Badminton, Bikes, Mini First Aid, Simon Singh and more...

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Simon Singh visits A Level Maths Students

On Monday the A level Maths students had a real treat as the internationally renowned writer on Mathematics and Physics, Simon Singh, came in to speak to them. During his talk he covered topics ranging from Fermat’s Last Theorem to the Mathematics hidden within The Simpsons. He showed the students how emotional Mathematics can be, from the difficulty of a Maths problem, to the joy of solving and then more importantly proving it. Simon was really impressed with the questions the students at the end of his talk, Simon also spent time looking around the Academy as we are also going to starting working on a project looking at further stretching some of our best Mathematicians, enhancing their curriculum and hopefully helping them be even more successful in their Mathematics studies with us and on into University.

Year 12 CPLD Students Complete Mini First Aid Course

Last Friday, our Year 12 CPLD were very fortunate to participate in the Mini first Aid course for babies and children.  This was an invaluable 2 hour course with a variety of emergencies covered. From Meningitis to Burns, CPR to choking, the pupils now feel not only aware but confident to deal with these, particularly in an early years setting.  Many thanks to Liz Watt, local Mum and South West First Aid trainer, for the fun yet informative session. We look forward to her return with our Year 9 Child Development pupils.

Health & Social Care Visit

On Wednesday 31st January, half of the Year 12 Health and Social Care group visited Hollacombe day care centre in Paignton. We went there to discuss and explore the different types of communication methods that people with learning difficulties use. As we went through the centre, we saw the therapy room, sensory room, pampering room and the places where they ate and played games. All the users looked extremely happy and many enjoyed dancing with their workers. It was a great experience and a real eye opener that showed the transition from Mayfield School and how they are treated in adulthood.
By Katie Leigh and Martha Farkins

Team TA Sports Roundup

Whilst most weeks are very busy in terms of fixtures and extra curricular clubs, there are some weeks where things quieten down a bit and this week was one of those. We did manage to play 4 games of football, host the Year 8 House Mountain Bike Championships and the Sports Academy students took part in the first of their practical sessions of the year when they focused on speed and agility. There were mixed results in the football, unfortunately the Year 7 girls bowed out of the national cup on Monday when they travelled to Bruton in Somerset to take on Sexey’s School. Two outstanding players on their side was all that was needed at this level to ensure victory for them. Our girls, and indeed Mr Foulds, were an absolute credit on the day and they made many friends due to the sportsmanship displayed by them. Whilst the result is obviously disappointing it is always nice to hear that our teams stay true to our values. The result of the week was easily our 2nd XI victory over Stroud and Gloucester College.  We won the game 2-1, when you consider that Stroud are flying high at the top of the College league and have not been beaten all year it was an incredible result, it may go as far as being the result of the season for all of our football teams. This match was won through sheer determination, never say die attitude and great team spirit. Well done, boys. The forthcoming 1st XI v 2nd XI is one to be savoured!

Badminton

On Wednesday 24th January our Key Stage 3 boys Badminton team attended the Badminton County Finals at Paignton Community and Sports Academy.  The team,​ consisting of 4 players, Ellis Knowles, Matt Leighton, Jack Manley and Charlie Barnes, competed against 6 other schools in their bid to progress to next round of the competition.  The boys were required to compete in 2 singles and 3 doubles games against each school.

Whilst the boys did not progress to the next round the team displayed some excellent badminton skills and showed great resilience as they came up against some very strong competition. The team grew in confidence as the afternoon progressed which lead to a very convincing overall win against Kingsbridge Academy, and lots of individual and doubles successes against Newton Abbot College, Devonport High School for Boys and Clyst Vale. Special congratulations goes to Ellis Knowles who won 4 of his 6 singles matches.

Cycling Competition

The Year 8s travelled to Haldon forest on Thursday to compete in the annual TA house cycling competition.   Students raced a timed lap on the difficult red run for a place at the Velodrome in April. Only 4 boys and 4 girl can qualify from each year so competition was intense. The biggest shock of the day was Luke Howard, last year’s Velodrome champion, being knocked out with a good time of 9 minutes 34 second. This highlights how high the standards have been this Year with the Year 7s producing excellent times as well. Ben Arscott produced the best time of the day with a brilliant 7 minute run.
Next Thursday the Year 9s will compete for their places at the Velodrome.   Congratulations to all who competed and especially for those who qualified below:

Alfie Sams
Leon Angel
Ben Arscott
Michael Brooker
Isabel Pollard
Leah Harrison
Kiera Connelly
Olisi O’Malley

Football

On Wednesday the second 11 took on Stroud and Gloucester in their league game. Its safe to say the seconds have found picking up points hard in this league but have never failed to give anything other than 100%. Stroud were top of the table winning seven games and drawing one of the eight they had played. Stroud were much bigger, stronger and older than the TA side started brightly and in the 8th minute took the lead from their seventh corner after goalkeeper Andy Collins had pulled off what can only be described as incredible save saw their defender poke the ball home from 3 yards. TA were on the back foot then for the next twenty minutes until a through ball from Ben Clark was latched on to by Adam Kenyon who coolly chipped the Stroud goalkeeper from 25 yards. TA then weathered the storm and went in level at half time. With spirits obviously high from the first half TA continued to work hard keeping Stroud at bay as much as they dominated the game. With three minutes to go, good work from TA pressing the ball saw a Stroud defender misplace a pass for Jordan Bastow to slide the ball across to an unmarked Ben Clark who passed the ball past the Stroud keeper. TA saw out the last few minutes for what can only be described as an incredible performance and victory. Well done, boys, you should be very proud of what you achieved.

Students of the Week

Students of the week this week with Mr Chadwick, Mr Honey and myself are : Ella Sandbrook – Yr 7, Jack Manley – Yr 9, Sonny Prior – Yr 10, Leon Bradley – Yr 13, Amelia Bastow – Yr 12, Millie Partridge – Yr 8,

Year 11 – Lewis Rusby – Not in photo due to exam.

Principal Certificates

 Bronze: Thomas Johnson, Alyssa West, Codie Meade, Mya Brett-Wilson, Jasmine Winterton, Holly Smith, Sean Brown, William Heron, Finn Beer 

 Silver : Ellis Knowles, Ena Brett-Wilson, Emily Wilson 

Building Update

The site still has the air of a muddy outdoor pool, but they are still firmly on track for the August deadline.

Online Safety Checklists

Below are some useful safety checklists for students to look at for some of the most popular social media sites.  These can also be found on the website under ‘E-Safety’: