Christmas concert, house champions & new head boy & girl

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Christmas concert

This was just an amazing evening where so many young peoples talents were on display. Only Torquay Academy can put on a Christmas concert that includes traditional choir numbers, as well as a wide range of contemporary songs, is played by bands from year 7 to 13.

Our year 13s dedicated their song, A bridge over troubled waters, to the inspirational Mr Mathew who has recently returned to us following a serious illness.  It was a very powerful and emotional performance.

Our grand finale in the theatre was as spectacular as ever, including the night to be expected snow storm!

It was also a poignant year for many of our year 13 students who are taking part in the seventh and final Christmas concert. These are the most incredibly talented group of students and I am excited to be hearing of the plans they have for the future is beyond the school.

I will share the video of the evening in the new year.

House Championships

Our Christmas assembly featured a number of songs from the school choir and the annual awarding of the house competition prizes.  Incredibly after thousands of house points, effort grades, sports competitions and counting up attendance it was a tie!  Our joint House Champions were Christie and Pengelly.

Christie were the overall Sports champion house.

Pengelly were the overall House Points champion house.

Christie and Pengelly were tied for the overall Effort grades champion house.

Pengelly were the overall Attendance champion house.

Head Boys and Girls

Josh Kendal, Alex Roberts, Thomas Huitema, Rebecca Hall, Roison Payne, Ana Banica

Also in the assembly I had the great privilege of awarding our new head boy and head girl their badges for the coming year as well as their deputies. I have been so impressed this week with all of our students who have applied for senior positions within the school. They really are such an inspiring group of students who have given so much to the school in the past and I will know they will do a wonderful job in the coming 12 months.

Head Girl: Rebecca Hall

Deputy Head Girls: Roison Payne and Ana Banica

Head Boy: Thomas Huitema

Deputy Head Boys: Josh Kendal and Alex Roberts

Carols on tour

Still buzzing from Wednesday evening’s Christmas Concert, our wonderful choir took to the road bright and early on Thursday morning for our annual Carols on Tour event. Their first stop was Coverdale Care Home in Paignton. Here the students kicked off their tour performing a stunning mix of Christmas classics.

Stop 2 was Warberries Care Home which has been a firm fixture on the tour for the last six years. In this video the students are performing O Come Let Us Adore Him.

Stop 3 was meant to be a flash mob in the town centre but due to the torrential rain it was cancelled. I got a wonderful surprise when the choir exploded into my office deciding to flash mob me instead, performing my (least!!) favourite song Rockin’ Robin!

The final stop for the Choir was Torbay hospital where the choir performed to visitors and staff in the main reception.

Thre is a brilliant mash-up of all the songs the choir performed posted by Torbay Hospital on their Facebook page.

I have already received many lovely comments from the many people who had the pleasure of listening to them in our local community.

Performing in the West End

Aimee Evans, Millie Hope, Emilie Cartwright-Lomax and Oliver Lomax all recently performed at Her Majesty’s Theatre with their Razzmatazz theatre school.  It was an amazing experience for them and they performed fantastically well on the big stage.  They are all regular performers in our musicals and concerts; they are incredibly talented!

Seasonal Greetings

The above Christmas card image was taken by Jasmine Cresser Y13

I look forward to seeing the students back on Monday 6th January 2020.

Christmas Dinner

On Wednesday the school was filled with Christmas music and turkey! There was a lovely atmosphere throughout the lunchtime and I would like to wish all of our students and their families are relaxing and enjoyable Christmas break.

Young Carers’ Christmas party

We have over 120 young carers who attend the school and on Thursday Lisa Bishop hosted a party for all of them in recognition of the invaluable support they provide at home to their families. It was a lovely party where the students were able to enjoy each other’s company along with food and drink as well as presence donated by the staff of the school.

Ten Tors training

Our students and staff were back on the moor last weekend braving the cold to start their Ten Tors training in earnest.  As always I am sincerely grateful to those staff who give up so much of their time to enable our students to have so many opportunities beyond the classroom.

Thankfully it wasn’t needed, but the students practised making a stretcher.

And a shelter!

Bag Packing

Our CCF are currently fundraising To raise money for two flight simulators to be purchased and used by them. On Saturday morning the cadets along with Mr Chadwick and Mr Adams were at Sainsbury’s packing bags for the festive shoppers. They raised an incredible £850 towards their goal.

Christmas in KS3

It has been a very exciting week for our KS3 students in the build up to Christmas. On Tuesday, Mr Jones led a Christmas themed celebration assembly (with karaoke, as you can see in the video!) where some of the exceptional achievements of our amazing students were acknowledged. In total, 40 different prizes were given out to individuals and tutor groups based on behaviour, effort, house points and attendance.

On Wednesday, the inspirational Mr Webber hosted our inaugural KS3 Christmas Quiz. Each House group worked together to answer general knowledge, musical and picture questions for points. Each student received 5 individual house points but also achieved points for their overall house total. The joint winners were Darwin and Nearne, so bragging rights go to Heads of House Dr Hocking and Mr Littler – much to the displeasure of the others, particularly Messrs Harries (Christie) Gale (Fawcett) and Chadwick (Pengelly) who have become accustomed to winning!

Then, on Thursday we handed out all of the badges for effort (top and most improved) and our subject ‘Stars of the Term’ All of the different students who have received awards this week are pictured below.

Finally, on Friday Y7 & 8 were treated to a ‘Morning at the Movies’ where they were given the opportunity to watch a Christmas film; a gesture to acknowledge and thank them for their incredible hard work this term – Here are Year 7 enjoying their seats in the platform wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

VIDEO

Year 11 Home Alone

As a reward for their amazing work our year 11 students enjoyed an afternoon watching Home Alone and eating popcorn in the platform. Whilst I hope all of year 11 have a lovely and relaxing holiday, they do each have a small bespoke pack of work to help them continue with their studies and ensure they are still on top of their English maths and science during the break. They really are quite an inspiring year group.

Science Club

It has been a while since I have given an update on what myself and Mrs Aldworth-Jones and her mini scientists have been up to, but I can assure you, they have been very busy in science club.

They spent October exploring if magic really does exist in the World, which included using refraction to make objects disappear and some herbology. On Halloween they got creative carving pumpkins, which they finished off by releasing elephant’s toothpaste from a pumpkin for a truly grotesque look.

They conducted an Iodine clock, looking at how different concentrations affect the rate of a reaction, followed by a few sessions of dissections. This included mackerel, in which they found plenty of parasitic worms, squid, cuttle fish and fish heads. I would like to say an extra special thank you to D and H fishmonger on Fore street for donating lots of fish for our mini scientists to dissect.

In addition, they have looked at reversible reactions. They will be finishing off the term with a physics theme, by making a 3D representation of magnetic field, and looking at forces. Have a great Christmas, and don’t stop exploring and experimenting!

Enterprise excellence

The excellent works continues to come out of the department with some more excellent clocks.

Construction

Mr Waring offers his students so many opportunities to practise their practical skills in addition to the academic work they undertake.  With the colder weather, the lessons seem to be more often than not inside, but I am sure it won’t be long until they are back outside rain or shine.

Team TA Sports Roundup

Table Tennis

Our very successful Table Tennis Academy students held their annual Christmas tournament this week. The club has been growing throughout the year but is always open to newcomers. The overall winner was William Howard with Ivan Vaplaks second and in third place was Ben German. Many thanks to Jakub Piwowar for officiating the games and organising the games. Well done to all that took part.

Year 8 Rugby

This week the year 8 boys rugby team welcomed Kingsbridge to TA. The ground had been softened by torrential rain yet luckily the constant deluge stopped for a few hours to allow the game to commence. The opposition arrived and looked well drilled in the warm up, moving the ball smoothly and looking highly organised. Kingsbridge have produced some rugby pedigree over previous years and have a very prestigious record so the boys knew they were in for a tough game. With the warm up, coin toss and pleasantries out the way TA kicked off. Harry Clarke kicked deep into enemy territory and the defensive line speed was up quick putting pressure on the Kingsbridge attack from the off. This has been something the boys have been working on in training and it was an opportunity to put to good use the hours spent working hard in the rain on a Wednesday after school. Will Harrison (3ft 9″!!) led the charge in defence, flooring their 6ft tall second row within the first minute of the game. This resulted in a turnover of possession and ultimately a TA try within 90 seconds. A fantastic start. This set the precedent for the rest of the game. TA were showing controlled aggression in attack and defending superbly, driving the Kingsbridge runners back every time and forcing mistakes. This allowed the likes of Steve Fitzpatrick, Tommy Aldous, Pierce Gerring, Kai Alexander, Charlie Stevens, Jeb Whatley, Aiden Bovey and Harry Clarke opportunities to impose themselves heavily on the game and they gladly took up the challenge. Debutant Ewan McLachlan had a great first game for TA, showing some lovely passing skills and was solid in defence. Will Read (playing out of position-thank you Will!), Oakley Pearse, Dylan White and Nikodem Piasecki all had great games and contributed immensely in both attack and defence. Kingsbridge had no answers to the hard running of the boys, backed up by some sterling work by the pack and some deft hands out wide in the backs. As a coach it was great to see defensive patterns that the team have been working on in training coming to fruition on the field. The boys were relentless in both attack and defence in the first half, running in six unanswered tries. It was reminiscent of the England performance against New Zealand in the recent Rugby World Cup, a well organised and aggressive, albeit controlled, defence was winning the game for TA. The second half was much the same as the first. With Kingsbridge asking to be able to kick the ball it was agreed by both sides that kicking would be allowed. This ended up playing directly into TAs hands. Each time they kicked to TA the boys ran the ball back at them with purpose, vigour and multiple successes. Three tries came from loose kicks and the boys just kept on scoring! The final whistle blew and the boys had enjoyed an astounding 55-0 victory against a premier rugby school. The game was played in great spirit with huge tackles going in and boys helping opposition players up after such collisions. It was lovely to watch and commended by the opposition coach. The scoreline suggests that it was one sided, but Kingsbridge are a very well drilled side with some big runners, they just had no answer to TAs strong forward pack and absolute wheels out wide. This was a defining performance from the boys and I cannot speak highly enough of the whole team. Will Harrison was just outstanding and his effort, work rate and game play through out was first class. This was an epic victory. Well done to all involved. Enjoy your well earned break boys, rugby continues in the new year.

U13 and U15s indoor cricket competition

The U13s and U15s cricket boys travelled the short distance to Paignton Hub this week to compete for a place in the county finals, to be held after Christmas. With a couple of late drop outs/no shows the boys left in good spirits. Upon arrival it was instantly noted that we should have all dressed for arctic conditions as the indoors felt like outdoors! The single figures of the indoor arena did not dampen the boys enthusiasm and love for the game. With two competitions, across four pitches, playing out simultaneously it was sometimes difficult to keep track of the score and who needed what to go through. The U15s (consisting solely of year 9 boys, a year younger than ALL other opposition) enjoyed victories against STCM, Brixham, Teign and Paignton in the pool stages with notable performances from Bobby Western (hat trick), Finley Last (swinging the blade like a pro), Will Bevan (batting, bowling AND keeping wicket- not all at the same time!). Special mention must go to Harley Sneap for his 4 wickets in one over! The boys were loving the competition and topped their group to play their final game against SDC for top spot. There were some interesting decisions being made by an inexperienced umpire, nonetheless the boys came up just 15 runs short. However, were still through as the top two go through to the county finals.
The U13s enjoyed victories against STCM, Newton Abbott College and only narrowly lost to SDCC and it was down to their lack of focus and not their ability which unfortunately cost them the victory. With a win needed from the last game the boys focused during a team meeting and the wheels were firmly reattached to the cricketing cart the boys began with confidence. The lads went into the final game knowing that victory would secure a place in the county finals. TA batted first and scored a whopping 91-3. Probably the biggest score of the day. And against a very good bowling attack. This gave the bowlers a strong platform from which to perform to their best. Some incredible bowling from Jack Alcock, Josh Thompson and Will Hemus saw early wickets tumble and the game finished with the opposition nearly 50 runs short of their target. Some outstanding fielding by Will Green and Owen Woodcock led to two key run outs. A mature and well executed final game sees the U13s go through to the county finals as well. Huge congratulations to both teams, especially considering that the year 9s were playing up an age category and the year 8s played with a man down the whole tournament. All the boys were a credit to themselves and the school. Both sides are through to the county finals which will be held at the University of Exeter in January. A first for TA and the chance of silverware is very much alive.

Students of the Week

Students of the Week this week with me are : Hailie Windsor, Jessica Breach, Lucy Sullivan, Imogan Festorazzi

Principal Certificates

Bronze: Penny Richards, Phoebe Lown, Ryan Hooper, Ashton Jeffs, Alaric Wills

Silver: Maja Davies, Finley Herbert, Nisha Cosslett

House Stars of the Week

Year 7

Brunel – Abby Green

Christie – Elise Pile

Darwin – Jessica Taylorson

Fawcett – Ashton Jeffs

Harrison – Marcus DeLucis

Kitson – Joshua Walsh

Nearne –

Pengelly – Tayler Reynolds

Year 8

Brunel – Matylda Bednarska

Christie – Sonny Jackson

Darwin –

Fawcett – Harley Stevens

Harrison – Sophie George

Kitson – Ben McCarthy

Nearne – Jasper Dommett

Pengelly – Shelby Astley-Rubin

Year 9

Brunel –

Christie – Maddison Watt

Darwin – Angel Fox

Fawcett – George Nelson

Harrison – Milly Treleaven

Kitson –  Dakota Robinson

Nearne – Lily-Grace Lee

Pengelly – Holly Bastow

Homework Stars of the Week

Year 7

Brunel – Ella McLachlan

Christie – Mollie Macfie-Jones

Darwin – Serena Lordache

Fawcett – Alex Thomas

Harrison -Lacie Benson

Kitson – Klaudia Opel

Nearne – Amari Hadley

Pengelly – Cameron Sturtridge

Year 8

Brunel – Jazz Povey

Christie – Kole Gjikolaj

Darwin –

Fawcett – Riley Houlahan

Harrison – Evan Kinghorn

Kitson – Summer Mansell

Nearne -Elsie Taylor

Pengelly – Tim Corbett

Year 9

Brunel – Jonah Handford,

Christie – Madelyn Palmer-Kerslake

Darwin – Gareth Mufford

Fawcett – Keira Davies

Harrison – Ayeisha Moseley

Kitson – Bradley Thomas

Nearne – Jonathan Woodward

Pengelly – Zoe Manley

…….and finally

Whilst I was out and about around the school this morning,  I saw this lovely rainbow and thought I would share with you.