Principal’s Blog

Year 11 Final Assembly Year 11 had their final assembly before their examinations begin next week. They received the good luck cards their parents and carers wrote for them on results evening. Sixth Form Musicians Rock St Marychurch Molloys in St. Marychurch pulsed with raw energy last Wednesday night as four rising bands from our […]

Mrs Berry organised a fantastic cultural trip to France for our GCSE students, staying in a chateau, just outside of Paris. On the first day, they visited a French market, where the students…

Our Year 10 football academy students had a two-day tour they will never forget. It included tickets to watch the Manchester City v Real Madrid Champions League 1/4 final…

After months of rehearsals, this week finally saw Aladdin Jr. take to the stage! What a show week it has been for our talented cast who have whisked audiences away on a whirlwind…

Our reigning Tomorrow’s Engineers Lego Robotics National Champions took on a new challenge this year – the First Lego League! This is an entirely different challenge with schools competing…

The U16 Netball Academy showed great resilience, determination and teamwork throughout both matches in the national finals. The girls fought hard and put a lot of effort in and although…

This week, along with the student leadership team, I had the pleasure of welcoming our new school council to a celebratory breakfast, which was gladly received….

This week’s cadets embrace the Biennial Review in what has been described as “WOW”. The scene was set for the Inspecting Officer, two cadets, one from the Royal Air Force (RAF)…

Year 11 have had a positive first week doing their final set of PPEs. Their focus in exam briefings has been fantastic and there has been a lot of positivity around their exams from staff and students…

On Thursday, the U16 Netball Academy beat St. Edmunds School to qualify for the semi-finals of the National Sisters in Sport Shield Competition.  They travelled up to Guildford…

Our mountain bikers set out again this week for a night ride.  Not for the faint-hearted, the students set out across Haldon using the skills taught to them by Mr Whelan…

On Friday years 9 and 10 were invited to witness our first Live Music Lunch of the new year with music from ‘Draculin’, a band featuring musicians from the school. As has become customary…

Our Year 9 boys have already made it into the last 8 in the country.  This week, our Y11 girls netball team also made it to the last 8 in the country; the Year 9 girls’ football team…

Fourteen more students were awarded their DofE Award certificates this week. Ten students successfully completed their Bronze awards and three students successfully completed their Silver…

In the final assembly, the House Trophies were awarded to the Heads of Houses to great cheering and a few boos!  Congratulations to Pengelly as they lifted the overall House Champions…

We were treated to the most amazing Christmas Concert with over 160 performers!  All our students’ performances were exceptional and we were lucky to have been there…

Members of the Year 9 and Year 12 High Performance Academy took a trip to Oxford University last week.  They were hosted by one of the Oxford colleges – Exeter College – and had…

The Torquay Academy team of Year 8s came away with first place from the Dragons Den competition on 1 December! A massive well done to our team…

To celebrate the addition of the lighting and beacons to our zebra crossing, of Heads of House took a stroll before handing out certificates on Friday morning. Have a look at our very own…

A number of our very talented A level Photography & Art students spent a chilly, but inspiring Thursday afternoon up on Dartmoor for a series of photo shoots. Each student was…

In a display of unity and respect, our school community, led by the dedicated efforts of our cadets staff and students, came together to commemorate Remembrance Day with…

Dolce Zulhayir, in Year 10, and her horse Raffie headed up to Buckingham to represent Torquay Academy in The National Schools Equestrian Association Championships…

Two weeks ago we had the first science club session where students had a look at a range of loud and colourful reactions involving a range of elements. The students were great at investigating…

Our very own motorsport team took part in the Greenpower season finale on Sunday, having qualified for the World Finals alongside 114 other teams from around the globe…

I love popping in to see the Pudding Club after school on a Friday (even though the students don’t share food!).  It is so nice to see how much fun our girls and boys have at the end of a busy week…

Farah was crowned European Champion over the summer, and this week has represented Team GB at the Tap World Championships in Germany.  She performed brilliantly…

Both of our teams, year 11 with Bindon and year 10 with Pugh set off during the thunder and lightning at 5 o’clock on Sunday morning to travel up to Castle Combe…

We’ve got the qualifications, we’ve got the kit, we’ve done the paperwork so now it’s time to go paddling! TA have further invested a lot of time and money to be able to…

Our new Year 7s have made a very positive impression on us all this week. They have had lots to do and learn; the three days of TA Way are designed to ensure they…

We could not be more proud of our amazing year 11 students. As they headed into school to pick up their results in the rain, they may have heard stories on the news…

We are so proud of our wonderful Year 13 students who collected their incredible results today. They have applied themselves brilliantly over the past two years in the…

This is the longest blog post of the year and there are lots of pictures! Below are photos from Sports Day, Sports Awards Evening, SummerFest, CCF gliding, , Year 8…

Our Year 11s looked incredible as they arrived for their Prom. They have worked so hard over the past five years and they truly deserved their moment in the limelight…

Congratulations to our Year 7 Robotics Team who have been crowned Tomorrow’s Engineers Robotics Challenge National Champions this week! This is the second time we have…

Gary Monk, ex Torquay Academy student and Premiership star and manager, returned to school for the official opening of our changing rooms and astro.  Gary has had an incredible career…

On Tuesday evening we celebrated the achievements and successes of our wonderful Sixth Form students. Students from both Year 12 and Year 13 were voted for…

Another six of our CCF (RAF) cadets got the opportunity to experience flying in the RAF trainer plane, the Grob Tutor. Cadets Roberta Bankes-Fay, and Jack Hicks, Cadet Corporals…

Emma Harrison was invited to Buckingham Palace for her Gold Duke of Edinburgh celebration. The afternoon was spent listening to inspirational speeches from celebrities…

Our Year 7s finished their season by lifting the South Devon Cup this week.  Goals from Max and Oscar secured a 2 – 1 win over Newton Abbot College.  It was a game that should have been…

TA students are getting the opportunity to go Coasteering this half term.  We are delighted to be able to offer even more free extra curricular opportunities for our girls and boys.  For those not…

Our Ten Tors Training started back in October last year with five Teams being entered into the challenge. 3 cadet teams and 2 school teams all worked incredibly hard to complete…

During this round of house assemblies, the focus was the fundraising that our students had been doing for local charitable organisations. Each house is aligned to a local charity…

Another amazing trip to the Brecon Beacons, South Wales. Friday’s weather was showing a lot of rain and wind but did not deter the spirits of the teams. Thankfully as they travelled north…

What a show! On Wednesday and Thursday evenings this week, 45 boys and girls from our Performing Arts Academy took to the stage and put on our best production ever!

What a fantastic County semi final away to Ivybridge for our year 7s. Both teams were a credit to their schools and the game was a close one….We now wait to see who we will play in the final…

On Tuesday evening our incredible Year 11s put on a night to remember.  As part of the final exam they had to perform a 15 minute set.  They also had to plan the light and sound for the event…

Emma Harrison, in Year 13, has now received confirmation that she had successfully completed her DofE Gold award. Emma is our first student to successfully complete…

As part of March 2nd’s World Book Day, we challenged students in years 7,8 and 9 to take part in Torquay Academy’s Masked Readers. Students were shown a video of different staff members…

The CCF Contingent at Torquay Academy now welcomes the Year 8s! A cadet experience evening was provided with over 50 students signing up to take part in the Army and RAF Cadet…

The Year 12 Geographers had a successful day in Plymouth conducting their Human Fieldwork. They visited the City Centre to look at the regeneration of Drake Circus, followed by a visit to…

We took a group of thirty year 9 students and fourteen year 12 students to Oxford University on a trip organised by Dr Jones along with the High Performance Academy. This was following…

This week the U13 Girls Football team played a 9 a side match against Kingsbridge and came away with a strong win. The girls used the space very well and stuck to their positions…

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…

The morning weather report! They could see it was going to be a wet one, but that didn’t stop the spirit of the Ten Tors Teams. An 8am start at the school car park…

Following the incredible Christmas Concert in December we have now received the recording that was made on the night.  Please take a look at our amazing students’ performances…

On Thursday evening, a 350-strong audience braved the cold and were warmed up to a frazzle by a DJ set and in support of our amazing music students. In the darkness of night…

On Wednesday, Year 7 students competed in our annual House Bake Off competition. As always, the event was very popular and many students wanted to participate. House captains…

Last week our year 9s started their county cup tournament, they put in a fantastic performance winning 11-0 on the day. It was brilliant to see them bounce back after the national cup…

A frosty Saturday morning starts to the Ten Tors walk out of Okehampton. Meeting at the school for 0800hrs, loading the minibuses and heading off to the moor in full tune…

A perfect day for flying. A brief jaunt up to Boscombe Down and the 4 cadets went through the tried and tested routine training before each flight. As it was 4 first timers, it was done…

The school gathered to stand in silence at 11am today. In a service led by our own Combined Cadet Force, the two minute silence was impeccably observed. The silence…

The year 7 boys rugby team travelled to TBGS for their first cluster tournament against Spires, Paignton, Churston GS, TBGS A and TBGS B. The boys played some formidable rugby…

Last Wednesday a group of 60 very excited Year 10 and 11 history students left Torquay Academy to start the long journey Berlin. After a night on the coach they arrived in Berlin…

Year 7 have been superb in the cooking rooms making some delicious American-style pancakes as part of their “Breakfast on the hop” topic to start the year. This week it was the…

Year 7 and 8 had their Fun Friday in The Platform this week. The atmosphere was… deafening!! There were some great performances and, most importantly, everyone had lots of fun…

Last weekend, 14 Year 11 students completed their DofE Silver practice expeditions. Mr Brett and Mr Adams had all the equipment loaded on the minibuses and the students rocked…

It is so busy after school every day of the week as so many clubs and societies take place. It is great to see so many of our cadets taking part in a wide variety of activities…

It was lovely to be able to welcome hundreds of prospective students and their families into school this week. They left wowed by our incredible facilities, but even more impressed by the…

We gathered on Friday morning in remembrance of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. I spoke about her life and how she came to the throne, having been born never expecting…

It was wonderful to welcome our new Year 7s into the school on Thursday. They had a very successful transition day in July and they built on that this week by having a great couple of days…

It has been a number of weeks since we last saw our Year 11s at their Prom and it was lovely to welcome them back into school today to collect their results. I am delighted with the results…

We are so proud of our amazing Year 13 students who collected their incredible results today. This is always a special moment in the year, but it feels especially so for a cohort of young people…

Ahead of delivering their own SummerFest our sixth form Music students spent three days in the blistering Sun of Madrid at Mad Cool Festival 2022. With an incredible…

Students from every year group took part in our amazing production of Oliver! this year in The Platform. Performances by every member of the cast were simply incredible. The vocals were…

On Tuesday evening we gathered at the Imperial Hotel for our Year 11 Prom. It was an amazing evening; our boys and girls looked incredible in their outfits and we had a great night celebrating…

Year 11s celebrated their final exam on Friday morning. After completing their Statistics exam, they spent an hour signing each others’ shirts. We are now looking forward to next Tuesday’s…

Last weekend 15 Year 9 DofE Bronze students undertook their DofE Bronze practice expedition. In the beautiful June weather, the students, for the first time, carried full rucksacks, put into practice…

A wonderful result for our Year 9 students who represented TA in the Jubilee Cake Competition at Exeter College. The three students, Sophie Packer, Bella Lester and Emily Chamberlain…

This week the Enterprise Learning Area had a visit from Nick South, Education Liaison Officer of Western Power Distribution. Nick has supported a number of projects within the…

We are delighted that we now have an Army section in addition to our RAF section in the school’s CCF (Combined Cadet Force). Over 50 Year 8s have signed up to the CCF in the past week…

Torquay Academy’s Ten Tors Training started back in October last year. The students began an extensive training program that included, map reading, food and water management, physical…

Last Friday we held the finals of TA’s house cycling competition. It took place at the Olympic velodrome Newport Wales. Students were selected for the event with speed trials…

Over the Easter break, the year 10 Motorsport team embarked on a school trip unlike any other. They jetted off to Alabama in Southern USA to enjoy a rich blend of activities…

Last weekend, we took a number of students up to Wolverhampton to compete in the English Schools Table Tennis Finals. On Saturday, we had Jakub Piwowar (Y9)…

Years 7 and 11 and the Sixth Form gathered this week to have their year group photos. All of the year groups have had such a successful year and it will be lovely to see…

Kacper Piwowar in Year 7 has won the U13 Boys Singles at the WTT Youth Contender in Tunis! He has become the winner of WTT Tunis, World Table Tennis Tunis Youth Series…

Wednesday saw our last PSHEe day for this year. As usual, we covered a wide variety of topics. We also had, for the first time a careers fair, this bought together a variety of employers…

The Torquay Academy RAF Cadets have completed our first official RAF review of cadet training. This was the cadets’ first official inspection from the Cadet Headquarters…

Last weekend, Pierce took part in the first round of The World Crossfit Championships online. Pierce incredibly finished first in the UK and now progresses forward to the…

This week I have had the pleasure of interviewing our Year 12 students who have applied for our Head Girl and Boys positions. It is always humbling to spend time with so many amazing…

This week Year 8 and 10 girls attended Paignton Hub to compete in the South Devon Indoor Cricket Competition. They competed fantastically well picking up the game’s…

This week I saw our very talented Year 9s rehearsing the play Bouncers, by John Godber It is a play about Lucky Eric, Judd, Les and Ralph who describe themselves as the original…

After a successful week of netball fixtures, the Year 8 netball academy had their first video analysis session in the brand new TA changing room with Miss Lewis and Mrs Tully…

On Saturday ten intrepid TA students braved the harsh Dartmoor conditions to go bouldering. Bouldering is a form of climbing without ropes instead using bouldering mats…

Our new Team TA home changing rooms have been completed over the Christmas break. These state of the art changing facilities will be the envy of any sports team in the country…

Emica’s family and friends gathered on Thursday 30th December at Torquay Crematorium along with so many others whose lives were touched by her. At the gathering, we were able…

After two long years without live events music is back! This Wednesday a sold out audience of 300, lateral flow(ed), masked up and packed out the Platform for a well needed celebration…

On Wednesday evening we had an incredible evening celebrating the work of our CCF. The evening involved a number of demonstrations from the cadets where they showed off some…

17 of our year 7s achieved the gold standard in their effort scores for cycle 1. This was a very impressive level of effort for these students to maintain during their first term in secondary…

Mrs Lynch and Miss Nixon have been running an in house art competition for year 8 and year 7 students, we have had some amazing entries. These will also be entered into the rotary…

As I reported last week, the Student Voice Committee have selected an appropriate charity for each house. This week of course, it is important to feature our Harrison students…

The CCF led our remembrance service this year. The service was held in The Platform and broadcast to all of the classrooms where the 2 minute silence was impeccably observed…

Over the past month, Year 7 students in each house have been competing in our first academic inter-house competition- The Battle of the Brains. This has involved teams of four…

Sometimes you are asked to wait a minute for something. Well, this was an 18 month wait. All 8 students were booked in April 2019 to go flying or gliding or both before Easter…

On Sunday our team left school at 3.30am, arriving at Goodwood racetrack at 7am. It was an incredible day for the students and throughout the day we tried our hardest to beat…

Last weekend saw the DofE Silver practice expedition go out between Friday afternoon and Sunday. And the practice couldn’t of possibly got more difficult for the students…

Congratulations to our Year 10 girls and Year 8 and 9 boys who have all progressed into the second round of the Elite Schools National Cup. A great start to the season!

We are delighted to welcome back existing Performing Arts Academy (PAA) members as well as our new year 7s. PAA has hit the ground running, launching straight into rehearsals…

Our very own motorsport team had a great surprise last week when Mr Foulds called them and their families in for a briefing to cover the plans for the forthcoming academic year…

Our new Year 7s have had a great week. They have settled in brilliantly and I am being asked less and less where classrooms are! They spent Period 5 on Monday to Thursday this week…

We welcomed over 240 of our new Year 7s during the last week of the holiday. We had a great week getting to know each other, showing the new students around the school…

We were determined to hold our Year 11 Prom to celebrate the incredible efforts of our students. It was disappointing to have had to cancel the date in July as COVID-19 restrictions…

We are so proud of our incredible students who have worked so hard during their GCSE years. They have had to put up with so much disruption, but they haven’t used this as an excuse…

I am exceptionally proud of all of our students who have had the strangest of Sixth Form experiences. Today they picked up their results which reflect the incredible efforts…

In a normal year, we would have held our Celebration Evenings over the past couple of weeks. This year we have had to hold it during the school day. The awards are a great testament…

This week should have been the performances of our Year 7 production, Annie. I was so disappointed for the students who have worked so hard this year and having to have the two…

Every week our brilliant CCF undertake all manner of activities. This week they were up on our climbing wall. Ben Hopkins, Year 12, has won the England Colleges FA’s prestigious…

Last weekend twenty Year 9 students undertook their navigation and camp craft training when they attended their D of E Practice Expedition. Ably assisted and trained by…

Our very own in-house motorsport took to the road bright and early on Wednesday morning to arrive at Preddanack, Cornwall, for a 7:30 start to compete in the latest Greenpower…

Interviews were held for the new student leadership roles, congratulations to Anna Hobson, Ben Woodward, Shannon Banks, Yuliyana Zhelyazkova, Beau Giles and Nick Turner…

Year 13 came back into school this afternoon for a farewell assembly. We had lunch together followed by the assembly. In the assembly, we were treated to three amazing performances…

Congratulations to Jakub Piwowar, in Year 8, who qualified for the European Youth Championship which will take place in Croatia at end of July. Table Tennis England invited 14 best players…

Last Sunday the school’s in-house motorsport team set off to Glorious Goodwood for their first race of 2021 in the super eco-friendly Greenpower race series where they took to the grid…

The new effort boards were put up this week. As always, I am so impressed with how hard our girls and boys are working. The effort grades they receive are all thoroughly deserved…

The quality of our students’ art work is always just incredible and a privilege to be able to see. This is just a selection of the amazing work our students have produced…

Congratulations to Olivia Foster in Year 11 who won both of her events last weekend in Cornwall. As well as working hard on her GCSEs she is still managing to compete at the highest level…

This week staff and students have been writing appreciation cards to each other. We are all very thankful for what others within our community do to support and help us…

Congratulations to our MFL department on being awarded the prestigious International School Award journey. In the assessment, we were told “you have comfortably met the…

Every now and then I get to witness something quite brilliant. Mr Haring came to see me on Thursday with this drawing by Bradlee Tarrant in Year 9. I had already caught up with Bradlee…

It has been great to be able to welcome all of our students back into school this week. It has been so lovely to have everyone back in school – there is such an energy to the place again…

On Thursday and Friday this week we have tested 1,400 students in readiness to welcome them back to school for lessons on Monday. I am so grateful to all of our staff who undertook training…

I was very jealous of some of the pancakes you have made – they have made me feel very hungry this morning!! The Fun Friday Team wanted to say a massive well done to all students…

Below you can watch a video that follows our former head boy, Jack Bell, during his week auditions for a place in the Royal Marines’ Band. I am delighted to be able to tell you that Jack has…

On Monday I paid a visit to the winners of last year’s Golden Mortarboard awards. We would have loved to have handed out these awards at our celebration evenings, but our students…

It is incredible to see how our PAA team are able to rehearse so effectively with our Year 7 students both in school and at home. You can watch them in action. Again it is wonderful…

It is so lovely to see so many students sharing some of the activities they are getting up to at home. We have picked three winners at random he will each be sent a £10 Amazon gift voucher…

Our wonderful performing arts Academy has been able to continue with some students in school and others joining in virtually via Google Hangouts. The year sevens are continuing…

It has been a very unusual return to school this term… Whilst we were only expecting to have vulnerable children and the children of critical workers this week, Boris’ announcement…

You have to watch this! Our Performing Arts Academy has been operating in year group bubbles this year. Charlotte Robinson, our Director of the Performing Arts Academy…

The cadets stepped up this week showing just how far they have come since they started about a year ago. They have spent the last couple of weeks working hard to improve…

On Thursday the Year 13s performed their assessed live music performances. It was wonderful to see these gifted students performing in The Platform again. I will share videos of them…

Year 7 students looked at some ways to keep healthy, including what makes a balanced diet to how to deal with change and setbacks. Students also looked at ways that the media…

It’s fair to say that our Music Department, in particular, is finding the current lockdown and suspension of all live music events extremely challenging. At TA our music students are…

This year has seen many challenges and a Virtual Remembrance was another first for the CCF cadets. There was a good turn out from the cadets who were proudly wearing their Blue…

30 Students set out to do their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh in September 2019 in a world where they could choose from a wide range of different activities. Many started away and…

Year 11 student, Harry Lee, was selected as Exeter’s first team substitute keeper for their League 2 game against Crawley on Tuesday night. It is quite remarkable to be on the bench…

We talk a great deal about climbing the mountain to university. Oxford and Cambridge are the hardest universities in the country to get into and I could not be more proud of the 11…

Our students have been wowed by the new creative arts corridor this year. Miss Pappin and her team designed how they wish their new inspiring space to look. It is brilliant and…

Our tutor reading programme has got off to a flying start with Mr Davis’ form group having now finished their first book already! Research has shown the exceptionally strong link…

The Year 7s had an Open Mic in The Platform and they were just brilliant fun! Eyes down in Year 9! It was hot chocolates all round for our hard-working Year 10s…

On Sunday morning the school’s in house motorsport team headed off from school at 5am to compete in a covid friendly set of Greenpower races at Castle Combe racing circuit…

Our Year 7s have had an amazing first full week with us. They have been earning many House points and impressing all of our staff. This gives you a little glimpse into one of their days…

I have been so impressed with our Year 7s over the past couple of days. They have shown such maturity in their approach to their first couple of days with us, especially given…

Today our students opened up an incredible set of GCSE results that reflect five years’ of dedicated studying. Whilst they were not given the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge…

I am so proud of all of our students who have had to contend with the strangest of times during the examination period of their Year 13 exams. Today was the day to come together…

In addition to our final few keeping touching base mornings, I have also been having assemblies with all of the students attending the variety of provisions that we…

As part of our touching base program, Year 12 students studying BTEC courses have been coming back into school to spend the morning with their teachers. One of these sessions…

It has been lovely to welcome back students this week who haven’t been in school since March. Students have been coming into The Platform in small groups where I have met with…

Students continue to get a wide variety of lessons in our All Day School. This week we introduced lessons in our study centre to enable the Year 9 students to continue with their GCSE subjects…

So much has been written in the press about the reopening of schools from Monday of this week. Of course, we have never closed! We did, however, open our doors to many more…

Mr Chadwick Has been holding end of week assemblies with each of the year groups in the All Day School. He is very proud of the students’ achievements this week as we have…

We are having a really successful first week back in the Year 10 Full Time School (for children whose parents are critical workers and vulnerable children). They are in focusing on their…

This week I had a few wonderful hours as I visited a number of our students to deliver certificates and chocolate bars to our students who have really gone above and beyond…

This morning students were asked to try and identify which members of staff were in photographs from their early years. You can see the answers in the video above……..

Thank you for continuing to share all of the enrichment activities our students are doing at home. Students have been continuing their home learning in school when their parents have been at work…

I am so pleased to see so many students sharing their enrichment activities with us. This video is a selection of what has been happening this week. Please continue to share…

Three of our Year 12 students have been selected for the very competitive and prestigious Sutton Trust Summer Schools at Bristol University. This is an incredible achievement…

We have spent a lot of time over the Easter break ensuring that our students have access to the highest quality resources to support them at home. They have been receiving…

The headlines in the media have been that schools are closed. The reality is very different here at TA and other schools. We are still open and teachers are still in work to teach…

Today has been a very strange and quite emotional day. It marks but will probably be the final day for our year 11s and 13s before they come back in the summer to collect their results…

I am delighted to be able to share our latest report with the school community today. The full report that shows Torquay Academy continues to be a good school…

Visitors and students can’t miss our amazing Greenpower display at the front of school. It’s not long now until the season starts with the first race at Goodwood on 10th May…

We are really excited to launch the partnership of VX3 Apparel and Team TA. Our student-athletes will be looking amazing whilst competing in all sports. We are excited by this collaboration…

Our incredible students have won the regional finals of the Tomorrow’s Engineers competition again. This means that they qualify for the National Championships for the third year…

1200 copies of the TA Dictionary were given out to all students and staff from year 7-11 this week. The dictionary contains over 1000 keywords from across the curriculum…

Josh Parry who has been selected to play for the England Colleges under 19 team made his debut this week against a strong Australia team in Barnet. The final score was 1 – 1 but it served great…

Last Wednesday the Year 8s were taken to Haldon forest for our annual cycling house competition. They raced on Haldon blue run with the top 4 qualifying for finals at the Olympic Velodrome…

This week Funday Friday was a dance-off held in the platform. Hosted by Mr Jones, who was acting like he was on an audition to be a redcoat, our students performed some incredible dances…

Today we treated the students to a hot chocolate with Marshmallows at lunchtime. Why? Because we wanted to make just a small gesture to recognise their fantastic efforts this week…

This was just an amazing evening where so many young peoples talents were on display. Only Torquay Academy can put on a Christmas concert that includes traditional choir numbers…

Our Year 7 team played in their first ever Under 12 match for the school in a competition called the Junior NBA; as part of the competition we were supplied kit by Basketball England…

Last week saw the announcement of the very first Year 8 ‘lead learners’ in Music. The music ‘lead learner badge’ is being awarded to a selection of students at the end of each learning cycle…

To achieve a perfect effort score of 1 is an incredible achievement. Each of the following students achieved a top effort grade from every one of their teachers for their mindset for learning…

Following a very competitive two-phase trials process, we are happy to announce that Josh Parry has been selected for the England Colleges National Team for 2019/20. More than 300 players…

At 11am on the 11th of November the guns fell silent during World War 1 and this year Torquay Academy fell silent as we remembered those who had given their lives in the hope…

The enterprise department have been having fun with our Year 7 budding Design Technologists this week making their own keyrings. What a great way for our students to spend a lunchtime!

30 young people joined the RAF Cadets at the end of September and had a couple of taster sessions before making the commitment to become a RAF Cadet. From there they have worked…

We were privileged to welcome Chris Lubbe, Nelson Mandela’s bodyguard, to TA on Wednesday. His talk was truly inspirational and gave our young people an insight and understanding…

Tuesday evening saw the official opening of The Platform. Our Chair and Vice Chair of Governors, Vince Flower and Leo Critchlow, cut the red tape to mark its official opening…

After a year and more of carefully planning, a phenomenally successful launch day, the cadets are on parade. An historic moment as it is a first for the Academy…

The Year 9 Music Technology students have made an excellent start to the year developing their sequencing skills through a remix of Billie Eilish’s ‘Bury A Friend’. Over the last week…

Today we opened Charlotte’s garden. It is a space in the Year 7 playground that our students can use for friendship, reflection and respect. The garden is in memory of Charlotte…

I wrote last week about how much of a positive impression our Year 7s have made upon our staff; this week they have cemented their reputation as an outstanding year…

It is amazing! We are blessed to have a theatre that is genuinely as good as it gets. It seats 310 and is equipped with the highest quality light and sound system possible. I cannot wait to see…

Our students have celebrated an incredible record-breaking set of results today. We are so proud of how they have worked throughout their GCSE courses and they have received the results…

It has been another record-breaking year of results for our Year 13 students. We were delighted to see our students pick up their A level and BTEC results today and share in their successes…

On Wednesday the watersports students spent a day on the Moors gorge walking in the river Plym. This involved scrambling over rocks as they climbed up the river, sliding down rocks…

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…

On the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd June, 25 Year 9 students undertook their Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Qualifying Expedition in the beautiful South Devon coastal area…

As part of the HPA this year, we have introduced a university style element to Torquay Academy. We wanted students to really experience what it would be like to be part of lectures…

On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evening this week Torquay Academy played host to a packed audience for the Performing Arts Academy’s production of High School Musical…

Our Performing Arts Academy is delighted to present High School Musical next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evening. Doors from 6.00pm, show start time 6:30pm. Tickets are available…

Our U15s attended the County 7 a side finals on Tuesday at the Devon FA headquarters. After a great performance in the local competition we entered the county final in high spirits…

On Monday our year 7 and 8 students competed in the house velodrome cycling competition in Newport Wales. After a 90 minute coaching session they competed in time trails…

This week, the Year 8 football team have competed in two finals – both against our neighbours from Torquay Boys Grammar School. On Wednesday was the County Cup final…

At the start of the year, we had eighty-three students hoping to make it to the final twelve who would be selected for the final teams to take part in this most gruelling of challenges…

Just before the Easter Holidays Malcolm Adams and Mr Brett undertook their Initial Officer training course at Cranwell in readiness to launch the CCF RAF section to Torquay Academy…

Last night our year 12 music students performed to a packed Malloys Bar in St Marychurch. Three bands each performed a brilliant set of classic and modern tunes. It was such a privilege…

Last Friday students had had a fantastic time celebrating a belated World Book Day across the school. World Book Day is a great opportunity to promote reading across all year groups…

The TA Robotics team competed in the national final of the Tomorrow’s Engineers Lego Robotics challenge on Friday. Hosted as part of the Big Bang Fair at the NEC in Birmingham…

Our post 16 football program faced the Foxes Academy on Wednesday in the quarter-finals of the national ECFA cup. We prepared the best we could in the lead up to the game…

On Wednesday 27th February our Year 12 physicists attended a trip to the Cavendish laboratories at Cambridge University. The students were able to explore…

Since arriving at TA in January 2014 I have written a weekly blog outlining some of the incredible activities that take place here. The blog offers a glimpse into life here and details so many…

Our 1st team have been in great form leading up to travelling away to play in the last 16 of the ECFA national cup. After a strong win in the last round against Thomas Telford…

On Wednesday, the TA Robotics team participated in the South West regional final of the Tomorrow’s Engineers Lego Robotics challenge hosted at Renishaw, Gloucestershire…

A number of our Year 10 and 12 students have successfully completed their Brilliant Club assignments, marking the culmination of a programme which has involved a series of seminars…

Three years ago Mr Harries, Mr Hogg and Mr Grinsill visited Thomas Telford looking at their sport, especially football within the school before starting our own post 16 full-time programme…

Christmas has been extended for TA Music Technology students, grateful recipients of 33 ‘state of the art’ M-Audio, Oxygen 25 MIDI Keyboards. Boasting full integration with Logic…

Over the Christmas holidays, we took delivery of a new drone. Almost everyone who has seen it has made an airport joke in one form or another, so please feel free…

Our Christmas Concert is undoubtedly one of the highlights of my year. It is a genuine joy to hear so many varied outstanding performances. I received the following email from one of our…

The Sixth Form Students have organised a Christmas Jumper Day. The poster outlines what students need to bring into school in, to support our local food bank, next Wednesday…

This is the first day of winter according to the Met Office. The weather responded by raining consistently for 4 hours driven on by gust up to 40 mph. This was on top of a very wet week…

We were delighted to welcome so many students and their parents to TA last night for our 6th Form Open Evening. Mrs Hosking gave a presentation to a packed hall and then students…

On Friday 16th November the Year 10 geographers, along with the geography department and other staff, braved the elements for their GCSE physical fieldwork at Slapton Sands…

On Tuesday this week, we were treated to an evening full to the brim with talent in our first ever Upper School Music Showcase. The evening consisted of Y11 exam performances…

Last Saturday Torquay United hosted top of the table Billericay Town. Olaf, who has already scored 29 goals this season in various league and cup competitions, was called up to the 1st…

On October 31, 2018, the world celebrated the historic hunt for the unseen—something that scientists refer to as dark matter. Scientists believe that dark matter…

The achievements of last years’ year 11 cohort just keep on accumulating! Courtney McElhinney was invited up to the Institute of the Motor Industry’s annual awards ceremony in…

The Under 15 girls football squad travelled to PCSA for the Torbay schools Futsal competition facing other local schools and returned overall winners. In the first game we started slowly…

28 students have been undertaking their skill and physical challenges since last year. Some have volunteered in school, others in the local community. The final part of their Bronze Award…

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…

It’s been a busy week in the Creative Arts department, in addition to the Performing Arts Academy auditions on Tuesday and Thursday, on Wednesday we held auditions…

It has been an amazing start to the year. Anyone who visits our school is blown away by the atmosphere around the school; it is one of hard work and application…

This year’s edition of The Parliamentary Review was printed this week and it features an article on our school. The Review focuses on exemplary work from organisations…

Our students are celebrating another set of record-breaking GCSE results today. Students performed significantly above national averages in all of the core subjects…

We are celebrating the school’s best ever A Level and BTEC results today as our students achieved a record set of results. A third of all A level grades were at A*-B which is a 12%…

On Thursday afternoon we held our annual TA Summer Fest event for the whole school to enjoy. The entire event was planned and delivered by the 6th form music students…

On Tuesday evening, we held our annual Year 7 Celebration Evening to recognise the outstanding achievements of the students. Mr Jones and Mrs Nicol handed out a range of subject…

For the second year running, Torquay Academy has entered the prestigious MADE Project, an inter-school design and make competition that links each school with a local technology…

Once again the incredible hard work of our students and staff has been recognised, this time by the SSAT. I was invited to London for the award ceremony where I was presented…

Thursday 21st June was a memorable day for our Year 11 students. The day started with their final exam, followed by the signing of their shirts. Writing messages of good luck and…

On Wednesday this week our Performing Arts Academy travelled to London for what students have described as “an experience of a lifetime” and “a day I will never forget!”

Before half term, members of our High Performance Academy in Year 7 were invited to a poetry workshop with a professional local poet: Nels Rodwell. Our Year 7s gained an insight…

I am writing this as I reflect on a day that has brought so much sadness, yet I feel an overwhelming sense of pride in our school and our boys and girls. On Thursday 24th May the school…

What an amazing weekend. It starts as always with the setting up of camp on Thursday. It needed to be twice as large as last year to house and feed the 4 teams. On Friday they left school…

Last night friends and family of the Music Academy were invited to an exclusive performance from featuring special guests, Sound of the Sirens. Members of the Academy…

Students in Product Design have been making full use of the new interactive display on the Enterprise corridor. They have been tasked in lessons to choose one of the many designer-makers…

It has been a great privilege this week to hand out many colours for exceptional dedication and achievement in sport and performing arts. Congratulations to students…

I take great pride in being able to offer our students the most incredible facilities. In the past 18 months, we have secured funding for, and built, five new science labs and the block of nine…

The Ten Tors teams were out training again during the weekend with Saturday’s rain not stopping them. One of the 35 mile teams in particular impressed staff with good navigation…

It was with a great deal of sadness that I had to inform our school community this week of the death of Miss Foster who has worked with us as a maths teacher since 2013…

Maddie, a budding journalist travelled to London having been shortlisted for the Review of the Year from the thousands that were written by children all over the UK…

Mr Harries spent a delightful evening in the company of the Team TA basketball players in their Central Venue League fixtures. He told me the boys played brilliantly and the event was…

We had a visit from the Herald Express this week who wanted to take a photograph of our brilliant Year 12 students to celebrate their position at the top of the local school league…

On Tuesday, eight enthusiastic Year 8 students went to Airbus HQ in Filton, Bristol for the South West Regional Finals of the Tomorrow’s Engineers Lego Robotics Challenge…

We were privileged today to be visited by Lieutenant David Clark. Dave is responsible for the training of recruits at the Royal Britannia Naval College in Dartmouth. He left Torquay Academy…

On Monday the A level Maths students had a real treat as the internationally renowned writer on Mathematics and Physics, Simon Singh, came in to speak to them. During his talk he covered…

On Tuesday evening this week our 6th form music students performed in their first public gig at Molloy’s in St Marychurch. The gig, as if not nerve racking enough, was also a major part…

An ever increasing number of House events are now taking place. To celebrate our Houses students and staff came into school today in mufti, with an item of clothing being the colour…

It is well documented that sport can be cruel but also teach us a lot about life and yourself. This week has been no exception to this at Team TA. Matches were won, matches were lost at times…

Just before Christmas we were granted planning permission for a new block of nine classrooms. Over the Christmas holiday the contractors have been on site putting up the compound…

On Wednesday evening TA celebrated it’s annual Christmas Concert put on by our outstanding Music department. The thing that makes this evening so special is it isn’t your average Xmas Concert

The music department has been overflowing this week with students making final preparations for next week’s whole school Christmas Concert. The concert which includes over 120…

On Friday the Automotive Engineering students took a trip down to Kingswear to spend a day exploring marine engineering based tasks experiencing other career paths in an engineering…

In slightly more challenging conditions, the teams once again ventured out onto north Dartmoor in the area around Okehampton Army Camp. Despite the cold and the low clouds…

The effort boards show students’ average effort grade from their attendance, behaviour and readiness to learn, homework, and mindset for learning. I was particularly pleased…

This week was our first assessment week of the year. Year 11 and 13 students sat their exams in the sports hall as they continue their preparation for their external examinations…

It’s been a busy week for the school’s ever growing activities and at the end of term we were treated to a couple of wonderful musical performances in assembly…

An eerie red glow set over the school on Monday that led to many interesting conversations on the playground. The arrival of Ophelia brought Saharan dust with it giving the sky…

A big learning curve was needed when visiting Paignton for the first league round robin of the season. A spirited start against Paignton was not very fruitful for baskets and TA…

Tuesday bought us the first PSHEe day of the year. The Year 7s had a series of sessions based on emotional and physical health. The Samaritans reinforced this message and explained…

Year 11 girls have started their spinning sessions at the squash club this week as part of their core PE Lessons. They enjoyed the session, however I think we may have a few achy legs…

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…

We started the week with a whole school assembly. The first challenge of the assembly is getting 1,350 students plus staff into the sports hall! I really value the opportunities we get…

I have really enjoyed welcoming our new Year 7s into the school. They have made a very positive first impression with me. They all look incredibly smart and have been exceptionally polite…

We are celebrating another set of record breaking GCSE results this summer. 74% of students achieved 5 GCSE grades at C or above including English and Maths.

Torquay Academy Sixth Form are celebrating a record set of results for this year’s cohort of students. Nichole Sanders, Assistant Principal, stated, “I am delighted for our students

This is the last blog of what has been an extremely busy and full academic year. I hope that you all have a good break and we look forward to seeing students back in school in September…

On Tuesday and Wednesday evening this week the Performing Arts Academy staged their inarguable production, Legally Blonde. The cast of 23 students from Year 7 – 10 have been rehearing…

The Year 10 annual awards evening was held this week. This was a lovely opportunity to praise and award students who show dedication, commitment and great attitude

The year got off to a really good start for Dan, Harvey, Tom, George and Chelsea with a full house of conditional offers to continue their music studies at their first choice universities…

On Thursday evening the Year 11 Prom took place at the Livermead Cliff Hotel. This is a fitting and lovely way to celebrate their incredible efforts this year. We look forward to seeing them…

The current Year 11s have completed their Automotive studies which included an arduous tour through 15 assessments ranging from practical tasks through written papers…

In the current Year 12 we have 40 students looking at universities, with hopefully more signing up during this term to UCAS, with the whole of Year 12 preparing for their next steps…

I was delighted to be invited to London to collect the SSAT Award for our GCSE performance in 2016. It is another accolade for our incredible Year 12 students and staff…

Getting a one for effort in every category from every teacher has never happened before. At the end of quarter three, 4 students managed to achieve this! I am so impressed with them…

Every year is different. This year’s training started out cold, another was very wet but after that we settled down to several good weekends. On some days the visibility was so good…

On Thursday of this week the Sixth Form had their U18 County Cup Final game at Newton Abbot Spurs recreation ground in an attempt to win the cup for a third consecutive year…

You may have spotted Mr Foulds walking gingerly around the school this week after completing the London Marathon on Sunday. It was his first ever full marathon, running in aid of VICTA…

Torquay Academy has been nationally recognised for its exceptional 2016 performance by the Schools, Students and Teachers network (SSAT). Educational Outcomes data analysis…

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!

As part of their Science GCSE, Year 10 have been learning about neutralisation reactions. A vital part of their GCSE is the completion of a number of required practicals…

Acknowledging our incredible GCSE performance last summer which placed us as the second highest performing school in the South West, we received a letter this week from the Minister…

A level chemistry students investigated the process of free radical halogenation. They told me this is an important area of study in the sixth form because free radicals are highly reactive…

This week I have been taking the year group assemblies. I have spoken to our students about the importance of appreciation and being thankful. We are so lucky to have such wonderful …

26 students ranging from Year 9 to Year 13 took part in the first of 10 life drawing masterclass sessions after school from 4.30 to 6.30pm. Despite some initial nerves they immersed…

Mrs Lynch and Mr Haring were delighted to offer the Year 10 art and photography students the opportunity to take part in the annual Student Art Show at Exeter College…

The music department have every reason to celebrate this week with the news that each one of their Y13 Music students has been offered a place to study a Music degree…

On Monday of this week I had the privilege of witnessing our Year 10 boys progress into the last 8 of the National Schools Football Cup. It is believed that this is the first time…

The final schools league tables were released today and the wonderful successes our students enjoyed last summer are reflected in our position. Our Progress 8 score…

On Tuesday the year 10 football team took on Mangotsfield School (Bristol) in the last 32 of the national cup. TA started the game brightly and found themselves…

The good news continues into the New Year in the music department; we were delighted the find out this week that Y13 music student Harvey Comer has been offered a place…

On Monday Mr Jones, Mrs Nicol and the Year 7 Team celebrated the Autumn Term successes, with over 30 prizes and certificates handed out to well deserving students!

For the second of our PSHE days the Year 7 continued their study of mental and physical wellbeing. We had sessions on physical health, such as the importance of keeping clean…

There was an enthusiastic response to the publication of the latest effort boards. As you can see in this photo, students were very keen to find out whether they had moved up the…

This week saw students participating in a variety of activities for our Curriculum Enrichment Week. It was a delight to see so many students take part is such a wide variety of activities…

On Wednesday, Sixth Form students arranged for a Mufti Day to take place to support The Torquay Community Larder. This took the form of participating staff and students…

In what has now become an annual tradition, TA took time out to pay our respects on Remembrance Day which marks the end of the First World War and is a day to remember…

I was delighted to receive the letters above from our Regional Schools Commissioner, Rebecca Clark and Kevin Foster MP, which reiterates the hard work of the students and staff…

Following the release of the league tables last week we were visited by the Herald Express on Tuesday who took a photograph of our current Year 12s who achieved the wonderful results…

On Thursday the government released the 2016 league tables for English schools. I am so proud that the incredible efforts of our students and staff have been recognised in this way…

Students across Years 7 and 8 have been eagerly competing in a ‘Shapes Challenge’ in one of a series of new Design & Technology lessons which are now part of the Enterprise faculty…

On Thursday and Friday this week we welcomed prospective parents and their children into school for our open days. All visitors were taken on tours around the different departments…

This week TA have been on Heart FM’s Matt and Caroline show every morning as part of their Grannies go back to school feature. Grannies Lil and Sylvia came to TA to see…

If you listen to Heart FM in the mornings you maybe familiar with Granny Lil and Granny Sylvia. We were delighted to welcome them to TA as they found out what it was like to return to school…

Torquay Academy are celebrating another set of record breaking GCSE results this summer; 62% of students achieved 5 GCSE grades at C or above including English and Maths…

This is the last blog of this academic year. The year has been a full and exciting year with a vast array of things going on. Read all about the Activities Week…

School history was made on the 7th of July 2016, as the first ever Torquay Academy Creative Arts Festival was held – hopefully the first of many. This phenomenal event…

Having completed their exams the Year 11 Prom was held on Wednesday evening at the Livermead Cliff Hotel. The weather was dry (most of the time!) and students…

This is our impressive Ethic of Excellence wall in the Academy which showcases our students’ brilliant work. I asked subject teachers to select pieces of work that they felt…

On Wednesday evening, students from Year 7 were invited in to celebrate their outstanding success and special achievements this year with Mr Jones hosting the event…

Sixth Formers Alanna Darke and Rhianna Hyde got the chance to show off their Hairdressing skills with a demonstration in school on Tuesday with our partnership salon…

Last week I was invited to Buckingham Palace with Mr Brett to celebrate the Diamond Anniversary of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Three members of the Royal Family were in attendance…

Arriving in Okehampton with a minibus full of excited, slightly nervous students is always an amazing experience as the students finally realise just how big an event this is…

On Monday evening the Year 11 GCSE Drama students took part in their Unit 3 final performances to an audience and an external examiner. This performance was worth 40%…

On Wednesday the Year 9 football team took on Torquay Boys’ Grammar School at Plainmoor in a repeat of last year’s final. The game started at a frenetic pace with both teams…

Year 4 pupils took part in a product creation, branding and marketing exercise with Mr Honey. They went through some different examples of product creation and branding…

Year 11 student, Katy Pickburn, has had a story put in print which is a great achievement and this is what she had to say: “One of my greatest passions is creative writing…

On Saturday morning the 35-mile and 45-mile teams set out for Cosdon as their first Tor of the weekend. Within 2 hours they had all experienced a snow shower, a hail storm…

This week the A-Level Biology students have been investigating how substances are transported around a plant. They have made biological drawings of the stems of sunflowers…

After being selected to go on the trip our first official seminar was held on Sunday 13th March where we listened to a testimony from a Holocaust survivor. His story was clearly emotional…

Topsham Rugby Club was the venue for our U13 Girls Rugby Squad to compete against all the other successful teams in the local rounds. The girls lost their opening match…

Sir David Carter, the National Schools Commissioner, visited us for a tour of the school and to host his “Race to Outstanding” seminar. We had been chosen as one of 12 schools…

This week students in Year 7 were lucky enough to take part in two professional dance and drama workshops hosted at the Academy. Professional contemporary dancer…

This week saw the first training session and trials for those keen on joining our Sixth Form Football Academy next year. Tuesday night was a light training session lead by…

On Thursday four of our first 11 got the opportunity to train with Torquay United. The boys took part in many drills before playing in the practice match. The feedback from…

Every year on the 27th January we commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day. It is a day to remember the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust and the millions of people killed…

In addition to ensuring our students have access to the best teachers, I also like to think they enjoy unrivalled facilities. This week we have taken a big step to improving them even further.

On Monday afternoon the Year 7 girls’ football team travelled over to Paignton Sports Academy where they took part in the Year 7 Central Venue 7 a-side competition.

We celebrated the achievements of our students who have excelled in Sport or Performing Arts; they are given a badge to wear and have their name recorded on our honours boards

Lisa Bishop from Young Carers Torbay comes in every Thursday lunchtime to support our young carers in school, students who help care for family member

We were given an initial idea from Police Partnership, in which we could hold an event to collect food, for our local community centre, to help support those who aren’t as well supported

This week here at Torquay Academy we held our first ever Spelling Bee. This was a competition where children were asked to spell a broad selection of words with a varying degree…

During Curriculum Enrichment Week a select 14 students arrived in the Learning Café to attempted to learn how to drive a computer! Their task was to complete training…

This week has seen students and staff taking part in a variety of activities during Curriculum Enrichment Week at Torquay Academy. Read more about their exploits….

On Wednesday 11th November, the whole school community gathered together for two minutes silence to honour those who have died in the wars. In fitting tribute, The Last Post…

Over the half term the sixth form art students put on a public exhibition of their work at the Artizan Gallery in Lucius Street Torquay. They had to take full responsibility

We have entered some year 12 art work into the Saatchi Schools Art Prize 2016. This is both a National and International Art Prize involving thousands of the top students’ artwork from all over Britain.

On Thursday night, we held Year 7 Parents Evening where the parents and carers of this year’s new intake had their first opportunity to meet their child’s teachers.

Our latest PSHE day, organised by Miss Martin, covered a range of valuable learning experiences for our students. Year 7 students explored emotional health and….

We were delighted to welcome so many parents and future students into school this week. It is a great privilege to have so may parents choose TA for their daughters’ and sons’ education…

The Year 7 “Green Glove Society” has begun it’s task of looking after the allotments in the Year 7 Playground. 17 students have signed up to care for the area, taking it in turns to weed…

We hope you like our new website. It was time for a new site that we could easily update regularly for current students and parents as well as future and past ones. Our new site is also…

On Tuesday evening I was invited to the Guildhall London for the Pixl National Schools Awards Ceremony. I am delighted to announce that we won the “Outstanding GCSE Results” award.

Students came into school over the summer holidays to pick up a record breaking set of results for the school. An amazing 90% achieved a C or above in their GCSE English…

On Tuesday Evening we hosted the 4th Annual Torquay Academy Sports Awards Evening to acknowledge all of the students who have demonstrated outstanding attitude

On Tuesday we had our Creative Arts Summer Extravaganza. Students, parents and staff had a visual and musical feast of artwork, sculptures, photography, model making and music.

Welcoming a new year group of students is always one of the highlights of the year. It was a great pleasure so see so many excited faces this week when our new Year 7s joined us…

Cory Allen in Year 7 (7SNA) helped raise awareness on Armed Forces Day on Saturday on Babbacombe Downs for a charity that the whole family have used whilst his dad…

Year 12 student Natasha Bradley has won the BUFF® 4X ProTour mountain biking event in Fort William, Scotland. This is a fantastic achievement and we are all extremely proud of her.

Year 7 pupils have been taking part in a readathon this week to help raise money for a number of children’s charities. Reading for pleasure is a huge part of life at the Academy….

I am delighted to welcome PC Gus Honeywill who is our new Community Officer, having handed over from PC Dan Gouldthorpe (Hele & Pendennis). He will be visiting us regularly…

Today we received the results through for the athletics South Devon trials. We are delighted to have 6 athletes who have made the South Devon team for the Devon trials.

Over the past month at Torquay Academy we have been running our own election campaign. It all started three weeks ago when we had an assembly on the General Election…

The Year 11 Art and Photography groups sat their external timed test last week; this was conducted over two days with some exceptional outcomes. Students were given…

We are delighted to welcome four new members of teaching staff this term. They are all having a significant impact in the school, especially with our examinations groups…

Last Thursday the 6th form football team travelled to Liverton United FC for the final of the Devon Cup against Ivybridge Community College. Both teams started brightly…

Torquay Academy is more popular than ever with primary students and parents. We are honoured that so many families chose TA for their sons’ and daughters’ education.

We have been wowed by our students’ performances this week. I thoroughly enjoyed sitting in the audience on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings this week.

The whole school community gathered in front of the school to watch the eclipse this morning. I believed it was an educational opportunity that our students…

Last Tuesday, four of the finest mathematicians in Year 10 were chosen to enter a maths competition that was open to every school in the south west. The intrepid maths…

This week Year 10 students and their parents were invited in to discuss students’ progress and set future targets during Parents’ Evening. It was our first evening…

After a tough process involving interviews with myself, Mr Harries and Mrs Thomas, I am delighted to appoint our very first Head and Deputy Head boys and girls.

The students took a day from their usual timetables to take part in a PSHE day on Wednesday this week. The day, organised by PSHE leader Miss Martin, provided a wide…

In Year 9 Music, the students are currently learning all about Blues music. They’ve learnt about its history, including how it derived from slave songs in the 19th Century…

Wednesday evening saw twelve of our Gifted and Talented Year 11 art students arrive at ‘The Yard Gallery’ Exeter College, for the private view exhibition of their work…

Students today were thrilled at the return of Dreadlock Alien! Returning for the third year in a row, the ex-Birmingham Poet Laureate returned to hold a poetry workshop…

Between starting in September and Christmas, we’ve had many students who have shown a passion for being in school every day. This is reflected in the attendance…

This week was Year 11 Parents’ Evening, which gave our Year 11 parents and students the opportunity to speak to their teachers and Progress Leader, to discuss progress…

Mr Jones, Progress Leader for Year 7, invited two representatives from the Children’s University, to introduce the concept to our Year 7 students during their assembly this week…

This week has been our curriculum enrichment week. It has been an opportunity for the students to work in a particular subject area for the whole day. This has allowed…

On Monday this week our Year 11s conducted a visit to Dartmoor where they collected their own data to help complete this year’s Geography controlled assessment…

To mark the centenary of World War One, students and staff here at Torquay Academy have been taking part in themed lessons, lunch time activities and the annual 2 minute…

Continuing to develop our Primary school links, students from Cockington Primary School visited our Library and Science labs for an afternoon of enrichment activities…

Our Year 7 students have settled in fantastically well over the past 7 weeks, displaying a host of qualities that have made them a pleasure to have in our school community…

This week was our year 7 Parents’ Evening, giving our Year 7 parents the opportunity to speak with subject teachers to discuss the progress and targets of their children…

Since the beginning of the new term, behaviour and the general conduct of students has been very impressive. This week I have held a number of student assemblies…

This week we opened our school for two days for families who were interested in their children joining our school. I was delighted to see hundreds of families turn up…

Last Saturday I learned of the passing of one of our ex-students, Tom Rendle, who left our Year 11 in 2013. I cannot describe the shock and sadness that the whole school community felt…

Since the start-up of our Learning Café it has been very well attended and the feedback from students has been fantastic. It is full of students before and after school every day…

It was lovely to come in during the summer holiday and share the moment where our students found out their GCSE results. Record Maths and English results…

This September’s Sixth Form students were invited into school this week for a familiarisation day. Students enjoyed a full timetable of lessons, an introduction to the Sixth Form…

The D of E students have been taking part in cookery lessons after school for several weeks and invited me, Miss Risk and Mrs Haines to sample the fruits of their labour…

This week saw the release of our recent Ofsted inspection that used the new, tougher framework. . The report doesn’t hold any surprises for me as it verifies what I have known…

Wednesday evening saw our Year 11 Graduation Prom at the Livermead Cliff Hotel. Our students arrived, looking truly wonderful, in a wide variety of vehicles….

We were visited by Ofsted this week. Four inspectors came in for two days using the tougher new framework that you may have read about. We will find out in a couple of weeks the contents…

My congratulations go to Louis Ruegg and Saskia Bridgman for their outstanding effort and achievement in BTEC Art and Design. Both students were given the opportunity…

Huge congratulations are deserved for our Ten Tors team who completed a 35-mile route at the weekend – a first for the Academy! The challenge involved teams of six teenagers…

Last Friday 70 Year 10 students visited Exeter University to discover more about the benefits of higher education. Students attended a lecture on all aspects of student life…

Some of our Year 12 students were invited to compete in an Avant Garde competition to showcase the skills they have developed whilst studying for their Level 1 Hairdressing qualification…

As I reported in my last blog post, 43 students and 6 members of staff headed off to Austria during the first week of the Easter holidays to take part in the first ski trip…

43 students and 6 members of staff are heading off today to Partenen in Austria. They are staying at the Hotel Zerres which is situated 3km from Gaschurn at the foot of the spectacular…

Year 10 students, Abbie Sykes, Bethany Essam-Wood, Ryan Evans and Keah Beesley played a vital role in helping Torbay’s Virtually S@fe Team to create a new short film…

I had the pleasure of rewarding students today after their brilliant effort on World Book Day in the Guess Who competition which was set. Prizes were promised to the students who…

The weekend started for our Ten Tors Team on the North West side of Dartmoor near Standon Farm for the first camp of the 2014 training season. Fortunately the weather was very kind…

The boys competed in the 5 a side National Finals at the Soccerdome, Derby. They travelled up to Birmingham on Sunday, to watch Aston Villa vs Norwich at Villa Park sitting behind…

Our media suite has undergone a rebrand during the half term and is now our brand new Learning Café! The learning Café is a direct outcome of our Student Council meetings…

As part of their PSHE lessons, our Year 12 students have been taking part in a, Ready Steady Cook style, cooking challenge. Each of our students were given a set of 6 ingredients…

Our Ten Tours team had their first training walk on Saturday. Teacher, Mr Toorneini said “It was a very successful first walk and we experienced all kinds of weather, including snow…

The Year 7 boys became South West 5-a-side champions this week. The squad, of Josh Nicol, Cole Harford (capt), AJ Tehrani, Elliott Stevens, Harrison Beer, Olaf Koszela and Lewis Eaton…

This week has seen the introduction of our new Breakfast Club. Both students and staff have taken advantage of the opportunity to arrive at school early and enjoy a hearty breakfast…

This week our Year 7 students have taken part in the Agatha Christie Mile walk as part of their Crime in The Community Project, in their Opening Minds Curriculum. The students…