Last 16 in England, Dance-off and new sports kit

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Funday Friday

This week Funday Friday was a dance-off held in the platform. Hosted by Mr Jones, who was acting like he was on an audition to be a redcoat, our students performed some incredible dances to a packed theatre.  It was very loud and very fun! The first winner of our dance-off was Sonny Jackson in year eight, who perform to Michael Jackson dances. We look forward to next week’s event.

New sports kit

We have partnered with VX3 To provide us with sports teams kits for all sports across the school. A new bespoke design has been created that all of our teams will wear.  On Thursday our students got their first glimpse of our new kits as VX3 came into school to shoot a video of our boys and girls in action. They managed to take some incredible footage inside however it was a complete washout outdoors and they will come back next week to complete the filming. I look forward to sharing with you some better photographs of the students in the kits and the video when it is completed.

Grade 2 Acting for Lila-May!

Lila-May Harrington has been preparing for the last 4 months, under the direction of our visiting acting coach, Anthony Chamberlain, for her Grade 2 LAMDA Performance Exam. We were delighted to learn this week that Lila-May had not only passed Grade 2 but had passed with the highest honours possible, a distinction!

Lila-May had to perform two drama pieces to a visiting examiner and was marked on her use of voice, stage presence and ability to create and sustain characters.

Lila-May has done very well to get to Grade 2 so quickly just 4 months after taking Grade 1. Congratulation Lila-May, we look forward to hearing about your preparations for Grade 3!

Cadet News

Following on from a very successful launch of the Torquay Academy CCF this is Sargent Stu Sparks presenting John Brett the Contingent Commander with his Flight Lieutenant Rank slides. The cadet unit goes from strength to strength with some successful fundraising and one Flight Simulator is about to be purchased as a result. Sargent Cawood and 2 other Cadets where on the Sea Front on Boxing Day (that cold, wet and very windy day) and went into the sea for the Boxing day dip to help raise the profile and raise some much needed money to make the second simulator a reality.   If you would like to donate, please visit the link below :
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/TorquayAcademyRAFCCF?utm_term=eddzJJq3m

If there is a parent or business who would like to sponsor a Flight simulator we would be really interested to hear from you. Much of the pre flight training will be carried out on these devices so they are a real necessity in improving the experiences of the Cadets when they go for their Air Experience Flights . These are being planned at the moment and soon we will have names and dates. The cadets will find out tonight and I expect that there will be some really excited cadets leaving school tonight after parade.

Year 11 Food Tech

Our Year 11s  Are preparing for their practical exam next week.  Today Mrs Harris showed the students how to strip all of the meat from a chicken and prepare a beautiful curry. When I arrived in the classroom I was bombarded with questions from the students asking me about how old a chicken is when slotted, different cuts of meat, why chicken meat is a particular colour in the supermarket etc.  I would like to wish all of the students good luck next week.

Team TA Sports Roundup

Year 7 into the last 16 ESFA National Cup

On Tuesday we travelled to Weston Super Mare to face Worle Community College in the English Schools National Cup, due to all the bad weather the game was played on their 3G astro turf rather than a very wet grass pitch which helped the game flow with two good sides wanting to play attractive football. We started the first half with the wind behind us and looked strong in possession creating chances early on, Worles centre back and our striker Amari had a great battle in the first half but after 20 minutes Amari got the better of him to run through and put us into the lead. We then took control of the game with Sam bossing the midfield and our back 3 dominating to take us into half time 2-0 up with a further goal from Amari.

The second half Worle came at us with everything for the first 10 minutes but we stayed solid and defended well as a team. Liam was a rock at the back and when in possession he started our attacks with his great vision and range of passing.

With Worle pushing for a goal we were always going to get opportunities from a counter attack and that is what happened for our next two goals, Amari broke free for his hat trick and Finley done the same two minutes later. We were now 4-0 up with minutes to go.  The final 5 minutes the rain and wind was horrible and affected the games quality, Worle had their final push and scored from a great shot from the edge of the box to get on the scoresheet. In the final minutes of the games Harry beat his man out wide to then hit his shot into the top corner to finish the game off with a 5-1 win.
This group of players continue to get better and I am excited to see how far we can go in the national cup, lets see who’s next in the last 16

Post 16 Stay Top of the League

After our 8-2 win against Yeovil College on Wednesday we still top the table with 3 games left to go. It was a comfortable win which could have been more if we were more ruthless with our chances.  Our goal scorers were Josh Parry with 3, Ethan Slater with 3 and Jamie Passmore with 2  Both of Yeovil’s goals came from soft penalties to deny us another clean sheet.

These final 3 weeks are very busy with the league coming to an end, we also have a cup game in Coventry next week in the ECFA National cup so their focus has to be as strong as ever. The boys know what they need to do and we are confident we can keep our run going. The squad have put themselves in a great position to achieve something amazing that doesn’t come along many times in a player’s lifetime, they have done all the hard work to get here and now have to stick together to see it through, exciting times ahead.

Year 7 Dance

On Wednesday the year 7 girls went away to Paignton for their first-ever dance fixture. The aim of the day was to work on different Olympic Values and work together as a team whilst creating a dance from scratch. The girls did extremely well and with being the largest group there they did themselves proud. They created a 2 minute dance all their own and performed it with confidence in front of a range of other schools. Every single person did a fantastic job by communicating and listening to each other’s ideas. Well done, girls.

Basketball

This week for the first time in a number of years we were able to field a sixth from basketball team to play in a friendly match v KEVICC. Made up of boys from the football development programme we were able to use the experiences learned on the football field to good effect on the court.  The game itself was fast-paced and end to end. It was obvious that some of our players had played a bit of basketball in the past and they were able to lead the rest of the players. The passing skills demonstrated by our boys were outstanding considering the lack of training and we were able to come out eventual winners 43-37, but more importantly on this occasion was the enjoyment both teams got from the game. Well done: Matt Roberts, Josh Parry, Alfie Tucker, Cole Harford, Jamie Passmore, Jason Ahoulo, Toby Green and Nick Turner (Year 11)

Girls Football

Our Under 18 girls travelled to Millfield this week to play in their fourth-round National Cup game. Whilst the result did not go in our favour the girls had a fantastic experience, learned a lot and were an absolute credit to the school. There is no doubt that with more experience of match play these girls will develop more over the rest of the season and will come into their own next year. Well done girls.

TA in pictures

Thursday night gave us a wonderful sunset!

Students of the Week

Students of the week with me this week are: Mya Edralin, Jade Rusby, Indi Johnson, Xavier Rodwell, Ben German, Mitchell Watkins

Principal Certificates

Bronze (not in order) Aliyah Davey, Lucy Mangan-Smale, Joshua Kenneford, Daniel Thomas, Shaun Pinto, Olivia Kirby, Lewis Ralph, Rquib Shamim, Mia Langley-Doyle, Jamie Quin, Merissa Farrington, Alfie Walker-Fenner, Serena Iordache, Kole Gjikolaj, Oliver Waring, Codie James, Tyler Silvester, Emily Coates, Kexia Stanley

Silver: (not in order) Rebecca Glasson, Summer Connolly, Lexi Silvester, Daisy Gibbings, Esme Brabon, Hollie Hand

House Stars of the Week

Year 7

Brunel – Illiana Lidstone

Christie – Huxtable, Oliver

Darwin – Luca Cronje

Fawcett –  Daisy Gibbings

Harrison – Lacie Benson

Kitson – Marcus Jenkins

Nearne – Amari Hadley

Pengelly – Jake Pettit

Year 8

Brunel – Harrison Clarke

Christie – Ben Puddicombe

Darwin – Dylan White

Fawcett – William Harrison

Harrison – Ellie Mae Mitchell

Kitson – Kai Alexander

Nearne – Heidi Wright

Pengelly – Grace Povey

Year 9

Brunel –

Christie – Max Grimley

Darwin – Will Dowell

Fawcett –  Lila-May Harrington

Harrison –  Lila Nyari

Kitson – Troy Riley

Nearne – Lydia Ladd

Pengelly – Holly Smith

Homework Stars of the Week

Year 7

Brunel – Taylor Holton

Christie – Alfie Slater

Darwin – Dudley Tarrant

Fawcett – Logan Churchward

Harrison – Enrika Vasiliauskaite

Kitson –  Amalia Mihai

Nearne –

Pengelly –

Year 8

Brunel –

Christie – James Scrimgeour

Darwin – Vincent Poyton

Fawcett – Aidan Stapleton

Harrison – Abigail Taylor

Kitson – Emily Philips

Nearne – Nikita Howells

Pengelly – Millie Randall

Year 9

Brunel –

Christie – Poppy Holloway

Darwin –

Fawcett – Harry Bowden

Harrison –

Kitson – David Waddington

Nearne – Max Gamble

Pengelly – Tyler James Nunn