20mph around TA
I’m delighted that Torquay Academy is now situated within a newly designated 20mph zone. This isn’t just a welcome improvement — it’s a vital step forward for the safety, health, and future of our students.
Every school day, over 1,500 children arrive and leave our site. That’s 3,000 individual crossings, bike rides, or walks each day — in an area that previously had traffic moving at 30mph or more. We teach road safety in school, but we must be honest: children are not small adults. Their ability to judge speed, distance, and risk is still developing. Even the most careful child can make a split-second mistake.
That’s why the difference between 30mph and 20mph is not just about numbers on a sign — it’s about the safety and well-being of our children.
At the previous speed limit of 30mph, you’d still be travelling at around 23mph at the point of impact. That difference in speed turns a near-miss into a serious or even fatal injury.
Even small increases over 20mph carry big risks. At 22mph, a driver would still be travelling at around 10mph when they hit a child. At 25mph, the impact speed is over 15mph. These figures ignore the effect of thinking time that extend the braking distances.
Research from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) shows that 20mph zones reduce casualties by over 40%, and reduce fatal or serious injuries to children by 50%.
Thank you to all those who supported the online consultation and helped turn this into a reality.
Easter History Revision Session
On the first Thursday of the holidays 58 History students spent the morning in school revising for their first History paper on Medicine through time. After recapping significant individuals the students moved on to look at the four key time periods and applying their knowledge to a range of challenging exam style questions to make sure they were ready. The History team are incredibly pleased with the hard work shown by year 11. Keep going!
RS revision session
Mrs Brzozowski has been putting on extra revision sessions after school for the Year 11s who will shortly be sitting their RS exams.
table tennis success
Kacper Piwowar is a winner on the WTT stage after he and Poland’s Natalia Wszolek won the Under-15 Mixed Doubles at the WTT Youth Contender Zrenjanin in Serbia.
The pair defeated Bulgarian opponents Stefan Bonchev & Polina Encheva 3-1 (11-13, 11-6, 11-7, 11-6) in the final tonight.
Piwowar & Wszolek had reached the final without dropping a game, coming through four rounds of matches, including defeating second seeds Amir Essid & Ela Saidi of Tunisia in the last 16.
Welcome Back Cadets – Let the Adventures Continue!
We’re back! After a well-earned Easter break, it’s great to see our cadets return full of energy and ready to get stuck into the action-packed term ahead.
First Out – Coasteering Crew Hits the Water
The first group of cadets have already braved the waves on our exciting coasteering adventure. With the sea spray in their faces and the cliffs beneath their feet, they showed real courage, teamwork, and determination. A brilliant start to the term’s outdoor challenges!
St John’s First Aid Training – Progressing Towards Qualification
Meanwhile, back at base, our dedicated cadets have been continuing their St John’s First Aid training. They're getting closer to completing the syllabus and earning their well-deserved qualification. It’s inspiring to see how seriously they take these life-saving skills – well done to all involved.
Future Leaders in the Making
A big shout-out to our Year 9 and 10 cadets who’ve now completed the SCIC (Senior Cadet Instructional Course). With their training behind them, they’re now preparing to step up and begin delivering cadet lessons themselves. This is a huge milestone and a testament to their leadership potential and commitment to the unit.
Air Rifle Shooting – Focus and Precision
This term also sees a return to air rifle shooting. Cadets have been honing their marksmanship skills, demonstrating impressive control, patience, and safety awareness. Whether it’s their first time on the range or they’re working toward a marksmanship badge, cadets are giving it their all.
Evening Activities Are Back in Full Swing
Evening sessions are packed as always! From the discipline of drill to the strategy of fieldcraft, the navigation challenges of map reading, and the focus of air rifle shooting, cadets are back in the zone and embracing every opportunity to learn and grow. There’s also plenty of fun to be had with our evening entertainment – team games, challenges, and a few surprises along the way!
Let’s keep the momentum going – we’ve got a term full of adventure, learning, and leadership ahead. Great to have you all back, cadets!
year 7 art
Excellent start to the Year 7 assessments in art this week for both effort and concentration and tackling the success criteria. Well done Year 7!
Year 9 with Mr Swettenham
9Q5 have been working hard in preparation for their end of cycle 3 assessments. This weeks' focus has been on thermal energy calculations and understanding the concept of specific heat capacity. This has required students to bring together their understanding of the module thus far and apply the taught content through the equations. At Torquay Academy, we used the 'VEVA' structure for answering equations as this helps support students with identifying the key elements (variables) in an exam question and gives them a method by which to organise their working.
The students have also conducted a GCSE required practical relating to specific heat capacity, which has helped to bring confidence to their understanding of the content.
Mr Whelan's Year 12 tutor group
6AJW are making sure they're as well prepared for their upcoming mockss as possible. After coming back from Easter, they're using tutor time, practising and revising topics covered earlier in the year, and ensuring that their communication is clear and unambiguous. The longer you study maths, the less important the answer itself is and the more important that the proof and evidence that the answer is what it is becomes, which is why they've been focusing on the quality of their written communication.
Every extra bit of effort put in now will make year 13 easier which is why these tutor sessions are such a useful tool to the students.
fun friday bingo
Abigail's golfing success
Abigail’s still doing well in her golf and is in the Devon Development squad again where she had her first session at Borringdon. On bank holiday Monday, she played at Torquay in the Faldo Futures Qualifier and came first in her age group, which means she qualified for the Regional Finals. Congratulations, Abigail.
Ju Jitsu Success
Esmie competed over the Easter Holidays in the Devon Ju Jitsu Championships and finished 2nd overall in her age group. Congratulations.
gymnastics success
Jessica passed her gymnastics grading with the highest achievement working beyond her level. Well done, Jessica.
Radiant perform at Live Music Lunch:
Junior Music Academy DJ Club
Mr Fogarty’s new DJ Club has officially launched in F Block on Fridays and is already making waves. Designed to complement Mr Comer’s Junior Music Academy, the club gives students the chance to explore the exciting world of DJing in a hands-on and creative environment. In the first session, Mr Fogarty introduced the group to key skills including basic beat matching, filtering, and EQ transitions. The students quickly picked up the techniques and got a real buzz from mixing their own sets. It was fantastic to see such enthusiasm and focus from the group, and it's clear they got a lot from the session. With regular practice, we hope to see these budding DJs performing at future live music lunches and taking to the decks in our TA Summer Fest Rave Cave later this year. 
The TA Music Academy at Music For Youth
Our Music Academy recently took part in the Regional Music for Youth Competition, entering four bands for consideration—three from our senior academies and one from our junior academy. Each group performed in front of a panel of judges, who gave excellent feedback on the overall standard of musicianship across the academy. They were particularly impressed by the students’ attention to detail in their arrangements and the ambition shown in tackling challenging pieces.
Highlights included a tight and soulful performance of Stevie Wonder's I Wish, and a creative version of Curtis Mayfield's Move On Up, which featured a ritardando leading into an extended instrumental section. James Brown's It's a Man's Man's Man's World was given a fresh and powerful twist by a majority female ensemble, something the judges praised as both bold and exciting.
Our junior academy also received high praise. The judges congratulated them on their musicianship and performance skills, especially as many were performing on stage for the first time and only started learning their instruments this year. The juniors impressed with their confidence, getting the audience clapping along and showing real stage presence.
Well done to all students involved. We now wait to hear whether any of the groups will progress to the National Music for Youth Festival in Birmingham this July.
Year 7 - Macie Gay and Jude Nwachukwu
Year 8 - Rosco Biagott and Viktoria Simunkova
Year 9 - Charlie Sanderson and Ella Lake
Year 10 - Eva Spicer and Aaron Saunders
House sport update - Years 7 and 8 Swimming Gala
The TA house swimming gala was held before Easter at Plainmoor swimming pool. Students competed in 4 different strokes with the top 4 from each race progressing to the finals. It culminated with the Year 8 girls winning the final relay against the boys.
The day went extremely well with our year 9 and 12 sports leaders doing a fantastic job of running the event. Students were awarded certificates for each stroke for achieving Gold, Silver or Bronze. Well done to all involved in the event for earning multiple house points.
Table Tennis
Good luck to Aleksandra and Oliver at the National Schools Championships in Wolverhampton this weekend.
Aleksandra will compete in the U16 Girls and Oliver in the U13 Boys, alongside other county champions from across England.
Wishing you both the best of luck - enjoy the event.
football
Torquay Academy had their first match against Paignton Academy. We had some amazing patterns of play with the ball which created lots of chances for us to score. Torquay had brilliant communication and our hard work together as a team was outstanding today. We came away with a 7-4 win.
Goals by Jaden Harrison x5, Dan Ennis x1 and Archie Lawson x1
diamond award
Year 7 - Harry Monro, Myles Bonnici and Brooke Harding
governor's platinum certificates
Year 7 - Oliver Finley-Squires, Mimi Skelly, Mollianne Potter, Archie Payne-Stanbury, Maddie Mack, Arthur Gaughan, Josiah Addai and Jacob Hicks
governor's gold certificates
Year 7 - Ben Paplogo, Jack O'Connor, Alex Nicholson, Archie Hudson, Evan Jones and Lilah Dallow
Year 8 - Luke Sandeman
governor's silver certificates
Year 7 - Beau-Angel Talbot, Tehya Quennell, Oliver Beamish, Amaris Quennell, Heath Slater-Saunt, Myles Anyon, Hayley Steenkamp, Jude Nwachukwu and Ella Batten
Year 8 - Myah Sellick, Alfie Mackin, Elizabeth Francis, Kaitlin Towell, Jamie Hancox, George Garbutt, Allen Burns-Muir, Kobi Burness-Moakes, Isla Coish, Harry Rowlands and Emily Bowden
Year 9 - Tyler Evans
governor's bronze certificates
Year 7 - Josie Cotton, Mabel Clatworthy, Erin Ayres, Caiden Edmonds, Ava Broughton, Caleb Drein, Harley Bayliss and Kobe Laker
Year 8 - Ben Walters, Jenson Tandy, Theo Slater, Andy Iftode, Riley Johnson, Alfie Williams, Matilda Thorner, Seren Stephenson, Lily Ellis, Leo Shaw, Madison Wood, Viktoria Simunkova, Lilly Shaw, Edith Mackenzie, Poppy Haslett and Shae Craig
Year 9 - James Beer, Will Wrathall, Vaughn Heavens, Harry McCarthy and Ollie Martin
principal's gold certificates
Year 7 - Robbie Byrne, Theo Eaton-Liley, Scarlett Slater, Nevaeh Piri-Sadigh, Luka Hingley and Henry Collins
Year 8 - Kumar Hopton, Toby Preston, Charlie O'Connor, Ruby Turner, Isaac Mccabe, Darcy Dainton, Gabriela Piasta, Ted Lithgow, Mason Maxwell, Emilee Fenner, William Schmiedinghofer and Cayden Castle
Year 9 - Ethan Veasey, Matthew Campan, Ruby Chamberlain, Johnny Sandbrook, Jack Forte, Heidi Bowers, Summer Pallant and Archie Somerset
principal's silver certificates
Year 8 - Tate Reynolds, Rosa Murray, Brayden Lane, Haydon Coatesworth, Marli-Ray Cutajar and Lottie Knight
Year 9 - Cohen Andrews, Oliver Ayres, Emir Zorel, Evie Ford, Harry Pitman, Tom Weaver, Mason Findlay-Peers, Louie Leighton, Ethan Greenwood, Stanley Austin and Finley Corderoy
Year 10 - Halayna Hussain
PRINCIPAL'S BRONZE CERTIFICATES
Year 7 - Declan Phillips
Year 8 - Kara Breach, Esmie Riggs, Maisy Hart, Jacob Wakefield and Finley Bratcher
Year 9 - Olivia Stewart, Ava Luker-Hulme and Riley Burton
Year 10 - Nea Joshy, Liam Anthony, Anna Pearn and Sera Jomon
House stars of the week
Year 7
Brunel - Elliot Holmes-Inch
Christie - Arthur Gaughan
Darwin - Gabrille Stadalninkaite
Harrison - Kai Parton
Kitson - Ethan Nichols
Nearne - Laura Mercer
Pengelly - Lottie Forrester
Year 8
Brunel - Emily Redmond
Christie - Esmie Riggs
Darwin - Charlie Berry
Fawcett - George Kasparis
Harrison - Owen Spies
Kitson - Oscar Deegan
Nearne - Poppy Haslett
Pengelly - Jessica Munnangi
Year 9
Brunel - Teddy Watson
Christie - Bella Horton
Darwin - Ashton Lynch
Fawcett - Dylan Tripp
Harrison - Erin Glancy
Kitson - Tyler Evans
Nearne - Lacey Redhead
Homework Stars of the Week
Year 7
Brunel - Gracie Harvey
Christie - Eva Thompson
Darwin - Kamile Degutyte
Harrison - Darcie Mae Finch
Kitson - Hayley Steenkamp
Nearne - Braxton Biggs
Year 8
Brunel - Zachary Kittow
Christie - Alana Houlihan
Darwin - Charlotte Townsend
Fawcett - Freja Mcelkenny
Harrison - Tilly Longthorpe
Kitson - Luna Truong
Nearne - Riley Page
Year 9
Brunel - Lilly Drake
Christie - Thomas Cox
Darwin - Emir Zorel
Fawcett - Anya Cosslett
Harrison - Heston Hart
Kitson - Harry McCarthy
Nearne - Masie Newton
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