200th blog post! Celebrating the incredible activities at TA!
Since arriving at TA in January 2014 I have written a weekly blog outlining some of the incredible activities that take place here. The blog offers a glimpse into life here and details so many of the incredible achievements of our boys and girls. The blog’s page features all of the main images from the blog over the weeks and reminds me of all of the amazing achievements of our wonderful school community.
Greenpower Motorsport Team needs your support
Throughout March and April, the school’s Greenpower Motorsport team will feature in the Tesco Bags for Life vote within its Torbay stores. This means that with every purchase you can ask for a blue token allowing you to cast a vote for a chosen cause as you leave the shop. The Greenpower project is a fantastic scheme allowing schools to build electric single-seater racing cars that compete in a series across the country. The school is relatively new to this project, we have already engaged many learners with skills that are vital for the development of Torbay as a Hi-tech and digital hub.
Please take your time to help us extend this amazing opportunity and compete at the highest level possible by remembering to vote for us with every visit to Tesco.
The dining room extension is open
Over half term we were able to move into our new dining area. It is a great space and it looks like it has always been part of the school. Next week we will have the new barriers installed and we will start to sell food in there as well.
Theatre starts to take shape
With the structure complete, work has now started on the walls and the roof. The shape of the building is really starting to come together.
We finalised the design of the climbing wall this week. The wall offers 6 independent climbing lines and rises to a height of approximately 8.0 metres at the left hand side, increasing to approximately 8.9 metres on the right. It will be 7.25m wide. It will be added to the theatre in June ready for a July opening.
PPE Pre Breakfast
Students final review of their English Literature exam before their Pre Public Exams.
National Citizen Service
Dean and Libby from NCS visited the school to follow up on their assembly to our Year 11s. As you can see it was a really popular stall at break time. It was great for them to come in to spread the word about NCS, catch up with graduates of the programme and give away some free gifts!
NCS is a once in a lifetime opportunity, part-residential experience focused around fun and discovery, open to all 15, 16 and 17 year olds across the country. It takes place in the summer holidays over 4 weeks, costs a maximum of £50, and covers all accommodation, food and activities.
In your first week, you’ll be staying away from home and participating in outdoor activities such as canoeing, high ropes, paddle boarding to develop confidence, leadership and teamwork.
For the second week, you will spend the week away again, but this time closer to home at Plymouth University, learning essential life skills such as budgeting, cooking, and developing new hobbies.
For weeks 3 and 4 you are back at home but continue to work in your team to give something back to your community by planning and delivering a 30-hour social action project, making a difference in your area.
Finally, you attend Graduation, where you and your family will be invited to a ceremony to celebrate your achievements and receive a certificate signed by the Prime Minister.
The easiest way to get involved is to sign up online by heading to www.ncsyes.co.uk and click on SIGN UP NOW. Complete the online signup and make your payment. Your place will be secured in less than 7 minutes. Alternatively, call the national NCS support line on 0800 197 80 10 and they will fill in the form for you over the phone. This is especially good if you would like to inquire about any bursaries that NCS can offer you.
I really can’t recommend the NCS experience more to our students.
Drama Trip
GCSE Drama students in Years 10 and 11 watched the explosive new British musical ‘In The Willows’ at The Northcott Theatre in Exeter. The production was engaging from start to finish with soaring vocals, spectacular street dance and atmospheric set and music which added to the amazing character performances.
The production was based on the classic story, ‘The Wind In The Willows’ and brought it leaping into the twenty-first century making it relevant and topical for our young people. Featuring ballads, beats and backflips, this was a fun, educational experience for all. The students’ conduct was impeccable throughout and quoting Mr Christophers after checking the coach for rubbish, “This is the cleanest coach I have ever seen on a school trip!”
Chemistry
Year 12 chemistry students this week were investigating the process of electrolysis, which involves passing electrical currents through solutions of different chemicals. In one experiment, Georgia managed to produce these beautiful crystals of metallic copper.
Enterprise Learning Area
Highlights from the Enterprise Learning Area this week include first aid training for our Health & Social Care students, weight saving developments for our Greenpower Electric Cars using our lathe and milling machine, superb sensory analysis from Year 8 Food & Cookery students, stunning attention to detail in Year 7 Block Bots and finally, onboard footage from our rather unlucky speed challenge robot that had a bit of a high speed shunt!
Also, a big thanks to all our parents and carers who have been sharing such positive feedback about how much their children are enjoying our lessons!
Basketball
Our Year 7 Basketball team travelled to Uffculme Community College this week to take part in their annual Central Venue League competition. We were invited to take part largely due to the positive impression that our Year 9 team left when they played there recently. We entered 3 teams of 4 and played against another 11 teams. In the main competition, our team acquitted themselves very well, eventually finishing 2nd overall. In the B/C team league, our teams were once again outstanding finishing 1st and 2nd in the league table. All the boys were excellent on the day and are developing very well as a team. Well done: Josh Thompson, Owen Woodcock, Harry Clarke, Pierce Gerring, Robin Pightling, Josh Robinson, Tom Aldous, Zak Steele, Cole Shobrook, Evan Kinghorn, Lucas Washbrook, Will Harrison. We look to do it all again next Tuesday with our Year 8 team.
Hannah Triumphs Again
Last weekend saw Year 7 Sports Academy student Hannah compete in her final Wildnight Run series 2K. She travelled to Leigh Court, Bristol and sped around the trail route to victory again! When the next series begins this Autumn she’ll face the 5K races and the challenges of the longer, darker trail routes. Already running daytime 5K Parkruns Hannah is more than ready for the challenge!
What a difference a year makes!
Last year we had to close the school due to snowfall. This year our students have been enjoying the weather during break and lunch by being able to spend time outside on our beautiful campus.
Lexonik
Just before half term the latest students working through the Lexonik course completed the six week programme. Lexonik teaches students to recognise and decode words and sounds at speed, enabling them to access all parts of lessons across the entire curriculum. Lexonik is a fast paced, fun program, making it not only hugely beneficial to the students taking part but also very enjoyable. The students taking part this term, have made an average of nearly 4 years improvement in their reading ages, which in just 6 weeks is a massive achievement. Congratulations to them all, pictured with their completion certificates are some of the students taking part.
Pictured are – William Dowell, Jessica Hall, Graham Mitchell, Oskar Makuch, Finlay McClements, Sonny Ronson, Aurora Rosser, Cameron Smith
Sparx Level 1
Well done to the following students : Erin Loader, Joshua Hawkings, William Harrison, Brooke Mortimore, Ethan Phillips, Ava Mitchell, Oriana McCaul
(not in photo) Faith Barnett, Gabriella Fouche
UKMT International Maths challenge
Huge congratulations to forty of our Key Stage 4 students who have all qualified for a certificate in the UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge. Anthony Brooking, Noah Johnson and Jak Partridge scored so well that they have also qualified for the next round, which is a remarkable achievement.
The names of those who have qualified for a certificate are as follows:
Bronze: Ellis Knowles, Mya Edralin, Igor Sniegocki, Archie Hodgson-Hunt, Harvey Kendall, Paige Godwin, Harvey Wright, Jayde McAllister, Jake Gamble, Lottie Denning, Harry Mabbutt, Wiktoria Jarosz, Zak Treleaven, Connor Hurwood, Mark Routledge, Alanah Dorling, Molly Stimpson, Alex Corbett, Krisjani Rumnieks, Ethan Tanner, Cory Allen, Thomas Huitema, Madison Wannell, Dayne McKenna, Liberty Kenneford
Silver: Anthony Brooking (Best in Year), Jake Ellwood, Felix Houghton, Georgia Davies, Jake Peters, Gareth Howells, Rory Deakin, Elias Rawles, Ryan Wilson, George McCaffrey, Jade Hills, Matt Pettit
Gold: Noah Johnson (Best in Year), Jak Partridge, Daniil Sherry (Best in Year)
Students of the Week
Students of the Week this week with me are: Lucia Aguado Georgian, Timika Kenneford, Thomas Porter
Principal Certificates
Bronze: (not in order) Jay Tout, Anna Brailsford-Dunn, Hannah Carr, Zachary Jones, Kole Gjikolaj, Courtney Dowen, Tommy Aldous, Elsie Taylor, Hayden Gibson-Roche, Olivia Painter, Jack Alcock, Honey Darke, Harrison Clarke, Cody Cockram, Timika Kenneford, William Hilton, Lacee Kiff, Emily Phillips, Darcie Baker, Ella Heasman-Knight, Grace Gray, Lola Green, Angel McKenna, Bethany Jones, Bradley Young, Bethany Coker, George Woolacott, Katie Taylor, Jonah Handford, Tyler-James Nunn, Sophia Clarke, Victoria Bulwicka, Kieran Johnson, Chloe Hunter, Holly Smith, Katie Harris, Harley Cartwright, Holly Long, Sian Burton, Sophie Kelly, Benjamin Pieterse, Sophie Davies, Lyla Trewin, Mckenzie Horrell, Natalie Crawford, Oskar Makuch, Tia Goldring, Sophie Cope, Lewis Crocker, Will Makinson, Milena Tikuzyte, Molly Farley, Leon Sargeant, Matthew Leighton
Silver : (not in order) Grace Povey, Robin Pightling, Shania Blades, Lauren Major, Stevie Wright, Sophie George, Leo Murray, Rachel Breach, Niamh Dolan, Maggie Minty, Toby Leaver, Libby-Marie Marshall, Cody Mack, Bailey Denyer, Conner Lawrence, Harvey Wright, Seb Capron, Millie Hope, Conner Lawrence, Harvey Wright, Seb Capron , Millie Hope, Owen Morgan, Jack Manley
Gold : (not in order) William Reed, Melissa Arscott, William Harrison, Ava Mitchell, Rose Bradley, Charlotte Sweeney, Williams Hall, Katie Packer
Governor Certificates
Governor’s Bronze: Boris Pugh, Harley Sneap
House Stars of the Week
Year 7
Brunel – Reef Beer
Christie – Courtney Dowen
Darwin – Dylan White
Fawcett – Abigail Bridges
Harrison – Mia Church
Kitson – Lilly-May Bond
Nearne – Oakley Pearce
Pengelly – Erin Allen
Year 8
Brunel – Aaron Cox
Christie – Kai Fowler
Darwin – Freya Boote
Fawcett – Adam Clark
Harrison – Emily Coates
Kitson – Maggie Minty
Nearne – Charlie Tout
Pengelly – Alice Little
Year 9
Brunel – Reece Layton
Christie – Warren Davis
Darwin – Harry Langford
Fawcett – Nate McPartland
Harrison – Scott Rhodes
Kitson – Oskar Makuch
Nearne – Leah Harman
Pengelly – Brooke McCann
