Transition day, celebrations and a prize of a lifetime

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Lego Robotics

Our Lego Robotics students had an amazing couple of days this week in the hands of the RAF STEM Youth Engage team and Mercedes Petronas F1. These once-in-a-lifetime money can’t buy opportunities were awarded to our team as part of their Tomorrow’s Engineers National Robotics competition win.

Day 1: VIP Tours of RAF Cranwell & RAF Coningsby

As you can see from all the photos, our students have had the most incredible time looking at a brand new High G test facility, state-of-the-art flight simulators, the iconic Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and a very hands-on tour around the latest RAF Typhoon Eurofighter. Our featured image is the group photo with students standing on the wing of an operational Typhoon fighter jet!

Day 2: VIP Tour of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Brackley

Students were given a private guided tour of this top-secret facility, a week before Mercedes’ home grand prix at Silverstone. The tour included access to the design office (full with over two hundred very busy design engineers!), composites department, autoclaves, race day strategy room and mechanic bays that individually prepare the race cars for Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.

The two days have been a celebration of the passion, hard work and effort students put into their robotics challenge over the past year whilst also acting as inspiration for what promise to be bright futures in the areas of Science Technology Engineering and Maths.

Year 6 Transition Day

On Thursday we welcomed our soon-to-be Year 7s into school for their Induction Day. The children had a meet and greet with Mr Jones, Mr Fuller and Mrs Nicol before sampling some lessons and getting the opportunity to get to know their tutor and teachers. The day left a very positive impression upon Mr Jones and the children all left having enjoyed their first day at Secondary school and having formed some new friendships. We are excited to welcome them into our community and supporting them as they embark on their 7 year TA journey

Focus Five Awards

Fifteen of our year 10 students have completed the Focus Five employability skills award and they attended the presentation evening at the Riviera Centre on Wednesday.

The students worked with local employers to put together a portfolio of evidence of their experiences relating to Communication Skills, Organisation, Team Work, Customer Service and Problem Solving. They met with their business mentor three times in school and worked with staff to build up their folders. The quality of evidence was striking and Martin Cavanna of Cavanna Homes paid tribute to their dedication and hard work at the presentation evening.

Mr Gale and Mrs Low attended the ceremony, along with several of the participants’ parents, and said, “we were so proud to see our students gaining recognition for their skills and portfolios. To see them go up on stage and receive their awards was heartwarming!”.

The students involved were: Mateusz Baczynski, Reece Chrichton, Alanah Dorling, Poppy Hodgson, Aisa Kana, Chloe Martin, Laura Martin, Josh Poston, Leilah Poulain, Denny Watkins and Imogen Winston (all pictured), plus Shannon Banks, Lauren Howells, Cody Wren and Tamla Wells.

Changing Horizons

On 27th June, 30 students from years 7 & 8 visited South Devon College to take part in the Torbay Changing Horizons Event. Aimed at providing young people with a real insight into the huge range of opportunities that exist in our area, Changing Horizons brought together local employers such as the Civil Service, the Met Office, Navy and NHS, as well as a number of companies representing the fields of banking, construction, digital technology and the music industry. During the course of the day, our students not only got to ask questions of a number of local employers, but also got to mix digital music tracks, race the clock to see who could drive home six screws in the shortest time, identifying rock types (including the newly discovered ‘plastic rock’ that is being washed up as a pollutant on our beaches), using digital and satellite technology, identifying false passport documents and event planning. In addition to all of this, South Devon College also ensured that our students could enjoy a moment of light relief, this time to pose in the costume of their choice.

A Level Biology Field Trip

Over the last couple of weeks, the A level Biology students have spent two days practising their sampling techniques on 2 different Ecology field trips. Students spent their time collecting and analysing data for their Year 13 module on Ecosystems. The day was spent identifying the plant species and taking soil samples on the sand dunes at Braunton Burrows. Students gained an understanding of the process of Primary Succession. The weather was perfect for outdoor work and the students enjoyed identifying many different species and taking in the views. This Monday we took the students to Saltern Cove in Paignton where we were studying the rocky shore ecology and identifying how the drying effect (dessication) of the tide affected the distribution of the species. We used a sampling technique called an interrupted belt transect which is a form of systematic sampling used when we measure the effects of an abiotc (non-living factors) on the distribution of species (biotic factors). Both Braunton Burrows and Saltern Cove are SSSIs (Sites of Special Scientific Interest) and it was a fabulous two days. The students were superb, working incredibly hard to get all the data collected and written up.

Year 9 Celebration Evening

On Tuesday, July 2nd, the annual Year 9 Celebration Evening took place. This evening is always a memorable and pleasurable occasion as it allows the academy to formally acknowledge the talents and achievements of our young people.  Parents, governors and staff watched as over 60 students received awards for their efforts in both academic and extra-curricular activities.

The evening commenced with 25 students receiving an award for effort-which is so closely correlated to academic success. Each subject area then recognised two students who had excelled in their particular field and finally awards were given to those students who had displayed an excellent attitude and demonstrated citizenship skills.

Four Year 9 musical ensembles entertained a packed crowd –with lively, modern tunes. Olisi O’ Malley performed a polished dance routine and a review of the year was given by Felix Houghton.

Congratulations to all students involved however special mention should perhaps be made of Michael Brooker, Kelsey Cresser, Thomas Brown and Emily Mahoney Billis –who received the prestigious Golden Mortar Board award-which is a recognition of academic excellence in the core subjects of English, Maths and Science.

Year 7 Celebration Evening

On Wednesday we celebrated the achievements of Year 7 at their annual celebration evening. Students were nominated and awarded with prizes for top effort, attainment in subjects and for being tutor group superstars. It was a lovely evening which included students talking about their first year at TA and musical/dance performances.

Team TA Sports Roundup

 Athletics

In amongst all of the hard work our students have been doing during assessment week some have still found time to take part in a plethora of sports activities. The main focus was on athletics.  On Tuesday our Year 7 8 and 9 boys and girls represented the Academy at the Area Athletics Championships at Exeter Arena, there were some fantastic performances and some great placings on the day, there will be more about this event in next weeks blog as we are awaiting the official results to come through from the organisers. All I will say at this stage is that our Year 7 boys relay team of Aiden Bovey, Harry Clarke, Josh Thompson and Charlie Stevens were outstanding on the day in both their heat and final, which they won with ease.

On Thursday of this week, our Year 7 boys and girls travelled to Churston to take part in a South Devon league match, once again our students were excellent. In nearly all of the track and field events our students were in the top three. They were all excellent but notable performances came from: Josh Thompson – Long Jump, Harry Clarke and Josh Thompson 200 metres, Hannah Carr 1000 metres, Ava Sams 100 metres, Grace Povey 600 metres, Aiden Bovey 100 metres, Ewan McLaclan and Pierce Gerring 600 metres, Reef Beer and Ewan McLaclan (yes he did both 600 and 1000 metres) in the 1000 metres, and that year 7 boys relay team did it again with another comfortable win.

Preseason starts

Our Sixth Form Academy students have started their preparations for playing in the toughest league possible.  This will see them travelling across the South West playing colleges with 10,000 plus students!

Volunteering

It is always nice to hear of students putting themselves out there and helping others outside of the school environment.  We heard that Lauren Major Year 7 has been supporting Homelands Primary School running club over the last 3 months, this has involved running a mile each Tuesday with the students at their after school club.  This culminated in her running the last mile of the recent Torbay Half marathon with the students. Well done Lauren, I have heard that the children at Homelands really look up to you and you have proved to be something of an inspiration.  When you consider that she finds time to do this along with all of her studies and the numerous hours spent training for her swimming events you can understand why she has inspired.

Cycling

Congratulations to Angus Graham Year 8 who completed the very tough Dartmoor Classic Sportive cycle event across Dartmoor last Sunday covering a distance of 38 miles.

Golf

Another student in Year 8 who has done remarkably well this year, this time plying his trade on the golf course is Troy Riley, considering the golf season has only just begun Troy has come on in leaps and bounds so far this year, success at a number of tournaments has result in Troys handicap has come down from 36 to 14.8 in the space of 12 months, last weekend he won the Torquay GC Club Championships Silver medal, very impressive. We look forward to that figure coming down again as the year progresses. Well done Troy.

Athletics

Elyse Leech, in Year 14, has been mixing it with the ‘big guns’ in athletics recently.  She went to Bedford last weekend.where she competed in the U20 & U23 England Champs and European trials. On Saturday she did the 100 metres, she got through the heats and gained a place in the semi-finals, which was filmed live by the BBC sport. You can still watch it on line on the BBC sport website. On the Sunday she ran the 200 metres. Her coach said probably the best race of her life, she ran in 25.22. Not a Personal Best, however the wind was against her all weekend. If it had been ideal conditions she would have gone sub 25.00. The competition was an extremely tough one as many of the athletes she was up against will be in team GB junior team. She came twelfth overall in the 100m. Well done Elyse and we wish you all the very best in the future as you leave the Academy now an go off to pursue your athletic dreams.

Rounders

On Wednesday the year 8 rounders team went to Churston for a tournament against 9 other schools. The weather was very hot and the girls didn’t get a break all day but they played their very best right until the very end, coming away with some amazing results. Overall we had 6 wins and 3 loses. Our wins included scores of 10-4 against KEVICC and 6-1 against Churston GS. There was amazing batting when it was needed and our fielding was second to none throughout the whole day; this included getting all of Newton Abbot College team out within 4 minutes into the game. The team was led by our Captain Lily Rogers who showed amazing sportsmanship and leadership skills well done Lily. Man of the match goes to Leoni Bailey; phenomenal bowling throughout all nine games, not give any half rounders away what so ever is a great achievement.

Miss Walklin was extremely proud of each and everyone of them, well done!

Football

Congratulations to Ellis Knowles and Miles Hindom Year 9 on their awards at the recent Galmpton Under 14 annual awards. Ellis was awarded with the golden boot whilst Miles was awarded with the most improved player.  They were both given trophies for their part in the team winning their division this year. Well done to both.

Cricket

The U13s cricket team travelled the short walk to Cricketfield Road this week to play our old rivals Torquay Boys’ Grammar School. The sun shone brightly, a gentle breeze caressed the trees and the sound of leather on willow was unmistakable, a perfect day for cricket. The boys won the toss and elected to bowl first. A great decision by Captain Bevan. Finley Last opened the bowling and got us off to a good start with some lovely line and length. The two TBGS openers looked solid in defence yet started tentatively. Josh Thompson came on to bowl with some genuine pace and pegged the batsmen back for a couple of overs and was unlucky not to get a couple of wickets in his opening spell as the batsmen struggled with his pace. Finley then made the break through and cleaned bowled both the openers in the same over. The wickets then began to tumble steadily. Will Green took the ball and started with a no ball, then a wide, then finally found his rhythm and cleaned bowled the batsmen. The next lad in fell immediately to the following ball and Will was on for a hat-trick. The incoming batsmen blocked well to deny Will, but what an over- it had everything! Jack Alcock bowled very well picking up a couple of wickets and Bobby Western also grabbed one whilst getting some turn off the pitch.

Captain Bevan then handed over the wicket keeper gloves to Josh Thompson, who kept very well behind the stumps, allowing Will to take another wicket. Owen Woodcock and Will Howard also bowled very tight with good line and length at a crucial part in the game. Ben German fielded well along with Kai Alexander doing a great job of stopping boundaries with some acrobatic fielding in the deep. Harry Clarke was a bison in the field, as ever, chasing the ball like a terrier after a tennis ball.

It truly was a team performance and every player made a crucial impact and contributed to keeping their score to 123 for 8 wickets.

Now with the game finely balanced our opening pair of Finley Last and Jack Alcock strode to the crease knowing that a run rate of seven an over would secure victory. They started well blocking the first few deliveries until the bad ball came and then looked to score freely. Finley looked to make his mark on the game and dispatched the ball to the boundary whenever the bowlers strayed off their line and length. He hit fourteen runs in one over consisting of a six, two fours! The lads managed the chase very well, only playing expansive shots when it was needed. By half way, the team were just about on track with the run rate but had all their wickets in hand. Finley Last moved through the twenties and into his thirties and with that explosive over quickly moved into his forties. And with a couple of flashes Finley secured his fifty. An outstanding batting performance. He ended up on 59 being bowled trying to finish the game early.

In came Bobby Western to try and get the team over the line, unfortunately, he didn’t last long and was caught trying to smash the ball over the boundary. Which opened the door for Josh Thompson to come to the crease. The boys required thirty runs from the last six overs. Then twenty three from the last five. Fingernails were starting to disappear on the hands of spectators. With a big over from Josh Thompson and Jack Alcock, now swinging the bat freely, the lads now required just eleven runs off the final three overs. A really good game now hung in the balance on the young shoulders of Josh and Jack. Could they get the team over the line after Finley’s impressive innings? Could they hold their nerve against a very good Grammar side? Would they be heroes?….. Yes they would! With a few crunching drives and a fantastic six, Josh hit the winning runs to secure a first ever cricket victory against the Grammar school. An amazing performance by all involved!

Cricket is a team sport that relies heavily on individual performances. However, this was a real team effort especially when fielding and bowling. It was a pleasure to watch these young cricketers express themselves on the pitch. Well done to all involved, an unbeaten season. Here’s looking forward to next year!

Team L-R: Josh Thompson, Bobby Western, Harry Clarke, Will Green, Finley Last, Owen Woodcock (in front), Will Bevan (Capt), Kai Alexander, Jack Alcock, Not pictured- Will Howard and Ben German.

 Y8 Captain Selected for Northern Ireland Super Cup

Year 8 Football Captain Harley Sneap found out this week that he has been selected as one of the 18 player squad for the Northern Ireland Super Cup. Harley plays for Plymouth Argyle at Under 13 level, but has been selected for the Under 15 squad (so he will be playing against Year 10 boys!) He has worked so hard through a very tough 8 week trial and this included playing some very strong teams and completing 5 hour training sessions. He faces Swansea next Saturday away then West Brom on Sunday away in preparation. Good Luck Harley, we continue to be very proud of what you are achieving!

Construction Visit

On Friday the 5th our Year 10 Btec Construction students revisited the new theatre and were blown away by the size and quality of the building. The 2 Dance studios, seating for 350 plus in the new theatre and classrooms on the first floor will give our students further opportunity to shine in their chosen subjects. Thank you Warwick for showing us around and giving us a real insight into the challenges that this job posed and also explaining how some of the sustainable technology works to make the building comfortable without damaging the environment.

UK MT Junior Maths Challenge

Earlier this year, 180 students in Year 7 and 8 took part in the UK Maths Trust Junior Maths Challenge. They had to solve problems which will then be marked and compared with thousands of other students across the UK in the hope that they will receive a bronze, silver or gold certificate. The results are now in and we have a large number of students who have achieved bronze, silver and gold certificates!

Best in School/Best in Year 8/Gold: Jessica Breach

Best in Year 7/Silver: James Scrimgeour

Gold: Leo Dunkley

Silver: Alan Kumiega, Poppy Holloway, Lily Rogers, William Bevan, Troy Riley, Mya Green, Madison Brewer, Kelsey Hawkings, Mason McCarthy-Payne, Zoe Manly, Finley Gaisford and Lily Hammacott.

Bronze: Toby Leaver, Olivia Walker, Finlay McClements, Ena Brett-Wilson, Kai Fowler, Corbyn Gardner, Alex Green, Jett Bradford, Holly Roberts, Olivia Kenyon, Ben Eales, Emilie Cartwright, Finn Drew, Umeiko Melodious, Archie Hughes, Max Gamble, AJ Sims, Freya Davies, Charlotte Sweeney, Gabriel Prior, Grace Povey, Emily Tucker, Melissa Piper, Georgia Jones, William Harrison, Harrison Spurle, Kye Wren and Oscar Bidmead.

Students of the Week

Students of the week this week are: Rose Bradley, Lila Nyari, Ellie Chammings, Peter Holmes Finley Paul,

Principal Certificates

Bronze : (not in order) Carter Pease, Kian Chadwick, Aaron Lyne-Ley, Olivia Foster, Sonny Ronson, Kofi Essiful, Spencer Artz, Mya Miles, Keely Bell, Kayleigh Hayward

Silver :(not in order) Cody Cockram, Dylan White, Nadia Wisnik, Serena Milton, Holly Bastow, Tia Goldring, Imogen Winston

Gold: (not in order) Kye Wren, Luke Gerry O’Connor, Lily Rogers, Dylan Weatherburn-Bird, Megan Bird, Lauren Wills, Esther Cox, Skye Milton-Jones, Izabelle Pollard, Jack Manley, Lizzie Harris, Cameron Smith, Ellie Reshad

Governor Certificates

Bronze:(not in order) Jemima Holt, Melissa Piper, Owen Woodcock, Rachel Breach, Bobbie Royal, Mia Denby, Karolina Lagodzinska,  Niamh Dolan

Silver: Tyler Bayliss, Grace Povey,  Ocean Latto, Joel Copping

Gold : Sophie Caton, Rose Bradley, Ellie Denby, Shannon Adamson

Platinum: Boris Pugh

House Stars of the Week

Year 7

Brunel – Klara Kornforth

Christie – Harrison Stevens

Darwin – Joseph Osborn

Fawcett – Owen Greenwood

Harrison –

Kitson – Anna Brailsford-Dunn

Nearne – Monica Mitula

Pengelly – Josh Nagy

Year 8

Brunel – Bobby Western

Christie – Jemima Staples

Darwin –

Fawcett – Ben Eales

Harrison –

Kitson – Milla Schwarz

Nearne – Isaac Astbury

Pengelly –

Year 9

Brunel – Etahn Aspbury

Christie – Luke Howard

Darwin – Ellie Mitchell

Fawcett – Felix Houghton

Harrison –

Kitson – Ellis Knowles

Nearne – Sean Brown

Pengelly –

Theatre update

A great leap forward this week as the climbing wall started to be erected on the far side of the building.  Inside work continues on painting and final fixes in the classroom.  In the theatre, the steel trusses have been put in place.