National Champions, World Netball and Swimming
Robotics National Champions!
Congratulations to our Year 7 Robotics Team who have been crowned Tomorrow’s Engineers Robotics Challenge National Champions this week! This is the second time we have been fortunate enough to win the championship having last held the trophy in 2019. This is a highly prestigious competition with more than 400 schools and 5000 school children aged between 11 and 14 years old taking part each year.
We left before dawn on 21st June (the longest day of the year in more ways than one!) to travel to the Birmingham NEC where the competition was being held as part of the Big Bang – an annual event showcasing the pinnacle of developments in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM).
The competition comprises four key elements: a robot design presentation, robot mat challenge, teamwork challenge and speed & control challenge.
Those of you who read our previous blog post will know that we thought we had missed out on the national final. Gremlins in our speed robot caused us to fail to score in the speed & control element of the competition thus dropping us down the rankings in the regional heats. Nevertheless, judges were so impressed with the overall performance of our team that we were later awarded a wildcard entry through to the finals. Having experienced what we thought was defeat, the wildcard news gave us a renewed hunger for success and really drove the team to pull out all the stops for the final!
Students practised diligently in our dedicated ‘Robotics Zone’ within the Enterprise Learning Area before and after school for hours in the build up to the national final. During these sessions students honed and refined their coding and robot designs. This attention to detail made all the difference. The glitches that had plagued our speed robot were well and truly ironed out – so much so that we actually won this part of the competition outright! We were so pleased to win this award – a real tale of redemption – yet better news was still to come.
Our team had the highest overall points tally of the thirty six schools that qualified for the national final by scoring consistently highly in all aspects of the competition and we were once again announced National Champions!
Well done to Poppy, Emily, Riain, Matthew, Ben, Alfie, Oliver and Ivan who each played an important role individually to achieve collective success – congratulations to you all!
DofE Bronze Qualifying Expedition
Last weekend 28 Year 9 students attended their DofE Bronze expedition. After weeks of planning routes, being trained in campcraft skills and attending a Practice Expedition, the students were finally tackling the real thing! And hopefully getting their Expedition section signed off.
Saturday morning came and 4 of the 6 teams met Mr Brett and Mr Adams at school bright and early at 8.30. Kit had already been loaded onto one of the minibuses the previous evening and they promptly set off for Bantham beach car park. Mr Adams gave out kit at Bantham and set the teams off on their routes whilst Mr Brett drove back to TA to pick up the other two teams for 1045.
Teams were following their own route cards and maps that they had planned. Leaving the start point at Bantham with full rucksacks, the teams had been briefed that they must leave the coast path at least once in order to test their navigation skills. One of the group’s routes put this instruction to the immediate test! They chose to walk back into Bantham Village and find a footpath outside the village that led to Thurlestone. Little did they realise that the footpath ran through a farmyard! Thinking that they would not be allowed to go through the farmyard, they spent time looking for where the footpath might be. Despite this difficulty encountered, they managed to reroute themselves and get back on track. Good resourcefulness was shown and all part of the DofE Expedition fun – getting lost and finding yourselves!
Each of the teams needed to be on the expedition for 6 hours on each day. Walking in 25 degree plus heat and constant sunshine, some of the groups found the going tough. Four of the groups, despite the heat, managed to make the campsite at Higher Rew Farm, Salcombe, either in the required 6 hours or a bit over. Unfortunately, two of the teams, having got lost at various points of the day, ended up taking 8 hours to get into camp. However, they were still in good spirits and got on with setting up tents and cooking their meals on the gas stoves without complaint. A variety of culinary delights were cooked, ranging from one group’s tasty-looking pasta carbonara to another team’s offering of boiled burgers!
After a good night’s sleep – for some! – the students got their breakfasts cooking on the stoves, washed up and took down tents. After some time looking at their routes for Day 2 the teams went off in staggered starts. The first two teams that set off had ambitions to get to Start Point, so they were away before 8.30am. A journey of approximately 16km beckoned – after the previous day’s 12km walk! The other teams were more focused on the teamwork and fun element of the DofE Expedition and had set themselves an endpoint at East Prawle, still a challenging distance.
The first two teams to set off, one an all-girl team and the other all-boys but both containing students that had participated in this year’s Ten Tors. They showed their determination and fitness by completing their journey in almost exactly 6 hours. A phenomenal achievement! In addition to these, Team 3 made up of five girls from the Performing Arts Academy, also managed to make it to Start Point in 7.5 hours, despite one of their team having got bad sunburn the previous day and the others feeling aches and pains from the first day. Again fantastic resilience and determination shown by our students. These three teams are the first teams in 4 years to have managed to reach Start Point on Day 2 of the Bronze Qualifying Expedition!
All the teams excelled in different ways and each met challenges head on, with some of the students having never done anything like this before. Route cards were created to a very high level of detail, teams were creative and organised in their meal planning, excellent teamwork and support was observed in all teams, and each and every one of the students gave maximum effort. And they were a credit to themselves and the school, with one lady that Mr Adams met at East Prawle saying ‘what a lovely group of boys (Noah Butler, Ollie Coleman, Lewis Watt, Joe Taylor) I encountered at Start Point. They were polite, well mannered and extremely positive about their school’ Lovely to hear such praise for our students from a member of the public.
Overall a fantastic effort from all involved with our students learning and developing new skills, and building resilience and determination. Thanks to all the staff involved – Mrs Lancaster, Miss Cape, Mrs Schwarz, Mr Brett and Mr Adams, who gave the students so much support and encouragement. Congratulations to the following students in completing their Bronze Expedition: Amy Harrison, Ivy Hodgson-Hunt, Sara Santos-Martins, Agata Sadlik, Olivia Hosking, Poppy Hedworth, Emily Meloy, Leah Hope, Summer Faulkes, Cerys Lowe, Amelie McCaul, Amber Dicken, Emma Matthews, Joe Taylor, Noah Butler, Lewis Watt, Ollie Coleman, Finn Moncrieff, David Wanstall, Owen Ingram, Jacob Crago-Gould, Faith Batham, Alfie Jenneway, Lyra Bowstead, Grace Milloy, Leon Mugliston, Jack Hicks, Ben Phillips.
Well done to you all and perhaps you will take on the challenge of DofE Silver next!
Year 10s prepare for their first English Language PPE
Year 10s are currently sitting their PPEs (pre-public examinations), sometimes called ‘mocks’. At the end of Year 11, students will achieve two English qualifications – Literature and Language. We introduce students to the first Language paper in the summer term of Year 10 and so these PPEs are the first time that they have experienced an English Language GCSE exam.
They have to read an unseen fiction extract and answer questions that test their comprehension, as well as analyse language and structure. They are also tested on their ability to evaluate a statement about the extract. The final question is where they become writers (rather than readers) and they can secure 50% of the overall mark for their own creative writing.
Reactions from my students ranged from ‘It is easier than literature’ to ‘I liked how it made me think about a family in Mexico’ to the profound realisation that ‘creativity was needed’.
Dawlish Warren Trip
On Tuesday the Geography Department took the Year 10 Geographers to Dawlish Warren to conduct their GCSE Physical Fieldwork. Whilst at Dawlish Warren they conducted a Groyne Drop Height Survey, looked at sand dune succession and investigated the different types of coastal management. All of the data collected counts towards their Paper 3 exam next year!
World School Games 2023
The U15 Netball Academy travelled to Loughborough University last Thursday to compete at the World School Games 2023.The 3-day international netball tournament provided our girls with the opportunity to compete against schools from all over the world, including Dubai, Scotland and all across England. Our girls won 5/9 netball games and reached the semi-finals of the U15 Plate competition which concluded us in 3rd place. Miss Lewis and Mrs Westacott are so proud of every student who represented Team TA and the fact that our girls are competing and winning at this level shows how determined and driven they are, but most importantly how they continue to drive Girls’ sport at Torquay Academy. Well done to Lydia Bevan who was voted Player’s Player of the tournament and Summer Connolly and Tammy Westacott who were voted Coaches Player of the Tournament.
U15 Netball Academy: Tammy Westaott (C), Summer Connolly, Lydia Bevan, Brooke Tully, Millie Sneap, Jemimah Jones, Eve Cameron and Amara Phillips
Annual Swimming Gala
Last week saw plain moor swimming centre hosting TA’s annual swimming gala. Year 7 and 8 students competed in 25m and 50m races in a range of strokes. These included front crawl, breaststroke, backstroke and freestyle. Well done to all involved, especially our medal winners shown below. House points will be awarded to all who participated with extra points depending on placement.
Year 7s
| Gold Medallists | Silver Medallists | Bronze Medallist |
| Noah Margetts (Front Crawl) | Alfie Spicer (Front Crawl) | Euan Miller (Front Crawl) |
| Emilia Warner (Front Crawl) | Annie Aldous (Front Crawl) | Monica Wanstall (Front Crawl) |
| Emilia Warner (Breast S) | Annie Aldous (Breast S) | Poppy Bettridge (Breast S) |
| Alfie Spicer (Breast S) | Toby Howell (Breast S) | Noah Margetts (Breast S) |
| Emilia Warner (Back S) | Sienna Welsh (Back S) | Monica Wanstall (Back S) |
| Noah Margetts (Back S) | Alfie Spicer (Back S) | Euan Miller (Back S) |
| Noah Margetts (Free Style) | Alfie Spicer (Free Style) | Euan Miller (Free Style) |
| Emilia Warner (Free Style) | Annie Aldous (Free Style) | Monica Wanstall (Free Style) |
Year 8s
| Gold Medallists | Silver Medallists | Bronze Medallist |
| Emilia Hunt (Front Crawl) | Eden Nelson-Minns (Front Crawl) | Amelia Rose (Front Crawl) |
| Josh Parkinson (Front Crawl) | Toby Waring (Front Crawl) | Lewis Phillips (Front Crawl) |
| Ben Jolly (Breast S) | Josh Parkinson (Breast S) | Toby Waring (Breast S) |
| Emilia Hunt (Breast S) | Eden Nelson-Minns (Breast S) | Amelia Rose (Breast S) |
| Josh Parkinson (Back S) | Toby Waring (Back S) | Ben Jolly (Back S) |
| Emilia Hunt (Back S) | Eden Nelson-Minns (Back S) | Sienna Painter (Back S) |
| Josh Parkinson (Free Style) | Oscar Mills (Free Style) | Lewis Phillips (Free Style) |
| Emilia Hunt (Free Style) | Eden Nelson-Minns (Free Style) | Sienna Painter (Free Style) |
Sport and Dance Leadership
Throughout this term, the Year 9 Sport and Dance students have been working towards their level 1 leadership qualifications. This has involved them learning how to lead before planning and delivering sessions. We have been really impressed with their progress and should hopefully be formally recognised for this at the start of Year 10.
Harry Clarke Success!
Our Year 11 football captain, Harry Clarke has this week started his scholarship with Forest Green Rovers. We are extremely proud of him and wish him all the very best for his future!
Year 7 Cricket
On Tuesday the year 7 boys took on Cuthbert Mayne at cricket. Cuthbert batted first and got off to a steady start with just two runs hit in the first over which was bowled by Thomas Cox. Zak Haridi bowled superbly getting 2 wickets and giving away just one wide in his over. Notable wickets came during Jamie Tully’s, Euan Miller’s and Archie Harman’s overs respectively. But the pick of the bowlers was Noah Margetts, who clean bowled their batter with his first ball and then the second was hit high into the air on the leg side. With Euan waiting patiently underneath it Noah ran across to claim the caught and bowled whilst bundling Euan out of the way in the process, doing well to hold on to the catch in the melee of limbs and bodies on the floor after the collision! The opposition were unable to score off the rest of the over meaning Noah finished with a “Double Wicket Maiden”. An outstanding achievement. Cuthbert finished their innings on 58- 7.
Now it was TA’s turn to bat. Thomas Cox got us off to a good start hitting our first boundary yet he struggled with the transition back to softball as he is currently playing his hard ball cricket at Barton CC. Lee Stevens joint top scored alongside Noah Margetts with 13 not out each. Lee hit a 6 and a 4, and Noah smashed two 4s in their innings. Next top scorer was Jamie with 11 and Thomas with 6. TA only lost 3 wickets and managed to get 109-3. A mammoth effort from the lads. A great game played in excellent spirits. The boys are learning the game as they go and anyone who is interested in playing should contact Mr Richardson. Our next game is on Tuesday.
Team: Zak Haridi, Archie Harman, Lee Stevens, Noah Margetts, Thomas Cox, Sonny Cayford, Noah Kirby, Oscar Spurle, Jamie Tully, Euan Miller.
Governor’s Platinum
Year 7 – George Evans, Riain Leal, Lilly-Rose Garbett, Charlotte Holmes-Vittles and Sean Canham
Governor’s Silver
Year 7 – Alfie Speed, Kiara Ujj, Kordian Wisnik, Mollie Longthorpe, Robyn Higgins, Isabella Allen, Katie Peryer, George Viediernikov and Anastasiia Tukilush
Year 9 – Jacob Crago-Gould and Wojcjech Tabaczuk
Governor’s Bronze
Year 7 – Lilly Drake, Oliver Ayres, Ellie-May Jackson, Sienna Holton, Melissa Page, Kaelum Bowness, Daisy Board, Logan Watt, Riley Burton, Max Weston, Tom Weaver, Harry Pitman, Kaitlin Jarvis, Immy Pace, Leon Snell, Zakariyah Haridi, Maria Nihtyanova, Toby Howell, Scarlett Hill, Ollie Martin, Emily Kenny, Paul Blades, Edi Ferencz Csibi, Izzy Goldsbrough and Finley O’Leary-Black
Year 9 – Laila Heavens, Lydia Bevan, Finley Allnutt, Daytona Vickers, Lottie Davis, Jessica Mitchell, Ema Kestell and Ollie Coleman
Principal’s Gold
Year 7 – Will Wrathall, Luke Smith-Harding, Aaron Hering, Evie Ford, Riley Gilmour, Finlay Clark, Neeve Thompson, Aleta Stojic, Stella De Rose, Emilia Warner, Anya Cosslett, Scarlett Connolly, Molly Hollomby, Heston Hart, Trent Blackmore, Lily Campbell, Ruby Fitzgerald, Niamh Yalland, Harry Hutchings, Sonny Hutchings, Archie Harman, Naomi Szyszka, Reef Whayman, Mollie Peters, Freddie Fenner, Ethan Lewis, Ella Weeks, Reuben Harrison and Adalynn Abrahman
Year 9 – Jaccob Tripp, Shelby Spencer, Liam Trapp, George Peart, Isabelle Moxham, Billy Botton, Darcy Reece, Amara Phillips, Orlando Maric, Jamima Jones, Grace Milloy, Alfie Mahoney-Billis, Callum Jackson, Dylan Breslan, Joshua Rogers, Jayden Trevelyan, Oliver Los, Ben Charters and Daisy Faulkner
Principal’s Silver
Year 7 – Bali Mudge, Monica Wanstall, Sienna Welsh, Logan Clatworthy, Ruby Chamberlain, Lewis Allington, Jazmin Collins, Thomas Cox, Noah Margetts, Caleb Harford – Brown, Benjamin Davies-Miles, Dylan Matthews, Talia Street, Ellie Bowden, Phoenix Reeman, Ellie Simpson, Georgee Westhead, Archie Norcott, Callie Stock, Heidi Bowers, Max Warner, Annie Aldous, Sanije Hoxha, Maxwell Murphy, Olivia Williams, Dylan Tripp, Noah Kirby, Samuel Sanders and Alexander Moss
Year 9 – Ruby Bovey, Theo Hardman, Lucian Churchward, Nebil Zorel, Cerys Lowe, Buster Watson, Tomasz Kowalski and Liam Trapp
Principal’s Bronze
Year 7 – Olivia Stewart, Saphi Byers, Hattie Gamble, Hayden Quadling, Finley Corderoy, Alfie Braye, Bodhi Williams, Daniel Manners, Milan Ujj, Emily Lock, Jonathan Olesky and Emily Cooper
Year 9 – Emily Owen, Austin White, Daniel Eales, Paige Clements, Elvin Fellows, Olivia Walters, Christian Cornforth, Alfie Eccles, Joshua Sandeman, Daniel Billingham, Isabelle Roberts, Torrin Byers, Jayden Field, Finn Moncrieff, Maisy Moran and Charlie Dudley
House Students of the Week
Year 7
Darwin – Lily Thomas
Harrison – Heston Hart
Kitson – Mollie Peters
Nearne – Kayla Hadley
Pengelly – Faith Guppy
Year 8
Kitson – Millie Swift
Year 9
Christie – Lydia Bevan
Darwin – Summer Faulkes
Fawcett – Ben Poston
Harrison – Alex Hilton
Kitson – Phoebe Denbow
Nearne – Lexi Weller
Homework Students of the Week
Year 7
Harrison – Kordian Wisnik
Nearne – Milan Ujj
Pengelly – Edi Ferencz Csibi
Year 8
Kitson – Evie-May Howell
Year 9
Darwin – Lewis Watt
Fawcett – Abigail Mealin
Harrison – Kowen Essiful
Kitson – George Peart
Nearne – Bartosz Mitula
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