Performing Arts Academies, Robotics & Sports Galore
Resilience with Robotics
As you’ll see in these two videos, students have been putting their programming skills to the test this week in preparation for the 2019 Tomorrow’s Engineers Robotics competition. As National finalists in 2018, the team are keen to do well again. Numbers have grown and students from Year 7 all the way up to Year 10 now attend the club on a regular basis. Resilience, teamwork and determination are demonstrated here as students tweak their programs to master the ‘ramp’ and ‘collect the engine’ challenges.
Team TA Sports Roundup
This week we have finally been able to get back into the swing of things on the sporting front. The first couple of weeks in any school are spent sorting out teams and extra curricular clubs; there are very few fixtures to keep the PE Department busy. This week that was not the case, we have had netball, table tennis, rugby and football fixtures as well as the usual after school and lunchtime clubs where attendance has been great. There is always room for more students so please have a look at the extra curricular timetable further down in this blog, pick a club and come along. As well as our sports teams taking shape, some of our students are excelling outside of school on the sporting front and reports from swimming, gymnastics and golf this week prove that. Hopefully, all parents have received information about an exciting opportunity for their children to attend free table tennis taster session, I would encourage anyone interested to attend as they will receive tuition/coaching from some of the best coaches in the Country.
Our football programme goes from strength to strength each year and this year is no exception. Our sixth formers started their league season with two excellent wins against very strong opposition. They have also been very successful representing Torquay United Under 18s, where they make up the whole team, currently, they are unbeaten in their league and progressing very nicely in the FA Youth Cup.
First Win for Second 11 Team
On Wednesday the new second 11 side started their league campaign against Plymouth Argyle, Cornwall. TA started brightly dominating not only possession but the game itself creating numerous chances. TA took the lead after 25 minutes of frustration when Ben Clarke slotted home from close range from Harry Smith’s good work out wide. TA made it 2-0 5 minutes later when Smith dispatched another one from 25 yards into the bottom corner. TA then continued and made it 3-0 just before half time when Cameron Fewings opened his account when he latched onto a loose ball in the Argyle box, the scoring was completed on the hour when Fewings punished Argyle’s sloppy defending. TA completely dominated, setting the standard for upcoming fixtures and the rest of the season.
Under 19s ECFA League Opener
Our 1st team got the season started against last season’s runners up Stroud and Gloucester College, it was an early test for us to see how we would fair this season with the new players coming in. After the bus journey up in good spirits and confidence high after our pre-season campaign, we warmed up and looked up for the game.
We started well and looked to settle into our style of play and within the first minute had an opportunity to threaten their goal with some good build up work. Then out of nowhere a simple ball over the top after 5 minutes caught our back four out and left our keeper, Andy, 1v1 with the striker who had time to lift it over his head. We then seemed to panic for a while and make the wrong decisions more often than we should and didn’t play the flowing football that we have shown we can all pre-season. After some minor adjustments we started to control the game and had three great chances to score but last minute blocks, and with their keeper doing well we couldn’t get the equaliser. The game was a fair one, but had some very tasty challenges throughout, some missed and some calmed down by the referee. Unfortunately for us Alfie got caught by a late tackle over the top of the ball and had to come off in the first half.
We regrouped at half time and the team talk sparked a bit of life into the lads to go out and improve in the second half. We changed our formation and introduced Josh Parry off the bench. The second half was totally different and we dominated the rest of the game with our fast attacking football creating many chances. Josh Parry started us off by beating his man on the wing before getting to the ball before the keeper to score.
Jamie Passmore then had a shot from eight yards that went over the bar but within minutes had the ball again in the box but this time he beat two players with close control and fired it into the bottom corner to make it 2-1.
More chances followed and we were unlucky to not add more to our goal tally. The final goal was a bit special and one everyone applauded; Matty Roberts got the ball 20-25 yards out beat a man and then turned to unleash a shot that flew past the defence into the top corner giving us a 3-1 lead. Stroud really pushed for a goal in the final stages and ended up playing four upfront, but our defence and keeper were outstanding and dealt with everything they threw at us. A special mention must go to Cole Harford who was outstanding 2nd half at the back and our keeper Andy Collings who pulled of a magnificent save near the end to keep the score at 3-1.
All in all a good first day and they are looking forward to next week’s game against Bridgwater College.
Golf
This season Troy Riley has played in all of the Junior Opens within Devon and some in Somerset. He started the year with a handicap of 45 and now he is playing off 19 which is a massive drop. He has also won 3 mens competitions at Torquay Golf Club, 2 of the Junior opens and he has been in the top three in almost all of them. With all his achievements this year, Troy has been spotted by the County and has been asked to play for Devon under 12s in the South West County Championships. Well done,Troy, who is een here wearing his County tie.
Swimming
Congratulations to Lauren Major Year 7 who competed in the Exeter Swimming Sprint meet on Sunday 23rd September and had an excellent meet coming away with 3 medals and a new Personal Best in her favourite stroke of butterfly. Well done, Lauren.
Gymnastics
Elizabeth Cameron, Year 8, competed in the Quattro Gymnastics cup age 12-13 level 4 in Barnstaple last weekend. She was up against 10 other gymnasts from other clubs. Elizabeth competed in four apparatus, floor, bars, beam and vault. She won a Gold on vault successfully landing a handspring full twist off the vault gaining 11.900 points. She won Silver on her Floor routine with 10.900 points and Silver on bars with 10.900. On beam she performed new skills such as a cartwheel leading onto a flick and came 8th which unfortunately pushed Elizabeth into 4th position overall, just missing out on an overall medal. However excellent achievements on her first level 4 individual competition. Training continues for the team competition in two weeks and we wish her every success.
Netball
On Monday our Year 8 entered the Year 9 Central Venue League at Paignton. We went with the mindset that we may win some, we may lose some but the experience gained will be invaluable. We won our first game against Spires 6-1. The girls played exceptionally well as Spires are a good team, so to come away with a win was very exciting. Our second game against Dartmouth was a lot more challenging. They were clearly an established team, but the girls were undeterred by this and went on to win the game 5-3. During our third games against STCM we started well. We went ahead 3-1 in the first half. However, they came back at us strong in the second half. We managed to keep our lead and won the game 4-3. By our last game, we were on a high. We were up against Kingsbridge who also had not lost a game that day. Unfortunately, this team were well rehearsed and were able to get the ball up the court very easily. Losing this game 7-2 was a shame but we were so pleased with our performance on the day. To enter a tournament a year early and win 3 out of 4 games is a fantastic achievement. We look forward to the next round and can hopefully continue our winning streak. Player of the day was Darcie Baker for being so versatile and playing a variety of different positions without allowing it to affect her performance. Well done, girls.
Table Tennis
Our table tennis season got off to a flying start this week with a Year 7 & 8 friendly fixture against PCSC. Playing a mixture of some experienced and novice players, we proved too strong for PCSC and ran out comfortable winners. This friendly was in preparation for the Torbay School tournament next week. This fixture was an excellent occasion and demonstrates what can be achieved by two teams who were keen, determined and a joy to work with. Hats off to PCSC who never gave up and seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves.
Information regarding after school and lunchtime clubs are here below:
Performing Arts Academy members announced!
This year’s Performing Arts Academy is bigger and better than ever! We have been overwhelmed by the number of students who auditioned for a place in the academy and equally by the talent each of them has shown. It’s been extremely difficult to decide who to award the final places to, but after a week of auditions we are delighted to announce the final 50. Wasting no time, on Thursday this week we began casting for this year’s production of High School Musical! It’s an extremely special year for the PAA as this year’s production will take place in our brand new theatre when it is completed next year.
The Music Academy
We are delighted to announce our Music Academy members for 2018 -2019. The Music Academy is for the exceptional musicians in our school from Y9 – Y13. We have so many talented musicians in the school it is has been extremely difficult to select our final 20, but we have and we are delighted with them! We have big plans for our Music Academy this year, some of which include workshops with famous musicians and professional recording opportunities. Watch this space!
100% Attendance
Well done the students named below who last academic year achieved 100% attendance.
Tia Alcock-Burness, Archie Bindon, Jessica Breach, Dominic Bragg-Lattremouille, Ena Brett-Wilson, Isaac Craddick, Isabelle Cresser, Alfie Fenn, Sam Foley, Kai Fowler, Steph Fyrth, Caitlin Graham, Alex Green, Max Grimley, Rebecca Hall, William Hall, Grace Hallett, Noah Handford, Patrick Handford, Alvin Ho, Poppy Hodgeson, Felix Houghton, Niamh Howlett, Thomas Huitema, Emily Johns, Riccardo Iordache, Codie James, Aisa Kana, Ellis Kendall, Ellis Knowles, Yun Xin Liu, Juliette Loud, Rebecca Lovegrove, Chloe Martin, Finlay McClements, Gareth Mufford, Jack Mulford, Adam Nock, Charlie Nunn, Lila Nyan, Madeleine Palmer-Kerslake, Sienna Pethard, Tallulah Robson, Alfie Sams, Mila Schwartz, Jack Shirlow, Troy Seddon, Harley Sneap, Jemima Staples, Charlie Trapp, Oliver Waring, Jamie Watson, Nathan Wells, Tamla Wells, Scarlet West, Joshua Wilkey-Arnold, Benjamin Woodward
Students of the Week
Students of the Week with me this week are; Yr 7 – Kai Alexander, Yr 9 – Troy Seddon, Yr 10 – Lizzie Harris, Yr 11 – Jenna Parker, Yr 8 – Will Bevan
