Maths Mastery, Touch Typing & A Full Week of Sport at TA

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Year 7 Parents Evening

The first Parents’ Evening of the year took place on Thursday evening.  Visiting parents were assisted and guided to the various departments by Anna Hobson, Amy Morgan, Mateusz Baczynski, Ellie Piper and Lizzie Harris

Mathematics Mastery Year 7

This academic year has brought a new start and wave of thinking in the Mathematics department. Year 7 students have been engaging in their learning to improve and develop their understanding of Mathematics rather than just following a procedure; such as exchanging when performing column subtraction. After a recent poll,  students have found the lessons more enjoyable and been stretched by thinking more and discussing the mathematical concepts. As you can see from the picture students use the manipulatives (physical objects) in order to develop an abstract representation of the mathematics before the pen touches the paper.

We recently received our monitoring visit from ‘Mathematics Mastery’ which went extremely well. Mr Makris was particularly impressed with the lessons he observed highlighting that students were clearly working on their conceptual understanding and developing their language to explain their thinking. We look forward to welcoming Mr Makris back to the school to see the journey continue.

Touch Typing

Touch typing (also called touch type or touch keyboarding) is typing without using the sense of sight to find the keys. Specifically, a touch typist will know their location on the keyboard through muscle memory.

Well… Torquay Academy now have their own Touch Typing Study class. We have students over in the Intervention Centre on Thursdays and Fridays using their tutor time to complete a 20 minute session twice a week.  We know this user-friendly learning website will help the students learn, practice and improve their typing speed and accuracy. This will also aid their responses in classroom environments and hopefully allow them to produce more of their wonderful ideas. This additional provision will therefore also prepare these students for when they are sitting any assessments, PPEs and GCSEs, allowing them to produce greater responses in the timeframes they’re up against.

Team TA Sports Roundup

There has been no let up in the PE Department again this week; teams and teachers disappearing to all four corners of the West Country taking part in a range of sports. You will read the various trials and tribulations in the reports that follow but it is worth mentioning the wide range of sports and the volume of students taking part. This week Year 9 started the week off with Central Venue league basketball and a rugby match v KEVICC, the fact that we were able to field two teams from the same year group on the same night is testament to the number of students keen to represent the school. Incidentally the year 9 rugby match was a real battle with Team TA eventually coming out victors 33-31. On Tuesday evening the school was a hive of activity with over 30 girls taking part in football training, 20 girls taking part in Netball training, we also hosted all the schools across South Devon in the year 8 Netball Central Venue League Netball and in addition to all of that we hosted the Torbay Schools Key Stage 3 Table Tennis Championships. This was a great chance for our new Year 7s to show off their table tennis skills ably supported the Year 8s, we managed to finish a very creditable second place, which qualifies us for the Devon Championships later in the year. Wednesday the PE Department felt a bit like a ghost town, Mr Welsh took a group of very keen and enthusiastic girls across to Brixham for an introduction to rugby day, Mr Grinsill disappeared of to Weston Super Mare with the school 2nd XI whilst Mr Harries and Mr Jones made their way into the depths of Cornwall with the 3rd XI, see all of the separate reports on these events. Not to be outdone on the same day after school Mrs Low took the Year 9 girls to a Central Venue League netball tournament, whilst Mr Waring took the Year 7 boys rugby players over to KEVIC for a tournament. Normal service was resumed on Thursday when Mr Gascoyne spent the day at Forches Cross with the year 8 rugby team and Mr Grinsill was off to Exeter in National Cup action with more Year 8 boys. All of the above only goes to demonstrate how hard our students are working and how rewarding it is to see them flourish on the field of play.

Team TA – Sports Academy

The first set of applications for the newly formed Team TA Sports Academy have been received and I am delighted to announce that the following students have been accepted onto the programme:

Year 7 – Angus Graham Triathlon, Athletics and Swimming, Jack Howlett Football

Year 8 – Emma Harrison Athletics, Taylor Ford Football, Ocean Latto Football, Ellie Mitchell Football, Ellis Knowles Badminton, Harrison Lee Football, Ryan Johns-Kouadio Football

Year 9 – Georgia Davies Athletics, Lewis Crocker Rugby and Cricket, Callum Crocker Rugby and Cricket
Throughout the year these students will receive support in a number of ways that will develop them as both athletes and students. There will be sessions on Nutrition, Psychology, Athletes’ Lifestyle as well strength and conditioning programming. It is hoped that working closely with coaches at their clubs the students will thrive in whatever sport they specialise in.

Second 11 Vs Weston College

Another Wednesday meant another game day and an eagerly awaited trip to encounter Weston College at Weston Super-Mare Football Club. The boys were keen to get their first points on the board and kick start their maiden season in the Category 2 League.

The team got off to strong start yet faced periods of constant barrage with balls over the top and down the left flank! Link up play from Alfie Edwards and Ben Clark was eye catching and caused constant threat with both players having complete composure on the ball . TA had many opportunities in and around the opposition’s penalty area but failed to get a clean cut chance. Consistent perseverance at last paid off as 15 minutes into the first half a lovely worked goal was scored . Keeper Andy Collins hits the ball into centre midfield and cleverly flicked on by Captain Boothroyd, releasing acres of space for  Zachary Chalmers-Wood to cross the ball into the box with quality. Weston defenders failed to deal with a front post run from Adam Kenyon allowing him to casually slot the ball in the back of the net making it 1-0 to the TA boys .
The first half continued and it very much seemed Weston were keen to get an equaliser. TA sat behind the ball and were determined to be ahead at half time, defending from the back 3 and wing backs stayed strong. However, Weston were lucky not to equalise in the last play of the half where a ball into the box from a corner wasn’t dealt with but fortunately hit the post.

The second half was one of great controversy, TA started with high intensity once more and posed more of threat going forward with the valuable addition of Louie Baker-Thornley. His natural pace opened up their defence forcing countless saves and last ditched tackles from their centre half.  20 minutes into the second half a disallowed goal was given against TA. The questionable decision made by the referee effectively changed the game . At that point the boys dropped their heads and as a result Weston scored an equaliser minutes later. Weston College gained more belief and naturally conserved possession making it hard for the TA boys to play their natural passing game. It seemed Weston had many corners something which was a great threat with the tall players they had in attack.  Eventually, Weston’s dangerous players in and around the box towered above our defenders and headed the ball into the back of the net making the score 2-1. Since that point TA failed to get a goal back and with 10 minutes left Weston scored another yet horribly scrappy goal.
The final whistle blew signalling the end of the game, many of the boys felt we should’ve won the game if the disallowed goal was otherwise. The score line didn’t reflect the TA players efforts, they all felt they should’ve gained at least a point against a less than average Weston College. Despite sitting bottom of the table after three long away games the Gaffer and players continue to work tirelessly in training and match preparation wanting to finally get points on the board .
Written by 2nd team analyst Jack Bell

Year 8 vs King’s School

On Thursday evening the Year 8 football team travelled to Ottery St. Mary to play King’s in the second round of the national cup. TA started the game brightly and dominated play from the first whistle until the last running out 7-2 winner.  The game was full of some great goal keeping as well some superb finishing. Both goalkeepers for TA on the day Harry Lee and Charlie Swiderski managed to grab themselves a goal with the others goals came from Sean Brown x2, Ben Aldous, Finley Paul and Cody Bose.   It was a fantastic start to the season for Year 8 and they await the draw on Monday to find out who they have in the next round.

Rugby

Year 7 Rugby

The Year 7 squad travelled to Totnes for a tournament at KEVICCs this week and performed brilliantly throughout the rounds.

1st Round was against TBGS B team which we ran away with scoring three unanswered tries against them, 2 from Will Bevan and 1 from Xander Tostevin with the final score of 3-1; it was a convincing opening win with Man of the Match going to Will Bevan. We started the second game in high spirits against a strong KEVICCs side who tested our defence, but it held strong and we nearly scored a breakaway try at the end but drifted into touch leaving the score 0-0 at the final whistle. Man of the Match for this game was Harry Goodwin who was brilliant at scrum half.
3rd Game was against Brixham CC and was arguably our toughest due to the size of their team. We continued to tackle hard and low in defence with Cameron, Oliver and Cody in particular knocking Brixham backwards which lead to a fantastic breakaway try from Euan Smith who was also named Man of the Match.
Final Game against TBGS A team was difficult due to the lack of possession we had. The Grammar team ran hard from all angles and it was down to just 1 missed tackle in the middle of the pitch which allowed a very large forward through to score after about 5 minutes. This seemed to fire us up and we had a strong period of driving rugby from all our players who were keen to take the ball on and recycle well to allow our backs to run in space but ultimately they were too strong for us and sneaked a second try from close range to win 2-0.
Our squad are gaining in strength and confidence with every game we play and with time we will be winning the close matches and competing further afield in competitions.  1 WIN, 2 DRAWS and 1 LOSS = GOOD DAYS WORK.  Well done boys!

 Year 8 Rugby Tournament

A fantastic day at Forches Cross for the Y8 Rugby Team. Wins against Elements and Teign and a dramatic draw against Churston Ferrers showed the boys how much they have progressed so far this season. Fantastic tries from Ellis Knowles, Jay Rich, Alfie Sams, Ethan Tester, Igor Sniegocki rounded off some very good interplay from Michael Brooker and Oliver Stoneman. The scrum with Ben Arscott, Jack Thorpe, Sean Andrews, George Hannaway, Joe Nuth, Igor Sniegocki and Alfie Sams gave TA a good platform for Micheal Brooker to snipe around the break down. A bigger emphasis on getting the ball wider quicker would bring more tries more easily and greater success. Well done to all players.

 Year 9 Rugby

TA’s Year 9 rugby team travelled to KEVICS on Monday to play against a strong, seasoned squad. After a slow start we gained confidence and started to get our backs into positions where they are very effective. Scott Rowe, again showed his blistering pace with 3 tries alongside great tries from Ben Woodward and Charlie Barnes. Our forwards got stronger as the game went on and battled well, coming out on top. We won the game 33 – 31.  Well done to all that played.  We travel to Cuthbert Mayne for our next match.

Girls Rugby

Torquay Academy’s Under 13 girls squad travelled to Brixham rugby club on Wednesday for a girls rugby development day hosted by the RFU. The event was well attended by various different schools from around the local area. The girls impressed throughout the day with an excellent attitude and a desire to improve. The morning focused on non-contact ball handling skills and the afternoon moved onto full contact rugby. All girls were new to the contact side of the game although it came very naturally to them. They demonstrated an excellent determination for tackling and were brilliant with their desire to win the ball back. We scored some excellent tries against Dawlish with a very strong performance. After half term we will train on Mondays and fixtures will be organised for November and December. Well done to all the girls who participated.

Year 9 Basketball central venue league

Fresh start and a lot to learn…

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 were chasing shadows to stay in the match. They regrouped well and played with much better organisation against Tower House (National finalists) despite the loss our players took plenty of encouragement as they scored many more baskets. The final game against a very strong Churston demonstrated the team’s progress and they are looking forward to November. Well done to Mya Miles, Matthew Leighton, Nick Turner, Jake Mitchell, Jack Manley, Kyle Storey, Byron Rawles, Ellis Knowles, Alfie Sams, Kofi Essiful and Rory Deakin.

Year 8 Netball

Tuesday 10th October the Year 8 team had the second round of their CVL tournament. We were not at full capacity with our usual squad but others stepped in last minute to fill the gaps were were missing.  We started well in our first game against Spires going in to the second half being up by one goal. Unfortunately we were not able to sustain this lead and conceded a goal in the last 2 minutes. End result was 3-3.  Our second game against Paignton saw us draw again. We played better than we had in the first round but were again unable to keep the lead.
Our final game for the evening saw us face Teign. Teign have been playing really well and have not lost a game as yet. We too were undefeated and wanted to continue this pattern. We tried very had to get the ball to our shooters but unfortunately Teign were excellent at reading the ball and intercepting our passes. We lost the last game 13-1. Although we were disappointed with this, we were pleased that we had put up a good fight as we still played well. However, on this occasion, Teign were better.  Miss Brown’s player of the tournament was Isabel Cresser for her amazing defending skills.

Year 9 Netball

Another wet and windy afternoon for the year nine girls Netball central venue at Girls’ Grammar this Wednesday. Although the girls played really played well they were against some really tough teams. An unfortunate lost to a very strong Teign side didn’t dampen their spirits as they then went on to beat Trinity in their second game with strong performances from Wiktoria in defence. The last two games saw Torquay Academy face another two strong teams, despite good shooting from Georgia and control of the game showed by Anna and Jazmin, unfortunately the girls ended the tournament with only 1 win under their belt.

House Competition

6th Form PSHE Day

Torquay Academy Year 12 students enjoyed a day of life building skills with sessions including cooking on a budget, communication skills in Spanish and French, sexual health awareness and finished off with some healthy competition in a rounders match between tutor groups. Our Year 13 joined us for some fun release after working hard all day on their UCAS and next steps applications. Thanks to all those who supported the day by delivering such interesting sessions for our sixth form students.

Students of the Week

Students of the Week with me this week are: Shannon Hayward, Emily Wilson, Sarah Farrell and Mila Schwarz

Harrison Student of the Week

Year 9 student Bethany Chamberlain is the Harrison House Student of the Week