National Golf Finals, National Dodgeball Finals and World Dance Championships
National Golf Finals
Harry Smith, Ben German and Will Denega qualified for the England Schools National Golf Finals at Woodhall Spa Golf Club.
Woodhall Spa Golf Club is a renowned golfing destination in Lincolnshire and is the home to England Golf. The course is ranked in the top 100 in the world and is very challenging. The finals were played using the Stableford golf scoring system where players earn points for each hole based on their score relative to par, rather than counting total strokes. The goal is to accumulate the highest number of points by the end of the round, encouraging strategic play and risk-taking.
Harry was the first to tee off in the competition at 8.30am. The morning was quite challenging due to windy conditions, but the boys did exceptionally well over the 18 holes. They managed many pars and even a few birdies over the round. Harry, Ben and Will all did incredibly well – this is the first time we have qualified for the Schools National Finals. The finished 20th in England. I am very proud of their approach and achievements.
National Dodgeball Finals
We qualified for the first time for the National Dodgeball Finals that were held at Nottingham University this week. We had two teams who took part in the finals – the players were: Jamie Tully, Noah Margetts, Oscar Spurl, Toby Howell, Stanley Austin, Annie Aldous, Leon Snell, Sonny Cayford, Kean O’Neil, Euan Miller, Alfie Spicer, Hattie Gamble, Broady Docherty, Jonny Sanderbrook and Max Murphy.
There were 20 teams split into 4 pools of 5 – the top two teams from each pool would then go through to the quarter-finals. In dodgeball, teams score by eliminating opposing players by hitting them with a ball. A match is made up of six sets. The team with the most players remaining at the end of a set wins (2 points), or a draw is declared if both teams have the same number of players left (1 point).
Our teams battled brilliantly against schools that play a great deal more dodgeball than we do. Despite winning many sets across the matches, it wasn’t enough for either team to qualify for the last eight. We left with our heads held high, having reached the top 20 schools in the country.
Dance World Cup
Lola Bunny, Olivia Mae Frank, Bonnie Talbot, Robyn Higgins, Annie Aldous, Sienna Painter, Daisy Board, and Oliva Painter represented England in the Dance World Cup in Prague. The event was held at the Prague Congress Centre in the Congress Hall (Czech: Kongresový sál), which has a maximum capacity of 2,764 people.
Robyn Higgins, Sienna Painter, Daisy Board and Oliva Painter won silver medals for their performances in the senior musical theatre group. Annie Aldous won a bronze for her ballet duet. These performances are an incredible achievement and shows the quality of dancers that we are privileged enough to have here at TA.
Congratulations to all of the girls who took part, what a fantastic experience and opportunity.
House News
Students from Year 8 have been contending in the FC Challenge house competition throughout the week. As with the Year 7 tournament, two students from each house faced opposing houses in the knockout heats. Many enthusiastic students volunteered to participate and the event took place under the supervision of Mr Weaver and Mr Hadley.
The final was a close-fought battle between Christie students -Jamie Tulley and Harry Lee and Harrison students -Archie Harman and Stan Austin. In a really thrilling game, Christie fought back from being 3-1 down to send the match to penalties. Finally, when the match went to ‘sudden death’ Harrison emerged as the champions.
All students were awarded with prizes and 8H celebrated with sweets for the whole tiutor group.
Bikeability
Harry Austin, Marcus Findlay-Peers, Jack Parton, Ben Cowie, George Garbett, Jackson Lane, Archie Phillips, Ellie Palmer, Ellie-Mae Burton, Logan Payne, Elena Bolton, Seth McCann, Keylan hodgson, Stefan Manta, Poppy Anderson, Leonard Toribio, Samuel Kuc, Jessica Stoyle, Dion Mahajon, Treesa Telson, George Pitts, Charlotte Townsend, Eric Montague, Mason Dur, Aaliyah Akpo and Daisy Dorman
Esmie Riggs – Jiu Jitsu
Esmie competed in the Pro Sport Grappling Jiu Jitsu Open in Newquay last weekend. Esmie faced a formidable opponent who was more experienced and whilst Esmie didn’t take the win, she put on an amazing show of her skills, defending multiple attempts at a submission from her opponent in the first match. Both matches were very competitive and great to watch as a spectator. Well done Esmie for competing on such a high level stage at such a young age.
Team TA Netball Awards
The Team TA Netball Academy Awards 2024 were held this week, with an even more successful netball season being celebrated than the last. A huge well done to every academy player and squad who continues to drive netball at Torquay Academy.
Year 7
Players Player of the Year – Heidi Milner
Coaches Player of the Year – Maddison Wood
Most Improved Player of the Year – Isla Bryant
Year 8
Players Player of the Year – Summer Connolly
Most Improved Player of the Year – Alexa Lyons
Coaches Player of the Year – Molly Hollomby
Year 9
Players Player of the Year – Larna Waller
Most Improved Player of the Year – Lucy McMahon
Coaches Player of the Year – Phoebe Smith
Year 10
Excellence in Netball Player of the Year – Isabella Moxham
Most Improved Player of the Year – Ema Kestell
Coaches Player of the Year – Millie Sneap
Year 11
Coaches Player of the Year – Tammy Westacott
Year 9 Sports Science
On Thursday Mr Grinsill’s Year 9 Sports Science class completed the last of their fitness tests. Students completed the tests both at the beginning of the year and now at the end of the year. This allows the students not only to compare both their sets of scores with each other but also to normative data allowing them to highlight their strengths and areas to improve on. The testing also allows students first hand what it maybe like to be an elite athlete. Many of the tests are designed o be use as a baseline for when players arrive back for pre-season following a break.
In this week’s lesson students took part in both the vertical jump and standing broad jump that both test an athlete’s power. Students where also given an opportunity to then redo any test they feel they performed poorly on or had missed.
Students not only take part in the test and record results they also fill out a booklet describing how the test took place and many other pieces of criteria. This gives students a base to work from for their coursework that needs to be completed in year 10.
Running Club – Couch to 5K
This week marked a milestone for our running club as they crossed the finish line of their Couch to 5K programme. From running for just 90 seconds in Week 1, to running for a total of 38 minutes in Week 10, students have demonstrated their resilience and determination.
The club have faced muscle aches, stitches and the occasional self doubt but they continued to cheer each other on, sharing each victory as we headed towards 5K. And, what better way to celebrate than with a chocolate mini roll and a well deserved certificate!
For those looking for their next challenge, Running Club will continue next academic year.
Product Design
Large numbers of students in Product Design have been finishing off practical projects including bug boxes, block bots, photo frames, resin casting and metal work.
In addition to this, Mr Hadley has been working with Automotive and Greenpower students to set up a rolling road upon which our Greenpower cars can be tested. A cycling turbo trainer is placed directly underneath the rear wheel of the Greenpower car allowing it to simulate the resistance and gradient of the tracks that we race. The photos show the current set up with data gathered from a virtual lap of Goodwood Motor Circuit including gradient, speed and power used.
This will now be used to train drivers how best to efficiently drive each circuit and ultimately help the team to prepare for the International Greenpower Final at Goodwood in the Autumn Term!
Miss Elson’s Year 9 English
Miss Elson’s 9Q4 class have spent the last few weeks scripting, practising and delivering their Speaking and Listening presentations as part of their GCSE English Language qualification. Having spent the cycle examining and discussing a range of social issues – such as social media use, climate change, homelessness, generational divide and economic inequality – they were asked to then create an informative and persuasive presentation on a topic of their choice that could be delivered to the rest of the class.
Miss Elson has been so impressed by the level of focus and effort her students have put in; several students asked to continue working on their presentations at home and Aleksandra Treder even managed to come back into school with a complete script after just one lesson of in-school prep! It has been genuinely lovely to see the support students have given each other with helping their peers to write questions, practise speaking and come up with extra details to add.
When it came to the actual presentations, the class were treated to a range of topics: social media was a popular issue, but talks were also given on on why school uniform is better for self-esteem, the slave trade, climate change, the Russia/Ukraine crisis, why table tennis should be more popular than football, and psychopathy.
The class were so supportive of each other both before and during presentations, reassuring those who were nervous and throwing heaps of compliments at students once they were done. It has been a wonderful experience to see the students showing off their kindness, resilience and maturity this cycle – they have shown not only what lovely Y10 students they will be, but also what lovely human beings.
Sparx Reader
This week, Sparx Reader head office sent through special awards and badges for our top five students with the most Sparx Reader Points: Wiktor Koza, Jesse Isemede, Esme Pool, Gabi Cobain and Catherine Ramesh Mani. A huge congratulations for all students who have gone above and beyond with their weekly reading!
As a school we also received two awards as their ‘Highest Achiever’ and their ‘Greatest Progress award’ from January until now.
At Torquay Academy, we are so proud of all our Year 7 students and their reading achievements this year. Instilling a love of reading is a gateway to new worlds and ideas and not only that, it is key for academic success across all subjects, strengthening comprehension, vocabulary, and critical thinking skills.
Students of the Week
Year 7 – Lily Langler and Archie Phillips
House Students of the Week
Year 7
Christie – Rosie Bevan
Darwin – Jack Crabb
Fawcett – Archie Phillips
Harrison – Giovanni Vaio
Kitson – Oscar Deegan
Nearne – Olivie Szyazka
Year 8
Brunel – Will Wrathall
Christie – Jenzen Flores
Darwin – Ella Lake
Kitson – Max Warner
Year 9
Christie – Frankie Skelly
Fawcett – Adam Sadlik
Kitson – Poppy Sims-Walton
Homework Students of the Week
Year 7
Christie – Esmie Riggs
Fawcett – Gabriela Piasta
Kitson – Ava McArdle
Nearne – Riley Page
Year 8
Brunel – Dylan Bolton
Christie – Janzen Flores
Darwin – Lilly-Rose Garbett
Kitson – Jessie Mountstevens
Year 9
Christie – Callum Pile
Fawcett – Aleksandra Treder
Kitson – Bella Blatchford
Sparx Leaderboards
Sparx Level Up
Tassomai Leaderboards
