their choice and we have had some beautiful and creative delights including a Cherry blossom raspberry and cream terrine and a raspberry crumble bar. The winners of this class were Wiktor Koza and Aaron Pinto with their delicious brownie and ice cream sundae.

business studies with mr dyer

Recently, in both Year 9 and 10 Business Studies we have been working on our extended writing questions, specifically the 9 and 12 markers, which require students to draw on their business knowledge, apply their understanding effectively, and demonstrate strong analytical and evaluative abilities.

fun friday

Year 7 - Josiah Addai, Liv Reed and Sophia Hill

Year 8 - Freddie Blagdon and Emilie Fenner

Year 9 - Maisie Newton and Edi Ferencz Csibi

Year 10 - Zak Turner and Hallie Davies

year 7 girls rugby

The Yr 7 Girls were invited to Exeter Collage to take part in a Regional Festival to promote Girls Grassroots Rugby. There was an amazing turn out with 25 schools attending from across the South West and 400 Yr 7 girls all with the same aim to enjoy a day of rugby. It was a great atmosphere with a DJ playing music and a new all weather astro pitch used for the training sessions and matches. The morning was spent circulating round different activities focused on introducing the girls to different skills. In the afternoon we transferred what had been learnt into a Touch Rugby Match where the girls excelled and produced some quality rugby showing great teamwork and individual flair. We are so impressed with the commitment and enthusiasm the girls at Torquay Academy have towards the new rugby movement and have more Festivals and fixtures to look forward to.