TA is judged to be outstanding & an offer from Oxford

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TA is judged to be outstanding

Last week we were inspected by a five-person team for three days; they observed many lessons as well as having numerous meetings to delve deeper into how we operate at TA.  I am delighted that the full report shows the school to be outstanding in all of the areas inspected.  I believe this judgment is a reflection of the incredible efforts of our students and staff.

We know that there are many things still to improve at TA and I can assure you we are working tirelessly to make our school the very best school.  To be judged as outstanding tells us just how far we have come on our journey to ensure everyone succeeds.  You can read the full report via the link below.

Torquay Academy 2017 Challenge Partner Review

Vernon is Rewarded with Oxford University Offer

Year 13 student Vernon Moore has been offered a place at Oxford University to read Maths . This is a great achievement and testament that hard work really does pay off! Congratulations, Vernon.

End of term assembly

As usual, we gathered for our end of term assembly.   We were treated to three amazing performances: Jess Mitchell and Alex Jones performed a song they composed, and Kofi Essiful and Alisanna Beer danced.  You can watch their performances below.

Oxford and Cambridge information day

On Thursday we were honoured to welcome Alice McCallum from Exeter College, Oxford, and Lauren Payne and Dr Marcus Tomalin from Downing College, Cambridge, to speak to our students about university life and the application process to study at top universities.

The day started with a very informative talk to our Year 8 – 11 students about what it is like to be a student at Oxford or Cambridge university. The students were fascinated to learn about the wide range of courses available, the teaching styles and the large number of clubs and societies. The talk focused on university life in general, and many students said that they were inspired to go ahead and look into their higher education options. Alice, Lauren and Marcus were very helpful in explaining what the students should do now to help them fulfil their university aspirations.

In the afternoon we hosted sixth form students from a number of other schools, who joined our own TA students for a detailed session in the library about the process of applying to Oxford and Cambridge. It was very helpful to hear first-hand about the features of a good personal statement, and about the pre-admissions tests and the interviews. Our students said they felt confident that they would be able to tackle the sorts of interview questions we discussed!

I am very grateful that Lauren, Alice and Marcus took the time to visit TA and particularly that they put on the extra session for the younger students. They said that they were impressed by the ways in which TA is promoting university study and raising aspirations amongst our young people.

Year 11 Mock Exam Results Evening

On Thursday evening we invited Year 11 students and parents into school to receive their results from the recent PPE (mock) exams.  Mr Pugh and Mr Grinsill also spoke to them about the most effective ways to revise and prepare for their exams.  Once the students opened their results they met with teachers to be given bespoke lists of the areas that would need to focus upon.  They are ready for the final run in.  Good luck!

Dance Show

A record number of pupils performed on Wednesday evening in our annual Dance show. Over 100 pupils danced their hearts out to the appreciative crowd of over 300 parents and staff.  As always, a variety of different genres was seen, from Contemporary to Cheerleading, Body Popping to Tango, it really was an eclectic feast!  Despite nerves, all pupils were absolutely outstanding and it has been wonderful to see their ability and confidence grow over the last few weeks.  Well done and a big thank you to everyone who performed as well as those who helped behind the scenes.

Year 7 Achievement

Congratulations to the 31 students in Year 7 who have made a perfect start to Y7.  Every day since September they have arrived on time, brought the correct equipment and behaved impeccably both in and out of the classroom.  They are a real credit to the school.  Mr Jones and Mrs Nicol are extremely proud.

Year 8 Students of the Term

These are our Year 8 students of the term –  a massive well done and thank you for all their hard effort and work.

In the above photo students are; Charlie Barnes, Myah Brett- Wilson, Sophie Jones, Rebecca Willis, Lottie Denning, Jack Shirlow, Owen Morgan.  Rory Deakin is in second photo.

Sports Roundup

Taz is British Champion

Taz Turner (Year 11) fought his way to the finals on Saturday 25th March in London for the national finals of England; Taz boxed for the 46kg weight category.  After training hard for this fight Taz fought his heart out, winning the contest with a unanimous decision and making him the British champion for his age and weight.  Taz has now got a call up for trials to represent England National Alliance squad training. A great achievement for South West boxing and Taz has made his family, friends and club proud.  Congratulations Taz!

Year 10 through to second cup final

On Tuesday the year 10 football team made it through to the Devon Cup final with a 6-3 win over Uffculme. TA started well and took control of the game from the start. After 10 minutes TA took the lead after Ollie Mason pressed the goalkeeper into making a mistake when he kicked the ball straight to Lewis Eaton who broke through the defence to slide the ball past the on rushing keeper from 12 yards. TA then doubled their lead on 17 minutes when Ollie Mason broke through to score from close range. TA were in total control and were cruising and took their foot off the gas only for Uffculme to take advantage of TA’s complacency and level the scores at 2-2 right on the stroke of half time. TA were given a stern talk at half time by coach Mr Grinsill and Director of Football Mr Hogg with the words ringing in their ears TA took the game by the scruff of the neck and Olaf Koszella fired in a 20 minute hat trick with Uffculme only replying once before captain Cole Harford scored a fine individual goal to seal a fine 6-3 victory. A massive well done to Dan Rivers who played a full game at centre half in the year above.

Y8 Football

On Wednesday, the Year 8 football team secured their place in the South Devon Cup final, and their second final of the season by beating Paignton 2-1 in a frantic match.  TA fully deserved this victory and dominated proceedings from start to finish, albeit having to weather some heavy Paignton pressure in injury time (as you would expect).

We started brightly, passing the ball around with confidence and creating several half chances. We also had 3 good chances from corners that we failed to convert. However, after 20 minutes, good wing play by Reece Shaw saw a pinpoint delivery into the box met by the onrushing Josh Watt for 1-0. Nick Turner then made two excellent saves just before half time, utilizing his Tae-Kwon-Do reflexes to keep out a header from point blank range in a rare Paignton attack.

After changing shape at half time, TA started very quickly and scored within 2 minutes of the restart. Another delivery from Reece Shaw was nodded intelligently across goal by Tyler Stuckey to Jacob Thomas who added the final touch.

TA sat back a little after this and invited some Paignton pressure but again the back four defended brilliantly. It was in the final minute when Paignton were awarded a penalty which was dispatched well. This led to a nervy injury time but we held firm to grind out a brilliant win.

2 Cup finals after Easter for the Y8 boys. Great stuff!

Sixth Form Basketball

Our Sixth Form, ably assisted by three members of Year 11 played their first ever basketball match on Thursday, after many months of trying to organise a fixture,  KEVICC agreed to play us in a friendly match. It was a fantastic game which saw us come out on top by 83 points to 36, Cesary Sowa lead the way with 32 points but was more than backed up by the rest of the boys, Bailey Clarke put in an outstanding performance, Harry and Will Cheong, Niall Cabiong, Kyle Farrell, Josh Clarke and Nicolae Marin all played very well. KEVICC certainly played their part in making this a most enjoyable experience for the boys. More matches to come in the future. Thank you to Tim from the Link Charity who has given up hours of his own time to coach these boys.

Maths Whizz

On Tuesday we were visited by Ed Patterson who is the Customer Success Manager for Whizz education. We are the only school in the area using Maths Whizz as an intervention resource.  Professor Whizz (the educational mascot for Maths Whizz) also visited to give out certificates to the best performing students.This intervention has proved so successful that we are looking forward to continuing this online Maths Whizz programme.

Photography at Upton Park

Last Friday the Year 9 photography students were invited to photograph the flora and fauna at Upton Park.  The students took some stunning images, which will be entered for a competition which is run by the ‘Friends of Upton Park’.  The winning photographs will be featured on their websites and some of the students will also be invited to show their work in the summer exhibition at The Artizan Gallery in town.  Mrs Lynch was very impressed with the standard of work this year, which just goes from strength to strength.

Principal Certificates

Principal Bronze – (not in order)  Archie Bindon, Billy Robson, Shaun Peter, Joshua Poston, Molly Farley, Dominic Locke, Ethan Tanner, Summer Fone, Isabella Baker, Cain Rider, Emily Stentiford-Crook, Izzie Makinson, Jake Peters, Kaytlyn Mortimore, Joshua Hills, Brittany Carrington, Lauren Racher, James Cumming, Tom Norman, Reece Critchton, Maddison Groom, Emily Mahoney-Billis, Marcus Stanley, Neve Gourlay Newman, Lydia Pillage Bond,  Codie Rees,  Oliver Middleton, Davina De Lucis, Mya Edralin, Hannah Vizcaino, Maddison Hole, Vitaly Vaplaks, Robbie Hartley, Beau Giles, Maddie Wannell, Kyle Bullen, Alfie Lappin, Luke Giffard Rowe, Will Makinson.

Principal Silver – Sophie Davis, Lucas Macfie-Jones, Louis Mellitt, Leah Harman, Alfie Sams, Luke Pethard, Matthew Winyard, Klaudia Krupska

Governors’ Certificate

Governor Silver Certificates awarded to : Ellis Knowles, Kimberley Taylor

Students of the Week

Students of the week this week with me are : Anthony Brooking,  Shannon Crawford,  Rory Deakin and Kasey Dickson.