National Netball QFs, World Table Tennis QFs and London...
Year 13 London Residential
The Year 13 A Level Geographers (and staff) enjoyed a brilliant two day residential in London to conduct their urban fieldwork and to develop techniques to use towards their NEA.
They spent the first day comparing the regeneration of The Olympic Park in Stratford to the regeneration of the Docklands area (now Canary Wharf), completing questionnaires and collecting data along the way. Staff and students enjoyed a nice evening meal together at Pizza Express before staying overnight at Westfields in Stratford.
The second day involved a visit to Shoreditch to witness the changes that have occurred as a result of migration and gentrification, as well as an opportunity to explore Brick Lane to identify how the Bangladeshi community has changed the area over time.
A successful two days were had by all involved, the students were an absolute credit to the school and on a number of occasions the general public commented on their behaviour and politeness.
Students Emma H, Tilly S and Isabel C commented “we had a great two days in London and really enjoyed spending time with the rest of the class. The fieldwork we completed will really help with our A Levels and we particularly enjoyed the meal all together in the evening”.
Art with Mrs Lynch
The spring term has seen some Amazing Art being produced in the Creative Arts Department. Mrs Lynch is delighted with the enthusiasm and energy that all year groups are showing, from the new students in Year 7, right through to the amazing photography being produced by our super 6th formers.
Year 7 are learning about Colour theory and are producing colour wheels and making their own colour palettes to produce small paintings of bugs. Year 7 will continue with their ‘Bugs & Beasties’ theme throughout the year and will explore a variety of techniques including: Pointillism, collage and textile arts later in the summer term.
The spring term will see the Year 8 art students continuing with their ‘War & Conflict’ art project. So far, the students have studied paintings and printmaking by the war artists Pablo Picasso and Kathe Kollwitz. In response, they have explored charcoal drawing, pastel transfer printing and pen and wash techniques.
The Year 9 art students have made an amazing start this year. The autumn term started with the student exploring 3D Art. Students carved into soap, oasis and recently have worked in clay, making pinch pots and coil pots. The spring term has seen them look at the work of sculptures such as Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore. The students are currently producing clay shoes inspired by their chosen artists, thus creating very individual and unique outcomes. The work displayed here are pages from the sketchbooks of Nabil Zorel and William Jackson.
Year 10 BTEC Art students have recently completed their Hybrid projects and are preparing for their new theme entitled ‘Narrative’. Here we can see some of the incredible sketchbook work produced by Nisha Cosslett.
Year 11 are frantically completing their final art portfolios in anticipation of their exam theme being revealed on the 25th of this month. Here you can see some of the superb sketchbook work of Evie Heron. Evie is one of our top art students, her talent and individuality shines through her work.
The A Level Photography students are very busy working on their personal investigations and individual project work. Here is a snapshot of some of their current work.
Mrs Lynch’s KS3 Online Art Club continues to thrive, with over 120 students having signed up since it started!!
Mrs Lynch also says that the TA Art & design website continues to be popular and has attracted over 222 hits over the last seven days!!!!
Year 8 Pathways Evening
It was a pleasure to welcome the Year 8s and their families into school to discuss their GCSE choices for next year. There were talks in The Platform as well as opportunities to speak with each of the subject areas.
Year 8 Sushi
Year 8 worked hard to create their Sushi, they all did very well at their attempts and here are some of the best ones!
Year 12 Economics with Mr Littler
One of the things Mr Littler has been doing in Year 12 Economics this week is consolidating the class’s knowledge of the diagrams they have been learning since September. This is part of their preparation for the upcoming PPEs. This activity involves all students attempting to draw a specific diagram the teacher selects from a list of key diagrams, and what they need to illustrate (e.g. a production possibility frontier showing asymmetric growth). While students are attempting the diagram on a mini whiteboard, Mr Littler is able to circulate the room and provide individualised feedback which students can action straight away to improve their skills. At the end of each round, the teacher can then select a couple of examples to highlight and discuss with the group. Together they also produced an exemplar of what Mr Littler was looking for on the board.
House News
The first house event of 2023 is about to commence and our Year 7 students are busily choosing their house teams. The event will be a Countdown Competition. As many of you are aware, Countdown is a popular Channel 4 television show in which contestants have to utilise their literacy and numeracy skills. Our Year 7 students will compete for their house in teams of four to: make up the longest word possible from a selection of vowels and consonants, reach a large number by manipulating a series of smaller numbers and solving an anagram.
The draw for heats was held in Tuesday’s assembly amidst much excitement and healthy competition. The results are:
Heat 1 Nearne v Christie
Heat 2 Fawcett v Harrison
Heat 3 Pengelly v Darwin
Heat 4 Brunel v Kitson
Next week, I will be in a position to report some of the results.
LAMDA Success for Kole
Congratulations to Kole Gjikolaj, Year 11, who has passed his Grade 5 LAMDA exam with distinction.
For the exam, Kole had to prepare for two performances. The first was a scene from Lost Crutch by Tara Meddaugh and the second a scene from Stage Struck by John Guillan. Finally, Kole was tested with a range of knowledge questions about the physical characterisation and the staging of each performance. Remarkably, Kole only dropped 5 marks for the entire exam securing him a final result of 95/100. Well done, Kole!
SEND Provision
At Torquay Academy we recognise that all students are individuals and have individual needs. The SEND department supports students with their learning both in and out of lessons.
Students who visit Lower G also undertake interventions, such as Lego Therapy, Thrive, SALT Therapy and Drama Therapy. They are also supported to improve social skills through small group activities using arts and crafts.
Grade 3 Drumming Success for Harrison
Harrison Harkin, Year 8, has passed Grade 3 Trinity Rock and Pop Drums with distinction! For the exam, Harrison was required to learn 3 contrasting pieces and sight read notation he was presented with for the first time in the exam. To achieve the distinction, Harrison was awarded over 90% for the graded exam. What an achievement, well done Harrison!
U15 Netball National Quarter Finals
The U15 Netball Academy travelled to Seaford College in West Sussex for the quarter finals of the National competition on Monday. Whilst the team didn’t come away with the result that they wanted, every individual came off court knowing that they’d put their all into the game. It was a huge learning curve for our girls; each player represented the school to the highest standard and is determined to progress further in the National competition next year. Well done to Lydia Bevan who was voted Player of the Match.
U15 Netball Academy: Tammy Westacott (C), Summer Connolly, Brooke Tully, Lydia Bevan, Millie Sneap, Amara Phillips, Ema Kestell, Jemimah Jones, Sophie Nicholson and Isabelle Moxham
Devon Rugby
Lizzy Cameron played the second half for Devon last weekend against Gloucestershire. The final score was 15-15 Well done, Lizzy!
Year 9 Football
On Thursday we hosted Uffculme in the county cup on a lovely sunny day. We made a few changes to the team to have a look at some other options and all the players had an opportunity to try something new.
The game started a bit slow from us and we were 1-0 down after 8 minutes. We battled back to level the score after 15 mins with a calm finish from Toby Lee. With 15 minutes to go we made some changes and had a real push; this made an immediate impact, with the pressure paying off and Charlie Green hitting one into the top corner from outside the box. Our constant pressure resulting in many corners and we finally sealed the win with a well-taken header from Charlie Green after another superb delivery from Albie Baker.
Well done, boys; let’s see who’s next!
Table Tennis
Congratulations to Kacper, who reached the Quarterfinals at World Table Tennis Youth Competition in Linz in Austria last week.
This week Kacper is in Hennebont in France at the World Hopes training camp, where are 20 boys and 20 girls most talented players from 28 countries invited by International TT Federation.
Great experience of table tennis and opportunity to meet table tennis friends from all over the world.
House Competition – Climbing
On Wednesday, the year 7 and 8 climbing finalists headed to Exeter clip and climb after qualifying on our TA climbing wall. The finalists had to compete on the speed wall with the fastest times, getting the most house points. With medals up for grabs, the competition was fierce and some fantastic times were achieved. Congratulations to all involved as qualifying with such big year group numbers was a massive achievement.
Year 7 girls
Gold-Sienna Welsh, Silver-Poppy Bettridge and Bronze- Bella Kendal
Year 7 boys
Gold-Toby Howell, Silver-Harry Pudney and Bronze-Zach Venter
Year 8 girls
Gold-Bella Blatchford, Silver-Bella Williams and Bronze-Eva spicer
Year 8 boys
Gold-Oliver Cocker, Silver-Adam Sadlik and Bronze-Edward Evers
Students of the Week
Year 7 – James Beer and Imogen Harnett
Year 8 – Blessings Nguono and Jason Mewett
Year 9 – Amelie McCaul and George Peart
Year 10 – James Lovell and Olivia Wood
Year 11 – Phoebe Lown and Josh Hawkings
Sixth Form – Lottie Prowse and Lorenzo De Paoli
House Students of the Week
Year 7
Brunel – Sienna Walsh
Christie – Imogen Harnett
Darwin – Harry Pitman
Fawcett – Ellie Bowden
Harrison – Niamh Yalland
Kitson – Keane O’Neil
Nearne – Daniel Manners
Pengelly – Alex Moss
Year 8
Brunel – Amelia Rose
Christie – Mailie Beavis
Darwin – Leon O’Connor
Fawcett – Miley Soby
Harrison – Eden Nelson-Minns
Kitson – Ollie Cooper
Nearne – Kyron Connor
Pengelly – Luke Horrocks
Year 9
Brunel – Grace Milloy
Christie – Norbert Tomsia
Darwin – Alfie Jeneway
Fawcett – Agata Sadlik
Kitson – Jayden Trevelyan
Nearne – Amelie McCaul
Pengelly – Bella Giffard
Homework Students of the Week
Year 7
Brunel – Sienna Holton
Christie – Francis Downer
Darwin – Aaron Hering
Fawcett – Jayden Hardman
Harrison – Molly Hollomby
Kitson – Annie Aldous
Nearne – Lacey Redhead
Pengelly – Isabella Allen
Year 8
Brunel – Ben Jolly
Christie – Harry Paull
Darwin – Taniesha Hippolyte
Fawcett – Connie McMahon
Harrison – Shannon Clark
Kitson – Louis Tillen
Nearne – Imogen Symonds
Pengelly – Leonardo Marcheggiani
Year 9
Christie – Dean Conway
Darwin – Alfie Jeneway
Fawcett – Emily Banks
Kitson – Jemimah Jones
Nearne – Samuel Alcock
Pengelly – Isabelle Roberts
