800m Devon Champion, fastest race car and pavlova
Devon Champion
A massive well done to Emma Harrison, in Year 11, who last weekend became both the Devon Under 16 County and Devon Schools Under 16 champion at 800 metres. She is a really great example of how hard work pays off. It has been a pleasure to see Emma develop into such an excellent athlete over the last 5 years; her ambition to succeed and her enjoyment from running has never waned. Well done, Emma, and best of luck for the rest of the season.
Greenpower
Our very own in-house motorsport took to the road bright and early on Wednesday morning to arrive at Preddanack, Cornwall, for a 7:30 start to compete in the latest Greenpower F24 race. Upon arriving our cars fast scrutineering without a hitch and duly began completing practice laps on the tight and bumpy airfield-based track. Both our cars, Pugh and Bindon, were instantly quick, comfortably 1st and 2nd in class but with Pugh significantly faster than Bindon. The smaller, lighter Bindon car was suffering some significant handling problems, oversteering wildly out of the tight corners. This resulted in heavy axle damage, leading to a hasty and crude repair, straightening the bent aluminium item with brute force. The car made it back out onto the track only for the same issue to reoccur just a few laps later. The decision was made to decline using the second practice session to give us the best possible chance of completing the actual race. Simultaneously, year 10’s Pugh completed lap after lap of trouble-free miles at an outstanding pace. Both cars successfully took their places on the grid for the first actual 20 minute race, but whilst Pugh leapt off the line, Bindon was left behind stationary and lonely on the line. An oversight led to a battery connection issue which only cost around 1 minute to rectify.
As the race progressed, the 2 TA cars dominated proceedings, finishing with Pugh in P1 and Bindon in P2, just 0.8 miles behind Pugh and vitally without any further axle damage. Race 2 played out the same way with our cars dominating the class and Pugh achieving an impressive 3rd overall.
However, things were about to change as for the next race it would be Pugh that would be left behind on the grid. There was no easy fix so it was returned to the pits for investigation. Without a conclusive fault being found it began to run so hopes were high for the final race. In Pugh’s absence, Bindon safely completed the race, coming home in second place.
The story was similar for the final race of the day, Pugh’s startline gremlins returned but Bindon had a fantastic final stint, easily clinching victory. The day’s final standings saw Bindon finish 1st in class with an impressive 31.14 miles, and thanks to Pugh’s early pace, it achieved an impressive 3rd in class! As a bonus, Bindon also won an impressive 3D printed trophy for being the best turned out team.
That was the final race of a challenging academic year, we are very proud of our teams and their achievements and very thankful for Greenpower for finding a way to hold events, even through such difficult times.
Athletics Success
On Saturday, Hannah and Ava (Yr 9) attended Devon County Track & Field Champs (inc Devon Schools Champs). Both girls competed in 200m U15 and were thrilled to achieve PBs. They both also entered 3kg shotput and performed very well in the heat. Congratulations to you both!
Performing Arts Review
It’s been all systems go in PAA this week! There is an incredible air of excitement and anticipation amongst the cast members as tickets opened for booking on Monday and the reality that the show is actually going ahead sunk in!
Both productions are looking phenomenal already and are set to move into The Platform for final staging and tech runs next week where I know they are going to look even better! The video gives you a taste of rehearsals this week.
Tickets can be booked at: www.ticketsource.co.uk/torquayacademy
Show times;
Annie (Year 7): Tuesday 6th & Wednesday 7th July 6 – 8pm
The Review (Year 8 – 11): Thursday 8th & Friday 9th July 6 – 8pm
Arts showcase
With the electric cars away racing, the Art Department has taken our showcase space to show off the incredible work of our Year 10 Art students.
Featured House of the Week
This is a new series, spotlighting Torquay Academy’s house system , the individuals who have inspired the house names , their key values, our new mottoes and the students who have made a significant contribution to their houses throughout the week.
This week’s featured house is Pengelly.
For all those students who will be joining us in September, you may well know that the colour for Pengelly is purple. Students wear purple ties and have special PE tops with purple markings. Our house leader is Mr Chadwick and he is ultra-competitive! Pengelly takes its name from William Pengelly (1812-1894) Whilst not everybody may have heard of Pengelly himself, all Torbay residents will be familiar with Kents Cavern -the caves in this well- known tourist attraction having been excavated by William Pengelly. Pengelly was a famous geologist and archaeologist. He is best known for his excavations of our famous caves but also founded Torbay’s Natural history Society and a day school. There is a Pengelly hall and a Pengelly Avenue still in existence in Torquay today. If you are visiting Kents Cavern over the Summer, look out for the blue plaque which commemorates Pengelly’s life and achievements.
The motto for Pengelly house is Be Inquisitive. We ask students to exemplify this value by: taking an extreme interest in their learning, asking questions, seeking explanations and studying cause and effect. Our featured students of the week are Evie Hambleton from 7P and Vince Crushcov from 9P. Evie received her award for making an extra effort in both History and English . Her mother is really pleased and Evie is proudly displaying her purple star on her blazer. Vince has also received his award for his in-class efforts, being able to specifically inform me that he had been recognised for engaging in all learning activities to the best of his ability, showing complete focus and spending more time on homework. Both Evie and Vince have shown the inquisitive nature which allows young people to excel in their studies.
Miss Risk
Head of Houses
Strawberry Pavlovas
This week the Hospitality and Catering students have created the most amazing seasonal summer pudding.. strawberry pavlova. The skills involved in making meringues perfectly are complex but once again they rose to the challenge and the outcomes were outstanding and delicious.
Year 7 Rounders
On Monday 14th the Year 8s and a large group of year 7s took part in a fixture against Torquay Girls Grammar School. This was both of the teams’ first rounders fixtures this year and they did us extremely proud! We won two by a clear mile of 5 rounders and lost 2 only by half a rounder each game against very good opponents. We are very proud of you girls, well done!
Year 9 Health & Social Care
The year 9 Health and Social Care students had a fantastic experience this week where they interviewed two recovering addicts for their GCSE coursework. A fantastic opportunity to understand the dangers and impact of addiction.
Fun Friday!
What could be better after a hot and humid week? Ice pops!!!
Students of the Week
Year 8 – Oliver Boyce
Year 9 – Harrison Shaw
Year 10 – Liam Poole
Governor’s Gold Certificates
Year 7 – Amelie Berriman and Seth Margetts
Governor’s Silver Certificates
Year 7 – Ivy Hodgson-Hunt, Lyra Bowstead, Agata Sadlik and Amelia Rogers
Year 8 – Joe Hosking
Governor’s Bronze Certificates
Year 7 – Lily Phillips, Benjamin Watts, Daisy Faulkner and Samuel Alcock
Year 8 – Callum Yeates and Sophie Packer
Principal’s Gold Certificates
Year 7 – Colby Britton, Gabrielle Buys, Bella Sherwood, Darcy Reece, Willow Kendal, Jamie John Palmer, Harrison Hogg, Gregg Hindom, Ruby Donaldson, Emily Meloy, Paige Clements and Liam Trapp
Year 8 – Elliot Mills, Dylan Nock, Elspeth Herring, Cleo Fry, Lauren Catt, Aleah Coombes, Lexi Silvester, Joshua Walsh, Maddy Fairhurst, Rebecca Galsson and Alfie Slater
Year 9 – Will Reed
Principal’s Silver Certificates
Year 7 – Oliver Nunn, Connor Howard, Owen Waller, Katie Rowe, Erin Giffard, Ava Shobbrook, Zac Evans, George Peart, Billy Botten and Ryan Bridgeman
Year 8 – Ollie Clarke, Daisy Bond, Thomas Pattison, Ruby Denison, Finn Mallen, Tia-May Anderson, Jayden Gardner, Sajor Camara, Amari Hadley, Brooke McKenna, Lucy Smyth, Grace Dicken, Maddison Rees, Aliyah Davey, Harry Hollomby, Nikola Drygiel, Nina Hocking, James Lovell, Kasha-Lily Borge and Marcus Jenkins
Year 9 – Harrison Horrell, Keryn Giffard, Erin Loader, Will Howard and Jasmine Huxtable
Principal’s Bronze Certificates
Year 7 – Alex Winterton
Year 8 – Khylan Whicker, Daniel Thomas, Michael Mitchell, Ivan Vaplak, Mckenzie Hassanein, Alex McDowall, Bella Lester, Amalia Mihai, Finley Herbert, Warren Spink, Rosie Mahoney-Billis, Harvey Wootton, Ben Baker, Clara Godderham and Gemma Ford
Year 9 – Anya Page-Dove, Owen Woodcock, Jeb Whatley, Phoebe Parker, Vinny Poynton, Will Green, Oakley Hayes, Carter Pease, Honey Darke, Matylda Bednarska and Joel Copping
House Stars of the week
Year 7
Christie – Ashton Wilkinson
Darwin – Adam Wright
Fawcett – Jayden Field
Kitson – George Peart
Nearne – Lisa-Marie Szewczuk
Pengelly – Millie Sneap
Year 8
Christie – Jake Green
Darwin – Elspeth Herring
Harrison – Calen Thomas-Tyrer
Kitson – Samuel Eaton
Nearne – Skye Wiliams
Pengelly – Bradley Cook
Year 9
Christie – Steve Fitzpatrick
Darwin – Jack Darke
Harrison – Ellie Chammings
Kitson – Joe Copping
Nearne – Jack Sullivan
Pengelly – Hannah Carr
Homework Stars of the week
Year 7
Christie – Alfie mahoney-Billis
Darwin – Henry Tregea
Fawcett – Niamh Coker
Harrison – Zac Evans
Kitson – Jessica Mitchell
Nearne – Dolce Zulhayir
Pengelly – Leo Helmore
Year 8
Christie – Riyan Rizvi
Darwin – Megan Sellick
Fawcett – Nisha Coslett
Harrison – Lennon Bolton
Kitson – Amalia Mihai
Nearne – Igor Piewiszko
Pengelly – Dylan Nock
Year 9
Christie – Shania Blades
Darwin – Will Howard
Fawcett – Lily-May Bruton
Harrison – Oscar Bidmead
Kitson – Kai Alexander
Nearne – Aiden Bovey
Pengelly – Tim Corbett
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