An England call up, Greenpower racing and air-powered drag racing

england call-up

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!

Podiums, Pit Stops, and Perseverance: TA's Greenpower Season Recap

What a season! Our TA Motorsport team has just wrapped up an unforgettable campaign in the Greenpower F24 championship, packed with podium finishes, heart-stopping moments, and true team spirit.

Our two cars, 'Bindon' (Year 10) and 'Chadwick' (Year 9), kicked things off at the legendary Goodwood track. It was a steep learning curve. 'Bindon' fought to 13th place, while 'Chadwick' nearly stole the show on their debut—a pit-lane mix-up was all that kept them from the podium, but 5th place was a fantastic start.

Then, we found our groove. At Chivenor, we stunned with a 2nd and 3rd place finish. Suddenly, the podium felt like home. We proved it at Castle Combe, where 'Bindon' won an epic 90-minute battle by a breathtaking 1.7 seconds!

But the ultimate test was Predannack. Our journey was a nightmare: a broken-down minibus, a three-hour delay, and a frantic race to the grid. We missed practice and even suffered a puncture. None of it mattered. Our team rose to the challenge spectacularly, delivering a legendary 1-2 victory that defined our season.

This success propelled us to the International Finals at Goodwood, racing against top teams from across the globe. 'Bindon' claimed a superb 7th, while 'Chadwick' jumped up 10 places to finish 22nd. This is no small feat in a series ruled by private schools and F1-linked programs—our students proved that talent and determination are the most powerful engines of all.

The checkered flag has fallen, but our work isn't done. We're already preparing for next season, ready to push the limits even further!

Fun Friday

Today’s Fun Friday events brought plenty of energy, laughter, and just a little healthy competition to round off the half term in style!

Our students enjoyed a range of Halloween-themed activities designed to test their knowledge, teamwork, and creativity. Year 7 and Year 8 took part in a fast-paced Halloween Kahoot, where speed and sharp thinking were key to victory. Year 9 and Year 10 went head-to-head in a spooky Halloween Quiz, answering questions that mixed general knowledge with a few eerie surprises.

Meanwhile, Year 11 raced around the school in a Year Group Scavenger Hunt, solving clues and hunting for hidden Halloween items along the way.

It was brilliant to see every year group taking part with such enthusiasm, cheering each other on, and showing great teamwork. Fun Friday continues to be a highlight of the week, bringing our students together to celebrate effort, friendship, and a bit of light-hearted fun.

New Mascots Arrive!

There was plenty of excitement around the school this Friday morning as three brand new house mascot costumes made their debut.

Students always look forward to seeing their Heads of House making their way around the year groups each Friday, handing out certificates and badges to celebrate success. They are joined by an entourage of increasingly extravagantly dressed students, adding colour, energy, and a real sense of fun to the end of the week.

This week, the Nearne Nighthawks, Harrison Hornets, and Kitson Kangaroos were all joined by their new mascots and they made quite an entrance! The corridors were filled with cheering from proud house members (and more than a few good-natured boos from their rivals).

It’s brilliant to see the enthusiasm, teamwork, and friendly competition that our House System inspires. The mascots will no doubt become familiar faces at future assemblies, events, and competitions as they help to keep our school spirit flying high.

voices of torquay academy

As George and Ella tell you in this video, they are now the new voices of Torquay Academy! If you call the school, it will be their voices you hear providing you with the options.

Cadets Update

This Wednesday’s cadet training session saw both the RAF and Army sections hard at work, continuing to build on their skills, confidence, and professionalism.

The RAF cadets took on their First Aid assessments, demonstrating calmness under pressure and vital lifesaving skills — a key part of their training and personal development. They also worked alongside the mountain bike senior to develop practical awareness and control, before rounding off the session with drill, reinforcing teamwork, precision, and discipline.

Meanwhile, the Army cadets focused on uniform inspection and revisited the Cadet Values and Standards, reflecting on the importance of pride, respect, and integrity both in and out of uniform.

It was great to see all cadets taking real ownership of their learning and setting high standards for the term ahead. Another excellent display of teamwork and commitment from everyone involved!

Year 8 Enterprise – Air Pocket Dragster Project

This half term, Year 8 students have been taking part in an exciting three-lesson design and make project, creating their very own air pocket dragsters. Working in teams, students explored the principles of aerodynamics, materials, and engineering to design vehicles capable of achieving top speed!

To begin, students researched famous land speed record vehicles, gaining inspiration from real-world designs and technological innovations. They then wrote their own design specifications, setting out the performance goals and features for their dragsters.

As part of their learning, students also investigated ferrous and non-ferrous metals, discovering how different materials can be used effectively for the axles of their vehicles. Using their research and design plans, they then moved into the workshop to build and assemble their air-powered cars, testing their construction and teamwork skills along the way.

The project finished with an exciting race day, where each team’s dragster was put to the test in a series of high-speed trials. It was fantastic to see the creativity, enthusiasm, and friendly competition from all students involved!

geography with mr baker

Mr Baker’s Year 7 Geography classes spent this week mastering Ordnance Survey (OS) map symbols through interactive challenges. The students had a lot of fun matching symbols to their definitions, deciphering a coded story about "Bill's weekend," and ending the session with a competitive team Pictionary game. By the end, students could confidently name a variety of symbols, understand their vital importance in map creation, and successfully build the foundational skills needed to fully read and interpret maps—a truly valuable real-world skill.

learning legend

This week in H108 with Mr Crow

Year 8 HPA: Classics

This week saw the launch of the High Performance Academy projects on technology. Mr Crow's group is undertaking an evaluative project to decide which ancient technology had the biggest impact on the world. The group encountered Mesopotamian cuneiform tablets, Phoenician cargo ships, Roman weapons of war, as well as mentions of the Egyptian shaduf and Mesopotamia's harvest protecting cat army.

8Q6: Reading

Our current curriculum focus is Gothic Literature, with recent weeks exploring the way in which emotional repression and societally enforced expectations can drive a person to insanity. This week, fittingly for Mr Crow's corvid room, also saw the appearance of Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven. There was much quothing and choral repetition of 'Nevermore.' 8Q6 also devote a lot of time to reading practice, and they have been making excellent progress with their new reading material. Once a shared reading has been completed accurately they move to pairs in order to attempt the passage individually. Their partner follows their reading and listens for mistakes, as seen below.

Students of the Week

Year 7 - Leila Wagstaffe and Henri Jeffries

Year 10 - Max Warner and Ellie Simpson

Year 11 - Oliver Welsh and Leah McClements

Year 9 Progress in sisters in sport competition

We played Churston and it ended in a 42 - 16 win. We went in confident and it took us a few minutes to warm up but once we got the hang of it we played really well and bonded well as a team. We got lots of interceptions and took them to goal for the shooters to get in and we limited Churston to only getting 4 goals per quarter.

Squad: Seren Chadwick, Madison Wood ©, Isla Bryant, Matilda Thorner, Emilee Fenner, Elena Bolton, Lily Langler, Eva Thompson, Zenna Venter

Coaches Player - Isla Bryant

Player’s Player - Emilee Fenner

Defensive Opposition's Player - Emilee Fenner

Attacking Opposition's Player - Madison Wood

Write up by: Seren Chadwick

Well done girls! We are so proud of you all!