Performing arts, early starts and the sporting season kicks off

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Year 13 Visit to Marjon University

Last Friday Mr Harries, along with 16 of our Year 13 Sport Studies students, went to Plymouth at the invite of Marjon University to spend the day experiencing many of the opportunities available to them if they choose to study one of the many Undergraduate courses available to them. Talks by University lecturers on careers in sport and sports development were followed by sessions on Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation where the students were able to try their hand at sports massage, some core fitness exercises and were able to apply Rocktape to injured body parts. After a brief stop for lunch the students were off to the strength and conditioning labs where Bailey Clarke and Eleanor Nixon were able to experience running on a state of the art gravity treadmill, Harry Bell, Luke Lewis and Elyse Leech were able to demonstrate their speed through speed gates at a distance of 10 metres and Adam Kenyon reigned supreme on the reaction test wall. The final practical session of the day was all about the unique Osteopathic course run by the University, a very informative and humorous talk that was hijacked by Mr Harries who had an old sports injury diagnosed and treated! Finally there was a talk on student finance. Overall it was an excellent day in which the students gained much, indeed the conversation in the minibus on the way home was not all about football for a change but what the students wanted to do next year.

Jess is awarded A* for spectacular sculpture

Jess Baker produced this stunning piece of work for her AS exam this summer.  It is extremely impressive and visitors to the school can see it from the entrance.  Mr Haring is putting together a new exhibition in this space – I will ensure there is a picture in next week’s blog.

Musical talent

On Thursday when I went into a Year 9 Music Technology lesson, Harvey Green was kind enough to play me a track that he has composed.  He has only been studying the subject for two weeks and Mr Brinson is very impressed with the quality of the music his class has already produced.  Harvey composed his song in our iMac suite – I look forward to hearing more of his, and his classmate’s, work in the future.

This Year’s PAA is big, bold and packed full of talent!

Over 50 students from Year 7 right up to Year 12 rushed to auditions this week for a chance to secure a place in this year’s Performing Arts Academy. After a huge turn out for Tuesday’s open door taster session, the drama studio was packed full for Thursday’s auditions! The students were put through their paces with a wide range of challenges including mixed workshops, group and individual tasks ranging from singing, acting and dancing. Miss Pappin, HOLA for Creative Arts commented, ‘I am constantly overwhelmed by the talent and enthusiasm of our students. To see so much talent come together in one room with students from our new Year 7 working along side students right the way up to Year 12 was just wonderful. I have a feeling this year is going to be quite special. The programme for this year’s PAA is packed full of rehearsals, workshops, performances and of course the all important production at Easter!’  Students will find out if they have been successful when the all important list is posted in block at 3pm on Friday.

Rise and Read – early morning reading begins in earnest.

Rise and Read offers our Year 7 students the opportunity to develop their love for reading and this week saw record number of students participate in the early morning programme. The session were led by teachers and some of our dedicated Year 11 students.   Participation is sure to see increased confidence in reading abilities across the curriculum and ensure that students begin the year well- putting that first step on the climb towards university.  What is really pleasing about these sessions is that so many students are willing to give up time and show the grit and resilience to get into school and ensure that they make the most of every single second. Additional classrooms were required due to enthusiasm for the sessions.

There are still opportunities to attend and if you would like your child to participate please send them in with a signed note for Miss Rowan or Mr White.

Sports Roundup

A very busy week for our sporting students and the PE team. Extra curricular clubs are well under way and attendance at the majority of clubs has been fantastic, having said that please take some time to read the extra curricular posters that are up around the school as anyone who is keen to learn and play a sport is more than welcome, a reminder that there is no charge for any of the clubs we run. We have also played our first rugby matches of the year as you can see from the individual reports below, year 7, 8 and 9 have all been in action this week and whilst not all results have gone our way the attitude and determination and the willingness to learn have all been outstanding. Our Football Development programme goes from strength to strength and this year we are able to put out and unprecedented 4 sixth form teams, the first three teams have all moved up a league and you can read how they got on in their first league matches of the season in this blog. For more information why not follow the PE Department on twitter @TeamTA_Sport.

If you are in Years 7-9 you may be interested in joining our new Sports Academy, the sports academy has been set up to help talented sports students to develop not only in their chosen sport but with their studies as well. The aims of the sports academy are:

To recognise and celebrate sports performance
To understand the pressures and commitments associated with high level sport
To support students with any additional challenges they may face
To assist talented young people in realising their potential through targeted and bespoke opportunities

The Academy is for: High performing athletes/players/coaches/officials aged 11-16, representing County level or above or footballers who attend a Professional Football Club Centre of Excellence. There is no restriction on the sport you play.

If you think you play at the relevant standard and would be interested in being part of this exciting development please see Mr Harries or any other member of the PE Department for an application form.

6th Formers play for Torquay United

On Tuesday evening I went to Cullumpton with Mr Hogg and Mr Grinsill to watch Connor Stewart, Jay Osborn, Javan Wright, Joe Molloy and Harry Bell who had been selected as substitutes for Torquay United in their cup match against Cullumpton Rangers.  After an hour the scoreline stood at 0 – 0 and Jav and Harry were brought on.  Jav immediately made an impact with some smart passing and decisive runs from the right-wing.  Harry found himself in the firing line as the defender up against Cullumpton’s only line of attack.  I was immensely proud to see them both perform so well playing at this level.  Torquay United eventually lost on penalties following a goalless match.

Football Academy teams begin their season

First Team Exeter College 1st XI

It is fair to say that we made a very strong start to the season dominating all areas of the match in both halves.  The first half ended 0 – 0.  We took an early lead after a well placed header by Connor Stewart, however Exeter scored three goals against the run of play.  Valuable lessons have been learnt by the team and they will emerge stronger and determined not to lead a lead slip in this fashion again.

Second Team at Yeovil 1st XI College

On Wednesday the second team travelled to Yeovil Town’s Huish Park to play Yeovil College in their first league game of the season. This year sees both the first and second teams play in category two of English College League. The squad of 15 that travelled for the game consisted of four second years and eleven firsts who were all set to make their debut.

It was clear to see from the start that not only were the lads nervous but that the standard is far greater than that of last year. The result did not go as we would of liked as we finished up on the wrong side of a 3-1 score line. However, the game was much closer than it sounds with Yeovil actually claiming their third goal with the last kick of the game. The boys were outstanding from the first whistle to the last winning the battle against a much older and more physical Yeovil side. The team spirit and togetherness of this group suggest that the boys can do well this year as we look to develop and grow over the season to become the first team squad for next year.

The target for this group this year is to gain 12 points in what will be abn extremely competitive and demanding league.

TA Goal scorer – Joe Constantinou
Man of the Match – Joseph Boothroyd

Third Team v PETROC 1st XI College, Barnstaple

This Wednesday saw our 3rd XI take the step up from the local Sixth Form leagues to the South West College leagues. We always knew that it was going to be a difficult transition but felt that in order to improve the players needed to play regular football against better opposition. The game did not disappoint, PETROC were a strong side who liked to pass the ball around and made our boys work hard but they were certainly up for the challenge. For the first 30 minutes every attack that PETROC had was thwarted by the stoic defence of Tom Timpson, Jamie Lane, Taz Turner and Dan Rowe and some great goalkeeping from Ryan Parkin. As the boys began to tire at the end of the first half gaps started to appear in our marking and unfortunately PETROC capitalised on this and scored three very quick goals just before half time, we suffered a few injuries throughout the game firstly Robert Herrera suffered a knee injury and was replaced by Harry Allen both of these players have really upped their game since last season. Going into the changing room 3-0 down, which did not reflect the efforts the boys had put in, certainly didn’t dampen our enthusiasm for the game, indeed throughout the game we made a number of changes but this did not seem to affect our resolve. The first 15 minutes of the second half was much more positive, we were passing the ball well, Ben Tolman and Stevie Yava were getting into great positions and working hard whilst Liam Gumbley who had replaced Jordan Bastow at half time was working very hard up front, unfortunately and against the run of play PETROC were able to sneak a fourth goal, up until this stage all of their goals had been scored with headers that went unchallenged by our boys, something to work on in training, to our credit we did not give up. Louie Jay Hayward worked tirelessly in the midfield and fully deserved to be wearing the Captain’s armband. Our break came midway through the second half when a lovely through ball from Gumbley was met by Stevie who calmly beat the keeper to place the ball in the back of the net. This goal clearly gave the boys more confidence and we started to push forward for another, as is often the case when you push forward the opposition are able to capitalise on the counter attack which PETROC were did and for the first time in the game scored from long range. Not put off by this we kept pushing forward in search of another goal, Kieran Bailey who had been working tirelessly since he came on was finally rewarded with our second goal with a piece of individual skill. Near the end of the game we were unfortunate to lose Andrew Lowrie through injury which was shame because he had been outstanding in both midfield and defence, we wish him a speedy recovery from his wrist injury. Near the very end of the game playing against some very tired legs PETROC we able to score another goal from a long range effort. So the game finished 6-2, however Mr Jones and Mr Harries were able to take many positives from the performance, whilst there is plenty to work on in training this team will equip themselves well in this higher league.

Rugby

Year 9

The Year 9 rugby team played their first games from the summer break in a tournament at Forches Cross on Wednesday. After winning the championship trophy last year we were promoted to the premiership school league and played against established rugby schools. We had a poor start against Teignmouth and our lack of match time over the summer showed. After this, our performances got better each game. Kingsbridge and Paignton saw us leading most of the games only to lose both in the final phase of play. We recorded a 5-5 draw against South Dartmoor in another game we should have won. Things didn’t go well for us on the day however I was very pleased to see us getting back to our best each game we played. It was very encouraging to see us competing well against teams who might have put big points on us in previous years. I expect us to get even better now the season starts.

Year 8

First trip of the season to Brixham with a new look team was an exciting prospect. With a big pack and hard runners in the backs we started well. Harrison Lee making his debut was dynamic, everytime he got the ball he caused panic in the Brixham defense. He duly scored 2 great tries and converted them both himself but the power and technique of the opposing pack especially in the ruck allowed Brixham to come back just at the end of the game with their 3rd Try to win the game 17 – 12. More practice in the ruck will surely turn this result round in future. Well done to all, special mention to Ellis Knowles, Sean Andrews, Igor Sniegocki, Ben Aldous and Jay Rich as well as the Man of the Match Harrison Lee.

Triathlon Winner

Angus Graham, Year 7, won the Tristar 2 category at last weekend’s Torbay Triathlon, organised by Sportiva Events.  He has another year in Tristar 2 and is already looking forward to next year’s Torbay Triathlon.  Well done Angus a great achievement !

Languages assembly – promoting European Languages Day

Students of the Week

Students of the week this week with myself, Mr Harries and Mrs Powell are:Tia Alcock-Burness, Ella Miles, Luke Owen, Emily Coates

And finally….

The heavens opened last Friday when I was leaving school.  As I headed down the drive a rainbow emerged that seemed to originate from the centre of our football field.  I had to share it with you!