Greenpower, Science club, D of E and Occombe Farm
Greenpower’s amazing video footage
Last week I wrote about our amazing team coming 2nad and 8th in the world. You can watch the amazing video below – on a phone or tablet you can scroll around the video as it was shot in 360 degree – it is quite incredible!
Year 11 DofE Silver students demonstrate commendable character and resilience
Last weekend 12 Year 11 students undertook their DofE Silver Qualifying Expedition. The expedition involved the students planning their own routes, learning about and packing expedition food and equipment for 3 days hiking, camping for 2 nights and ensuring they were on expedition for 7 hours each day.
Friday morning arrived and the students collected the expedition equipment they required, including tents and Trangia stoves, and added it to their already full rucksacks. The first team set off in the minibus with Mr Adams at just after 10.00am – all excited and enthusiastic, despite the occasional rain showers hitting the windscreen. The start point on Day 1 was at Shaugh Bridge and both teams routes took them along the Plym Valley, then north of the clayworks at Lee Moor, then off the moor through East Rook Gate near Cornwood and then to the campsite at Harford. Overall a 20km adventure!
And an adventure it did prove to be! After a calm, positive, and relatively sheltered start, walking through the woods along the Plym Valley from Shaugh Bridge their routes entered the open moor. Here it was less sheltered and the rain lashed down. However team 1 were still in good spirits and on encountering Mr Adams at Cadover Bridge they were confident in their route. Unfortunately taking the wrong fork in the track they ended up slightly lost near to the clay workings.
After a slightly delayed start Team 2 were heading in the right direction, following the Dartmoor Way footpath to the north of the Lee Moor clayworks. The path, as is typical on Dartmoor, isn’t quite as obvious on the ground as it is on the map, and Team 2 did have to reassess their direction of travel a few times but eventually seemed to get back on track. Mr Brett and Mr Adams looking at the groups progress on the trackers were pleased, and were able to divert their attention to how team 1 were getting on.
Team 1 had got seriously lost and were in danger of going into the middle of the clayworks. Just as Mr Adams was walking out to find them it became apparent on the trackers that they were remedying their mistake and were heading back to their route. All part of the DofE experience – getting lost and finding themselves again! Although back on track they had lost a lot of time so they needed to be re-routed in order to get to camp before darkness fell, so Mr Adams transported them further down their route. This meant they were going to have to make up this time over Day 2 and Day 3. The team were in quite a dejected state, soaking wet and tired to the point that some were talking about calling it a day on their DofE Expedition experience.
After each individual in the team had a chat and pep talk from Mr Adams, each one of them resiliently decided to carry on. They were dropped in Cornwood where they still had another 5km to walk – quite a challenge considering how dire they had felt things to be! With commendable determination Team 1 all made it into camp just before darkness fell and got prepared for the overnight camp ahead.
Team 2 was experiencing similar problems! Having looked like they had confidently regained their track it became clear that they had come off the moor sooner than planned, into Rook Wood instead of through East Rook Gate. Unfortunately one of the team, Aspen, walking through the woodland fell awkwardly injuring their leg meaning Mr Brett had to come and find them and bring them to camp. This meant that they, also, were going to have to do extra on Day 2 and Day 3. With their injured teammate having to be taken home Team 2 were so relieved to be at the campsite, met by Mrs Schwarz, and despite being soaked through, tired and fair to say a bit miserable, quickly got their tents up and their hot evening meals cooking on their stoves. Spirits were markedly raised with some food in their stomachs!
Day 2 started off brightly and positively. With a beautiful sunrise over Butterdon Hill, above the campsite, the students made their breakfasts and sorted out their tents. Obviously still feeling a bit soggy and tired, both teams were ready to go before 10.00am.Team 1, much to the annoyance of some of their team, had planned a route that took them up the hill from the campsite back towards the moor, where they then found a footpath following the River Erme down into Ivybridge. Team 2 had planned the more direct route down the lane into Ivybridge. After a few navigation decisions in Ivybridge both teams made it out of the town on to their routes, with Team 1 heading out of Ivybridge on the Ermington road and taking some bridleways west towards Yealmpton, and Team 2 going past the Endsleigh Garden Centre along the lanes. At this stage Mrs Berry and Miss Hammett were helping out with checkpointing. They saw Team 2 outside the Garden Centre and reported them to be in really good spirits. Team 1, taking the less direct route, they encountered near the tennis courts at Ivybridge. One of the team suffered from bad blisters on the Practice Expedition two weeks earlier, and she began to suffer again on this day. Mrs Berry put her first aid skills to work and taped up her feet with blister plasters to hopefully make the walking more bearable.
Mr Adams was concerned that Jasmine, with the blisters, and Mia (also from Team 1) who had turned her ankle were going to struggle to finish the expedition. However he was very happy to be proved wrong. By this point Mr Butler had taken over supervision duties from Mr Brett. Both teams really excelled with their navigation, and even when they had gone wrong they realised this and recounted their steps to get back on route. This time both teams walked into camp at Brixton successfully to be greeted again by Mrs Schwarz and got themselves set up for the night. Both teams turned in very early that evening, clearly exhausted after another hike of close to 20km.
The morning of Day 3 came again with a lovely sunrise and both teams got up promptly and were away by 9.30am, after some bandaged feet, ankles, breakfast and packing tents away. The routes today would be taking in the countryside and coastline around Wembury, with a checkpoint at Fort Bovisand, and the destination at Mountbatten Breakwater on the edge of Plymouth. A mere 15km today! Both teams were more buoyant today as the end was in sight. Team 2 set off first and made fantastic progress towards Wembury. Team 1 were not far behind. Mr Butler met both teams for a water stop just to the north of Wembury, and again in the village of Down Thomas. At each point he assessed their navigation skills and both teams made no mistakes at all today. With the final checkpoint at Fort Bovisand, and the teams being within 15 minutes of one another they were both really confident of making the destination. Only 2km left from Bovisand to the breakwater, Mr Adams, had to remind them that they had to be out on expedition for 7 hours so as not to rush the last section of their journey.
Both teams were jubilant, arriving at Mountbatten Breakwater. They had both made up for the missed time from Day 1, on Days 2 and 3, had walked almost 50km over the three days and the smiles of relief (and a few tears!) on seeing the minibuses lit up their faces. These two teams had really turned things round. From the brink of quitting, wet, tired, bad blisters and an ankle injury these students showed such resilience and determination to complete their expeditions. Thanks to Mr Brett, Mrs Schwarz, Mr Butler, Mrs Berry, Miss Hammett and Mr Adams for supporting the expedition.
But most importantly warmest congratulations to the following Year 11 students for being so amazing: Jasmine Evans, Mia Weston, Beatrice Corline, James Lovell, Sam Stimpson, Elliott Lawton, Oliver Huxtable, Daisy Gibbings, Megan Sellick, Nina Hocking, Faith Benney – and to Aspen Keenan who we wish a speedy recovery to from the bad leg that caused an unfortunate withdrawal from the expedition.
Art & Design student’s explore Photography as an art medium
Last week saw the Drama studio being transformed from a performing space into a fantastic backdrop for an art & design Photo shoot. The year 11s theme this term is ‘The Human Form’ and students have enjoyed exploring this theme through drawing, painting, sculpture and photography!! Here you can see some amazing slow shutter speed images taken by Faith Benney with Maddie being her model. Well done to both girls for creating some awe-inspiring Photo Art.
The Reading Pioneers
The Reading Pioneers finished the first half term with the good news that the Reading Agency has accepted their pitches to read and review two more of the latest book releases for the publishers they represent. Some of the Pioneers are pictured here with their gifted copies of ‘Friends and Traitors’, by Helen Peters. This novel is described by publisher Nosy Crow as; ‘A gripping World War II story about how two girls foil an aristocratic plot to bring down the government and hand the country to the Nazis.’
Just as they started to get engrossed by the compelling plot, they received an email from their contact at the Reading Agency with the news that they had also been selected by publisher Usbourne, to receive, read and review YA author Holly Bourne’s much-anticipated new novel ‘You Could Be So Pretty’. Described as; ‘brilliant and frightening’, this is a dystopian exploration of beauty, social media and the pressures on teenage girls. Most importantly, our free copies are already on their way!
Their bi-weekly meetings this term have been mostly spent talking about Louis Sacher’s Holes. Discussions have included: the unpredictable and inventive plot, comparisons of the startling and distinctive characters, (popular favourites were: Zero, Armpit, Caveman, X-Ray, Madame Zeroni and Barfbag), and our debates ranged from; ‘Is the book better than the movie?’ (Of course it is!) to; ‘Does the yellow-spotted lizard really exist?’ (Existence still unconfirmed!) They have just sent off our reviews to publisher Bloomsbury, who wanted to find out if the story is still as appealing as it was when it first came out 25 years ago, and they unanimously agreed that Holes is already a classic and predicted it will be read by children for many generations to come.
Looking ahead to next term, their reading schedule is already filling up as we continue to make new pitches to receive, read and review a number of titles including: a non-fiction science book and a fast-paced thriller with a shocking murder. On top of all that, we are also looking forward to the announcement of the Carnegie 2024 Nominations in November, which will bring with it the chance to explore even more new writing.
Thank you to the regular, committed Reading Pioneers for your time and participation this term. Miss Jelbert is really looking forward to our next adventure together!
The Reading Pioneers enjoying book talk with our Y11 members.
The current Reading Pioneers are: Charlotte Townsend, Gracie Gatting, Phoebe Grindling, (Y7) Hattie Gamble, Annie Briggs-Aldous, Lily Thomas, Chloe-Mae Jones, Daisy Board, Robyn Higgins, Gustaw Adamczak (Y8) Ivy Hodgson-Hunt, Agata Sadlik (Y10) Bethany Evans-Rogers and Luca Cronje (Y11)
The Reading Pioneers meet on Monday and Thursday breaks 1 and 2. The good news is we still have room for new members. If you are interested in getting involved, see Miss Jelbert in H110 for more details and potentially free books!
House News
This week, students from Kitson house visited Torbay Coast and Countryside at Occombe Farm to view the charity’s brand-new polytunnel. The sheeting for the polytunnel was actually purchased with funds raised by Kitson students over the past two years through a series of fund-raising events. Torbay Coast and Countryside is Kitson’s selected charity organisation. This is particularly appropriate as William Kitson -whom the house is named after-was known as ‘the maker of Torquay’ and was responsible for the design of many of its green spaces. A polytunnel is designed to protect new plants and seedlings from the elements-sheltering them from the wind whilst letting in plenty of light. A polytunnel should last for the duration of 10 years so students have funded something which will be beneficial for a long period of time. At Occombe Farm the vegetables grown are used in the site café as part of a ‘Field to Fork’ project promoting locally sourced produce.
Staff at Torbay Coast and Countryside explained how Kitson house is not only responsible for providing the funds for the creation of the tunnel but also for providing a safe space for students from Mayfield and Coombe Pafford schools for their weekly visits to learn about environmental issues.
Students: Reef Whayman, Mollie Peters, Lucie Bowers, Ollie Martin, Ollie Cooper, Faye Cassidy and Ethan Lynch-along with head of Kitson, Mr Bindon, learnt about the purpose of a polytunnel and were privileged to sow the first seeds that would grow there. This process involved meeting staff, learning about different types of compost, sowing different vegetable seeds and arranging soil around them. All students had a very positive experience which was best summarised by Faye Cassidy: ’It was a great experience and I loved learning about the different uses of polytunnels.’
Year 11 Geography Fieldtrip
The Geography team took their 11A groups to Plymouth to collect data for their Paper 3 Fieldwork exam. Whilst in Plymouth the students completed an Environmental Quality Survey, a Land use Survey and a pedestrian count. All techniques used will work towards their Paper 3 exam in the summer but also act as good preparation for their upcoming PPE.
Zebra Crossing
It’s getting there! I am so happy to see our students being able to cross more safely at our Barton Road gate. It has only taken 9 and a half years!
Sparx Award
We have been awarded the Highest Achiever Gold Award from Sparx!
Torquay Academy was one of the top-performing schools on Sparx Maths in the last academic year achieving completion rates in the top ten out of over 2000 schools across the world.
Well done to our students for such an excellent accomplishment!
Cadets
Another exhilarating week has flown by for our dedicated cadets as they continue their cadet journey.
Last weekend, some of our cadets carried out another challenging Duke of Edinburgh walk.
A session at the DCCT range saw our cadets improving their marksmanship skills, taking aim while in seated and kneeling positions. Although the leader board remains unchanged, the cadets achieved some remarkable scores, showcasing their dedication and precision.
The RAF cadets are busy perfecting their drill movements and working diligently towards earning their Part 1 Cadet badge, a testament to their commitment and discipline.
Preparations are underway to welcome the new Year 8 cadets. They will soon commence a cadet induction program designed to equip them with fundamental cadet skills, setting the foundation for their exciting journey ahead.
The Army cadet’s staff has unveiled an exciting weekend camp scheduled for December. This adventure will involve a thrilling scenario with a cadet enemy force, providing an opportunity for teamwork and strategy.
Selected cadets are gearing up for a week-long STEM camp at Bovington, hosted by the Royal Engineers. This promises to be a week of epic proportions, brimming with educational and hands-on experiences.
One of our senior cadets is embarking on a challenging journey as they undertake the Senior Cadet Instructor’s Course. It’s a commendable endeavour that will enhance their leadership skills and inspire others.
As we approach the half-term break, we eagerly await the return of our cadets to school. The past term has been packed with exciting activities, and we’re looking forward to the adventures and growth that the future holds.
Hospitality and Catering
The students have been working hard on pasta making techniques in year ten and making a tasty seasonal Autumn treat in year nine. Year Ten were superb in raising the game with the pasta, not simply using the machine but filling the pasta and creating the tortellini shapes like professional chefs. They have done incredibly well with this and are really focused on competing to see who has produced the tastiest pasta and most perfect shape. Meanwhile the nines focused on creating some apple crumble tarts that were simply delicious and looked incredible. A big well done to you all!
Sports Science with Miss Felton
This week Miss Felton’s Sports Science class have been focussing on working towards analysing their fitness scores and stating how their strengths and weaknesses impact them in their chosen two sports.
They have worked incredibly hard and the coursework produced so far absolutely reflects this. Well done to all of those in 10B Sport!!
Art with Mrs Lithgow
Mrs Lithgow has had a busy week completing messy practical tasks with years 9 and 10. Year 9 have successfully completed their first artist pages on Fernand Leger leading on from their colour mixing and theory lessons. A number of students, including Rebecca Quarshie, Millie Swift and Bella Blatchford, have shown a creative eye for presentation and care and control in their handling of paint. Year 10 have produced their first responses inspired by the artist Jan Brewerton. They have designed and produced linocuts using photographs of their own domestic spaces, pets and objects from their hobbies as their subject matter. All students, including Emily Meloy, Stephen Byrne, Agata Sadlik and Sonny Paton were thoughtful in their design work and printed with care. Perseverance was demonstrated by Olivia Hosking, Kyla Ridgewell and Abigail Mealin who overcame frustrations during the cutting and printing process to achieve fantastic prints.
Maths competition
Science Club
Two weeks ago we had the first science club session where students had a look at a range of loud and colourful reactions involving a range of elements. The students were great at investigating the different coloured effects of the metal salts used and created some incredible results!
Year 11 Core PE
In Core PE, Year 11 have had the opportunity to develop their golf skills. Utilising the expert skills of Dan Leins from Churston Golf Course, we are running a block of sessions to help boys and girls get ready to play on a local course!
Careers Focus of the Week
Today (Friday 20th October) is known as “International Chef’s Day”. Every year, chefs around the world are celebrated for their hard work, passion and dedication this fast-paced profession requires. Starting in 2004, International Chef’s Day focuses on bringing education, competition, networking and sustainability to attention in the world of cooking.
Students at TA are very fortunate to have dedicated ‘food technology’ lessons, which they can take further at GCSE level with Food, Hospitality and Catering. This then enables them to progress and study qualifications in Hospitality & Catering, Professional Cookery or to the Michael Caines Academy. University courses include Nutrition, Food & Beverage Studies and Agriculture which can lead to careers as a chef, catering manager, food technologist, nutritionist or dietician to name a few!
We are very fortunate and proud of our budding chefs here at Torquay Academy. Some of whom are pictured below on their Work Experience placements at the end of Year 10 last term.
English with Mr Crow
This week, Mr Crow’s Year 9 class completed their second essay of the term. They have been considering the transformation of the farm in Animal Farm from a place of idealism and revolutionary fervour, to a place corrupted by erosion of equality and the growth of totalitarian violence and intimidation. We have been considering how the author’s intentions section of the essay can be developed, which has focused on combining relevant contextual details with a more personal consideration of why the thematic preoccupations of the text still matter to a contemporary reader. This raised some intelligent discussion regarding ruthless ambition, the corruptive influence of positions of power, and humanity’s predilection for violence. These conclusions might suggest we are ready for the half-term break…
Students of the Week
Year 7 – Benjamin Cowie and Isabelle Leech
Year 9 – Lottie Roberts and Harry Paull
Year 11 – James Lovell and Emily Chamberlain
Sixth Form – Maddy Brewer and Penny Richards
U14 National Schools
On Tuesday our Yr 9 netball academy squad played in the National Schools competition. The girls came across some incredibly experienced teams but that did not deter them, and their efforts and resilience they displayed on court were infallible.
After three losses in the first three matches the girls continued to dig deep, maintaining their efforts on court and worked well together to gain a win. They defended hard through the court and won some fantastic interceptions. Together with some lovely attacking drives this enabled them to take a 3-1 win over Coombeshead. All the netball academy girls represented TA to the highest level, and should be very proud of themselves. Your netball academy coaches are so proud and are looking forward to seeing you progress as a squad.
TA V TGGS 1-22 Coaches Player: Matilda Oppositions Player: Chloe
TA V CFGS 0-24 Coaches Player: Ellie Oppositions Player: Larna
TA V NAC 0-22 Coaches Player: Maisie Oppositions Player: Chloe
TA V Coombeshead 3-1 Coaches Player: Larna Oppositions Player: Larna
TA V Teign 1-17 Coaches Player: Lora Oppositions Player: Larna
Overall Coaches Player went to Ellie Farthing and Players Player went to Chloe German and Matilda Stevens.
Team: Maisie Sandercock, Lora Cadman, Frankie Skelly, Matilda Stevens, Ashleigh Evans, Connie Kinghorn, Chloe German©, Larna Waller, Millie Swift, Ellie Farthing, Phoebe Smith, Kelsey Drew.
Selected for Devon
Congratulations to Neeve, Farrah and Leela who were all selected to play for Devon against Cornwall.
Sixth Form Netball Academy v PETROC College
(Write Up by Mia Denby, Sixth Form Netball Academy Captain)
The Sixth Form Netball Academy had our 2nd game of the season last Wednesday and it was a well fought match.
Quarter 1: After an unfortunate injury in the warm up, the team quickly concentrated on the game ahead. We turned over multiple sections of play but unfortunately not every one resulted in a goal. However, we scored some very good goals and were all focusing on coming ball side to receive a pass.
Quarter 2: Coming into quarter two, losing to a strong PETROC side, we knew we had to keep up our play and minimise any avoidable errors. Unfortunately, the opposition were quicker to loose balls meaning that they took the opportunity to further their score. However, our attack remained calm and put in some very good shots.
Quarter 3: This quarter was definitely our power quarter! Through court, every girl demonstrated man on man defence and arms over the ball meaning that we managed to close the large gap that left us losing 20-10 at the end of the second quarter. Our attack remained calm, recognising their defence were eager to win the ball or any rebounds and put up some more impressive shots.
Quarter 4: With our pressure clearly starting to take effect on PETROC through court, we forced many errors and held balls. We put up a strong defence through to the last minute with the final score being 26-23.
This did not feel like a loss to us as we have shown that when we focus, we have the ability to turn a game around. It was so unfortunate that we ran out of time as we could definitely feel the win coming! Well done everybody!
Year 8 Football
Year 8 Boys Rugby CVL @ TBGS
On Thursday, we played Spires, TBGS, Churston and Cuthbert. W=2, D=1, L=1.
It was an afternoon of tremendous effort from all the boys with some great rugby on show. We dug deep to beat TBGS in a very close game and also beat Cuthbert. We then drew with Spires in another well fought contest 2-2 and ended up eventually losing to Churston by one try. Outstanding all round effort from the boys.
Year 9 Football
The Year 9 team put in another outstanding performance on Tuesday, to progress further in the National Cup. We dominated possession, territory and chances from the very first minute and should have scored from our very first corner after 30 seconds. However, it was Exmouth who struck first with a wonder goal, after hitting us on the counter attack. Our resilience was amazing, as going down simply galvanised us to get back into the game. It wasn’t long before we were level through Toby Waring and then ahead through Kiel Mortimer. The second half continued in a similar manner, with us attacking down both flanks and through the middle at will. We went 3-1 ahead when Ben Jolly scored and it was soon 4-1 after a driving run from Miko Piasecki set up Mason Bryant who was fouled inside the box. Thomas Ross cooly put us 4-1 up with a tidy finish from the spot before Kiel added his second and our fifth to wrap up the game. The whole squad were absolutely brilliant, and with their current level of work rate on top of their collective ability, we can beat anyone on our day.
Year 10 Football
Unfortunately the under 15 boys team crashed out of the elite national cup on Thursday. The team fell to a 4-1 defeat to a very strong Ivybridge side. The TA side started slowly and were caught like rabbits in the headlights. The pleasing thing is that the side won the second half 1-0 and there was plenty of positives to take from the game.
Year 7 Rugby Inner Cluster
The year 7 boys rugby team showed how much progress they have made in a week with an excellent set of performances at the Paignton Central Venue League Competition on Tuesday. The boys were unbeaten all afternoon, with 3 wins and 1 draw!
6th Form Football vs Colyton
6th Form Football vs Callywith
House Students of the Week
Year 7
Brunel – Izzie Mildren
Christie – Rosie Bevan
Darwin – Rudy Abdulla
Fawcett – Joshua Lucas
Harrison – Giovanni Vaio
Kitson – Casie Howell
Nearne – Jacob Wakefield
Pengelly – Esme Poole
Year 8
Christie – Chloe-Mae Jones
Darwin – Leon Snell
Fawcett – Scarlett Connolly
Kitson – Sanje Hoxha
Nearne – Alfie Spicer
Pengelly – Samuel Sanders
Year 9
Brunel – Liam Anthony
Christie – Lauren Tanton
Darwin – Joe Boyce
Harrison – Hannah Brazier
Kitson – Adam Copping
Nearne – Imogen Symonds
Pengelly – Amy Rogers
Homework Students of the Week
Year 7
Brunel – Katie Stevens
Christie – Edward Huxtable
Darwin – Bobby Joint
Fawcett – Freja Mcelkenny
Harrison – Poppi Jones
Kitson – Toryn Bond
Nearne – Chase Morgan
Pengelly – Freya Dale
Year 8
Christie – Harry Lee
Darwin – Daisy Board
Fawcett – Louie Leighton
Kitson – Annie Aldous
Pengelly – George Viediernikov
Year 9
Brunel – Oliver Welsh
Christie – Freya Coatesworth
Darwin – Grace Green
Fawcett – Aliviya Lawrence
Harrison – Kelsey Drew
Kitson – Ethan Lynch
Nearne – Mason Mitchell
Pengelly – Josh Parkinson
Sparx Leaderboards – top 10 students’ XP points so far this year
Tassomai Leaderboards
University offers
| Student | University | Course |
| Maddy Brewer | Cardiff University | English Literature |
| Tyler-James Nunn | University of Plymouth | Biological Sciences |
| Alan Kumiega | University of Bristol | Mechanical engineering |
| Maddy Brewer | University of York | English |
| Kelsey Hawkings | Cardiff University | Law |
