Ethic of excellence, zoo trip & celebration evenings

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Ethic of Excellence wall

This is our impressive Ethic of Excellence wall in the Academy which showcases our students’ brilliant work. I asked subject teachers to select pieces of work that they felt we of an excellent standard to go onto the wall. The selected pieces were put into frames and mounted on the wall to give an impressive eclectic display.  Students and visitors alike en route around the school pause to take a look at these great pieces of work.  Well done to all students who have work on the wall.

Year 8 Celebration Evening

On Wednesday 22nd June, Torquay Academy hosted it first ever Year 8 Celebration Evening.  Over 50 students were invited to attend the receive a variety of awards throughout the course of the celebration.  There were recognitions of the top performers in all subject areas, form superstars , excellent attendance, star readers and maximum effort in all subjects.  Special mention to Emily Wilson and Noah Johnson who won the Outstanding Achievement Award which reflected their dedication and commitment to learning.  Parents were entertained to musical performances from Oliver Cartwright-Lomax, Noah Johnson, Alfie Lappin, Lauren Courtenay, Ollie Melitt, Jack Goodwin and Corey Barr-Thomson.  A further highlight was the Student Review of the Year where Thomas Huitema, Ella Squabb, Ollie Mellitt, Anna Duffer and Silbury Peakman spoke enthusiastically and articulately of their pride in being members of Torquay Academy.   It was an incredibly successful evening and a fitting way to acknowledge the achievements of a wonderful group of young people. Thanks to Miss Risk and the Year 8 team.

Year 9 Celebration Evening

What a wonderful evening Year 9 had to celebrate all the good effort, attainment and achievement we have accomplished throughout the year. A special mention must go to Amber Kennard and Luke Owen who were impeccable speakers, giving our parents and carers a fantastic overview of the year. Also a special recognition needs to go to all our performers of the evening Jessica Mitchell, Charlotte Povey, Kaysha Andringa, Jacob Knapman, James McDowall, Georgia Harvey, Taylor Cooper, Cameron Orton and Ollie Parsons. It truly was a fantastic evening celebrating with everyone involved. So many proud students, parents, carers and teachers relishing in the achievements of the evening. Finally, a huge well done to Charlotte Povey and Billy Gelo our top two attainers of the year. Well done and thank you, Mrs. Lancaster and Mrs. Nicol.

See our Facebook page for more photographs of the celebration evenings: www.facebook.com/TorquayAcademy

High Performance Academy

Our first two High Performance Academy events took place this week. Mrs Sanders was joined by a group of students to talk about the economic arguments to do with the EU referendum – and several staff came along too. We were also visited by Richard Cord, the architect who designed our fantastic school building, to talk about what inspires him. The students were fascinated to learn about the thought processes involved in designing a school, and it was very interesting to see the computer model and to compare it to the finished building.

Next week there are lots more High Performance Academy activities. Students have been telling me how much they are looking forward to them.

Torquay United Partnership

We are pleased to announce that the school’s link-up with Torquay United is going to advance in the 2016/17 season.

Our all-weather 3G and grass pitches have been United’s training ground home since December 2015. In return Torquay United have allowed to play our first team fixtures at Plainmoor in the English College FA League.

“We have a great relationship with Torquay Academy” said Torquay United player-manager Kevin Nicholson

“TA is going to provide us with some players to assist with our pre-season friendlies. They’ll also be given the opportunity to play alongside our pros in friendlies we organize during the season; this will be a great experience for their better players to taste what it is like when playing alongside professional players. That will benefit the players that need game time, and if we want to have a look at a trialist.

“Anyone that signs up to the Academy’s Football Development Programme will have the chance to train with Torquay United. If there are any outstanding players in the Programme then there is the chance we could sign them up. The players will also be eligible to play in the St. Luke’s Bowl.

Chris Hogg, our Director of Football said “This is a fantastic opportunity for our players to be around professional footballers and to really push themselves to make the next step. Experiences like this don’t normally happen unless you are a scholar at a professional club. We are giving these boys a great environment to be the best they can, and hopefully be in the right place, at the right time.”

A-Level Biology Zoo Trip

On Monday the A-Level Biology students visited Paignton Zoo to and learnt about some key threats to biodiversity and endangered species such as unsustainable palm oil and mining for coltan. They took part in an interactive presentation and evaluated the role of the zoo in conservation discussing use of zoo education, scientific research, captive breeding and reintroduction programmes.   The students also had an opportunity to learn about and feed the Giant Tortoises which they thoroughly enjoyed.
Below is a short account of the day written by Beth Essam-Wood
“The zoo was an amazing day with Miss King and Dr Hocking as we not only fed the giant tortoises but also had an educational talk. The talk entailed many useful facts which help us in our A-Level biology. Feeding the giant tortoises was a great experience as we were able to fully interact with them and the zoo keeper also answered our questions and taught us a lot also”

I’d like to thank, on behalf of A-Level Biology, Miss King and Dr Hocking for putting up with us for a whole day but also for taking us there and helping with questions and also allowing us free to wonder in the zoo !”

Sixth Formers Take on Army Challenge

Thursday of this week saw a team of 11 Sixth Formers take on the Devon & Somerset Army Challenge. Students were asked to pit their wits against 15 other Sixth Form Colleges and Schools in a range of activities designed to test physical fitness, teamwork, leadership and problem solving skills. Our students learnt a lot about themselves and others throughout the day and were fantastic ambassadors for the school.

Athletics Round up

It’s been a busy week for TA athletics squad. On Tuesday we took a squad of 35 to Exeter Arena to compete in the area Athletics Championship. It was a fantastic event with an the standard being extremely high. We had some great individual performances which are as follows:

Georgia Davies 200 gold

Ryan Wilson 200 gold

Krisjanis Rumnieks 200 Bronze

Courtney Sunderland 100 Bronze

Louis Higgins Yr 7 100 Bronze

Scott Rowe Yr 7 800 Bronze

Ethan Boness-Lewis high jump Bronze

Will Makinson 1500m Bronze

Kyle Storey javelin Bronze

Year 7 boys relay Silver

Thursday saw the year 8 team travel to Brixham with the best results being as follows

Anna Duffen silver 1.30m

Ethan high jump Gold 1.45m

Ethan Boness Lewis Silver 100m

Boys relay Bronze

Krisjanis Rumnieks javelin Gold

Next Thursday the Year 7 team travel to Churston to compete in their athletics meet.

Students of the week this week with Mr WIthers : Imogen Winston, Luke Giffard-Rowe, Brad Mellish, Jamie Watson

Year 5 Activities Days

This week saw the end of our annual Year 5 Activities Days.  Students from 8 local primary schools came in over two days, 22nd and 23rd June, to sample the various subject what we offer.  The youngsters enjoyed break time and lunch in the main dining hall before going outside for sports activities.  The staff and students at all the schools had a really great day with excellent feedback being received from the primary schools.  We have two more days next week with the remainder of the primary schools joining us.