Jubilee Cake, Girls' Athletics and CCF crack shots

Listen

Platinum Jubilee Cake Competition

A wonderful result for our Year 9 students who represented TA in the Jubilee Cake Competition at Exeter College. The three students, Sophie Packer, Bella Lester and Emily Chamberlain, worked tirelessly on the days leading up to the event, staying after school to bake and decorate the cake. Sophie even created macarons at the base of the cake to show further skills and depth of flavour.  After transporting the cake, which was a stressful journey for Mr Chadwick, who had to ensure the cake was not damaged in any way, the students placed the wonderful cake on the podium and waited for the judging to begin.

We were up against nine other schools from Devon and judged by the Lieutenant of Devon and the very famous Michelin star chef Sir Michael Caines. We knew it was going to be a very close call as all the entries were fabulous. And so the announcement … We came third and the girls were presented with a lovely plate, tickets to several outdoor family attractions and a complimentary dinner.

We are super proud of their achievement and in the way they represented TA, impeccably mannered, polite and extremely supportive of the winners. Well done!

Cracking shot!

Both the RAF and Army Cadets paraded on Wednesday afternoon to carry out several training sessions.

The RAF cadets continue their advanced Drill skills and leadership tasks. Both elements bring together skills, communication, non-verbal communication, leadership, giving instructions, problem-solving and planning to name a few.

A visit to a local rifle range enabled some cadets to handle and fire a selection of air rifles. Some marksmanship principles were demonstrated, but the competitive spirit won the day. Well done to LCpl Chloe Dance who consistently got the closest to the centre of the target.

The final planning is complete for the RAF summer camp, which will be taking place in Windermere from 10 to 15th July.

The Army cadets are continuing to learn about the cadet structure and military ethos, discipline and standards.  We are preparing to issue the cadets with Army Uniform which will involve understanding how to maintain and wear with pride.

We are looking forward to the next cadet session where the British Army engagement team will be at school.

Mrs Broome’s geography classes

Geography is a fantastic subject for many reasons, with one being the opportunity for students to gain an understanding of the world around them. Year 7 are currently learning about Weather and Climate where they get to ask questions such as: ‘Why does it rain?’, ‘Why is it so hot at the Equator?’ and the unit concludes with a small fieldwork enquiry in the school grounds studying microclimates.

Year 7s have shown a clear understanding of five factors which impact weather and climate. 7T8 and 7T9 considered the five key factors in detail and they used these to work out why the UK, despite being on the same latitude as Canada and Russia, has a very different climate! They realised that it was a combination of the warm Gulf Stream originating near Mexico that travels towards us along with the SW prevailing wind direction and the fact we are isolated by the sea, which means that it is much warmer here. Some of the students were disappointed that we don’t have more snow here! The photos show some of the excellent work and explanations that the students have been studying. The class demonstrated that they had made good progress on the concepts in the “check for understanding” tasks which occur at various points during the lesson.

The Year 13 A level students have been busy revising for their paper 2 examinations this week and have worked tirelessly to ensure that they were able to tackle the 20 mark questions in the Regenerating Places and Migration, Identity and Sovereignty sections. The year 13s have been revising the current global issue of contested borders, using Russia and Ukraine as one of their examples. They have ensured that they have engaged with the news reports to have an up to date perspective, as well as looking at the previous tensions with the annexation of Crimea. They have also looked at the impact of civil unrest in Rwanda between the Tutsis and Hutus, in which they have studied a long-lasting conflict

E-Safety at Tubers

The Year 7s continue with their weekly visit to Tubers.  This week they had fun making a challenge video together in the studio and learning about online safety.  They had a great group discussion about what it means to be safe online whilst the students gave examples of their own experiences

Mrs Schwarz’s Year 7 & 8 Maths

For some, an abstract subject like maths can be hard when there is nothing to visualise. Mrs Schwarz’s classes, as do all of our classes, use a lot of manipulatives to help represent the maths that we are doing.  The year 7s are currently doing a formal introduction to algebra and they have used Cuisenaire rods to practice using unknowns and to learn the algebraic conventions.

In Year 8 they have been looking at volume and surface area of 3D shapes and have used multilink to help with our understanding.

Pengelly House – Student Hobbies and Interests

In the final instalment of this series, Miss Risk have been interviewing Pengelly students regarding their interests outside school. Once again, she have come across an outstanding array of passion and achievement, showing what well-rounded individuals we have here at Torquay Academy.

James Bond is fast becoming a skilled rugby player. His father was a rugby fan and chose this sport for James who has participated since the age of six. The rugby season runs from August to April and James trains twice a week during this period, with a weekly match following one of the training sessions. Although James has won many tournaments and medals with his team, his proudest moment came when he was honoured with the Rugby Shield in 2018. This prestigious award is given to the player who has contributed most to the success of the team. I am sure we will hear more of James’ sporting success in the future.

Josh Parkinson is also a good all-round sportsman. As well as having just been signed for Torquay United Youth Team, his favoured sport is triathlon. Miss Risk had never really thought much about the logistics of this sport before and Josh was able to supply me with plenty of information. The triathlon involves: swimming 16 lengths, cycling four laps of a circuit and running one of two kilometres at the end. James wears a tri-suit for this, which dries once he leaves the pool and his trainers and helmet are waiting by his bike. At present, Josh’s personal best is just under an hour which is pretty impressive for three different sports all in one go.

Chloe German is a very talented and experienced Irish dancer. She first developed an interest in this particular form of dance when witnessing a performance at a talent show whilst on holiday.  Something about the style just appealed to her. There are four levels in Irish dancing and Chloe is at the top of her game in the ‘open’ category. She explained to Miss Risk about the clothing required for Irish dancing; a dancer wears: poodle socks, light or heavy shoes (depending on the type of dance being performed) and beautiful velvet dresses which can cost as much as £1,000! Chloe has been extremely successful in this field thus far, having won 12 trophies and 17 medals which she proudly displays in her bedroom.

Finally, Malachi Morris is both a member of an orchestra and a street-dancing troupe. He has been playing the clarinet for two years having received the instrument as a birthday present. The clarinet is a fairly unusual instrument for a younger person to play, but Malachi informs us that there are three clarinet players in the South Devon Music Orchestra in which he performs. All members have a favourite musical piece and Malachi’s preference is ‘The Great Escape’, which allows him to produce some really high notes.  Malachi is also a talented street dancer. This is partly due to the fact that he is double-jointed – something he did not know about himself until he fell and twisted his arm right around. Miss Risk and the other students she interviewed this week, watched in awe as Malachi contorted himself into some impressive shapes to demonstrate his flexibility. The dance group rehearses every Wednesday and whilst there are five members, Malachi is always positioned at the front!

Hopsitality and Catering

This week students in years 9 and 10 have been focusing on creating a wholesome and delicious meat lasagne where they had to make the lasagne sheets from scratch, produce a cheese sauce and create the meat filling. The variety of skills demonstrated was huge as they had to focus on making a roux, kneading and rolling out the pasta dough and the meaty filling. Students rose to the challenge and said it was one of the tastiest dishes they had ever made!

Year 8 Star Readers

Congratulations to the following students who have achieved their bronze Star Reading certificate for successfully tracking their reading for four weeks and attempting an Accelerated Reader book quiz: Leah Hope 8H and Gabrielle Buys 8B.

Congratulations to the following students who have achieved their silver Star Reading certificate for successfully tracking their reading for eight weeks and attempting two Accelerated Reader book quizzes: Oliver Coleman 8K and Dean Conway 8C.

Congratulations to the following students who have achieved their gold Star Reading certificate for successfully tracking their reading for 16 weeks and attempting four  Accelerated Reader book quizzes: Olivia Hosking 8H, Lyra Bowstead 8P, Eve Cameron 8B and Ben Phillips 8N.

Girls’ Athletics success

Miss Lewis took four Year 7 & 8 athletes to Torquay Girls Grammar School on Monday to compete in a local area athletics tournament. Francesca Skelly, Keeley Little, Isabelle Moxham and Lydia Bevan competed against Year 9 pupils from Teign School, Newton Abbot College and Torquay Girls Grammar School.

The girls made a strong team with Keeley coming 1st in the 100m sprint, finishing with a time of 13.3 seconds. Isabelle came 1st in the 200m race, finishing with a time of 30 seconds. Francesca came 2nd in the 200m race, finishing with a time of 30.7 seconds and Lydia came 1st in the 1500m race, finishing with a time of 5:49.

The final event of the day was the 4x100m relay with our TA girls finishing 1st in a time of 1 minute. Overall, each individual represented the school to a high standard and were excellent ambassadors for girls’ athletics.

Year 10 Rounders CVL Tournament @ Stover

On Thursday the Y10 Rounders team competed in a Central Venue League Tournament held at Stover. They had three games in total and played Churston Grammar School, Newton Abbott College and Kingsbridge Community College. The girls faced three very strong teams and narrowly missed out on securing a place in the semi finals. Player of the day was Robyn Mitchell for some great hits and an unbelievable catch – well done, Robyn. Overall, the girls played fantastically well and are only getting stronger! Brilliant effort, girls!

 

We Got Game – Summer Girls’ Cricket Delivery

This week we were fortunate to enough to receive the support of Ann-Marie Presswell (Women and Girls’ Development Officer) to start our summer cricket for girls in Years 7 and 8. Ann-Marie will be joining us regularly throughout the remaining term to cover basic skills and gameplay which leads to a competition at the end. The girls really enjoyed their sessions this week.

Governor’s Platinum Certificates

Year 7 – Samuel Johns, Ben Jeffs and Ellie Farthing

Governor’s Gold Certificates

Year 7 – Matilda Stevens, Amelia Rose and Oliver Cocker

Governor’s Silver Certificates

Year 7 – Millie Swift, Daisy Hellier, Cody Cave, Olivia Murr and Rebecca Quarshie

Year 8 – Benjamin Watts, William Jackson, Joe Taylor, Laila Heavens

Governor’s Bronze Certificates

Year 7 – Freya Coatesworth, Susie Lester, Oskar Demkowski, Jason Mewett, Sunny Long, ellen Scott, Nya Bettridge, Leon O’Connor, Lauren Tanton, Joselyn Full, Mia Lawrence, Nikkita Hookway, Darcey Mellish and Aaron Saunders

Year 9 –  Ella McLachlan Elliot Lawton, Mitchell Watkins, Emily Graham, Finn Mallen and Taylor Holton

Year 10 – Phoebe Lown

Principal’s Gold Certificates

Year 7 – Francesca Skelly, Ethan Lynch, Evie Alford, Maisie Sandercock, Olly Payne, Emilee Payne, Bailey Heaward and Libbie Grindling

Year 8 – Alfie Mahoney -Billis and Faith Batham

Year 9 – Melvin page, Kieran Taylor. Elliot Lawton, Mitchell Watkins, Elise Pile, kaitlin Wright, Maxwell Lee, Rebecca Glasson, Emily Miller, Ellis Stuckey, Jasmine Evans, Henry McManus, Evie Reece, Isabelle Davis, Ruby Denison, Ollie Clarke and Abby Green

Year 10 – Sophie George,Jemima HoltSophie George, Jamie Dyer, Amy Wilson and Steve Fitzpatrick

Principal’s Silver Certificates

Year 7 – Holly Mae Robinson, Dylan Parker, Benjamin Houghton, Charlie Wise and Zak Turner

Year 8 – Ivy Hodgson-Hunt, Diego Zulhayir, Rayan Nafim, Sara Santos Martins, Amelie Berriman and Lydia Bevan

Year 9 – Jake Green, Isabella Aguado- Georgian, Aleah Coombes, Karl Burton, Sajor Camara. Oliver Keating, Nikola Drygiel, Maddy Fairhurst, Kara Wills, Kevin Vieira, Chloe Brown, Ivan Vaplak, Alfie Wildy, Olivia Kirby, Harry Russell, James Lovell, Rhys Phillips, Lewis Ralph, Brooke McKenna, Shanice Rees, Taylor Reynolds, Dylan Nock, Alfie Walker-Fenner, Thomas Pattison and Jessica Taylorson

Year 10 – Charlie Pope, Lenny Toomey, William Reed, Joel Copping, Ben German, Oakley Hayes, Karolina Lagodzinska and Lily- Rae Hooper

Principal’s Bronze Certificates

Year 7 – Ellie Mildren

Year 9 – Alfie Slater, Mollie Macfie-Jones, Riley Batten, Elise Pile, Wiktoria Pachalska, Tyrone Ross,Karl Burton, Skye Williams, James Ferris, Jarad Silk, Ryan Hooper, Cameron Sturtridge, Alex McDowell, Jake Pettit, Oly Jackson, Lacie Benson, Grace Dicken, Tyler-Jay Stirling, Bella Lester, Elliot Mills, Marcus Jenkins, Amalia Mihai, Harvey Thomas, Klaudia Opel, Daniel Thomas, Jayden Langhorn, Oliver Boyce, Roberta Bankes-Fay, Alex Harvey-Jones, Olivia McCormack and Megan Sellick

Year 10 – Lenny Toomey, Oliver Mcmullen, Tyler Bayliss, William harrison Harrison, Shannon Adamson.Benjamin McCarthy, OliverLucas, Samuel Sherwood, layla Batten, Ruby Trewin, Courtney Stevens, Kai Alexander, Kye Wren and Amy Hoskin

Students of the Week

Year 7 – Farrah Ambrose and Barnaby George

Year 9 – Beatrice Corline and Elliot Lawton

Year 10 – Jasmine Huxtable and Evan Kinghorn

House Stars of the Week

Year 7

Brunel – George O’Hanlon

Christie – Scarlett Huxtable

Darwin – Hamish Herring

Fawcett – Connie Kinghorn

Harrison – Ethan Anyon

Nearne – Mason Bryant

Pengelly – James Bond

Year 8

Christie – Joe Taylor

Darwin – Sara Santos-Martins

Fawcett – Abigail Mealin

Harrison – Lucas Spriggs

Kitson – Jessica Mitchell

Pengelly – Paige Clements

Year 9

Christie – Jacob Tarr

Fawcett – Fearne Harby

Harrison – Kian George

Kitson – Amalia Mihai

Nearne – Sam Hext

Homework Stars of the Week

Year 7

Christie – Scarlett Lacey

Darwin – Matilda Stevens

Fawcett – Oliver Cocker

Harrison – Jack Slater

Nearne – Holly Mae Robinson

Pengelly – Mia Lawrence

Year 8

Christie – Ema Kestell

Darwin – Adam Wright

Fawcett – Billy Wilcox

Harrison – Toby Forrester-Finney

Kitson – Jemimah Jones

Pengelly – Gregg Hindom

Year 9

Christie – Elliott Lawton

Harrison – Joe Hosking

Kitson – Harry Hollomby

Nearne – Kevin Vieira

Pengelly – Alex McDowell

Sparx Leaderboards

Accelerated Reader Leaderboards