Personal Development

In 2020, the school was named UK Parliament School of the Year, and this accolade reflects how our school community proactively endorses core British values. As Every year, we celebrate British Democracy week; all students watch live hustings for the Head Girl and Heads of Houses, and we have a whole school vote to elect the winning candidates. We also invite many external speakers ranging from local MPs representing different political parties, to pressure groups including Greenpeace - see link.

The students at TGGS are also championing change beyond the school gates as we are aware that young people are not able to vote until they are 18 but they can still make their voices heard through lobbying decision makers. Students have travelled to Parliament to meet the Business Secretary to raise awareness of the school’s e-petition in relation to climate change and the inclusion of young people in future policy making. During the pandemic the efforts of students to campaign for change continued, albeit virtually, and student representatives supported by teaching staff met the Minister for Violence Against Women and Girls. This meeting allowed the student body to raise concerns with the Minister and the local MP for Torbay about street harassment and the lack of a universal PHSE programme for young people aged 16-18.

We are incredibly lucky to be sited near to Dartmoor National Park, and we encourage our students to engage in outdoor education including Ten Tors and the Duke of Edinburgh awards. Typically we enter six teams of six students and for the last two years running one of our teams was the first female group across the finishing line.

Adventurous activities on Dartmoor take place on alternate weekends between November and April. The walks and camping trips are open to those in Years 10 to 13. Students learn navigational skills, the value of teamwork, and an appreciation of the environment. TGGS enters teams at each level in the annual Ten Tors Event - we have established a good reputation, and can offer an exciting, challenging, and well-supported experience.

At TGGS we continue to promote the importance of oracy and encourage students to develop their skills and confidence to present their views. We have a highly successful public debating team and recent successes includes two teams reaching the regional finals of the English-Speaking Union’s Public Speaking competition, with one team going on to win, taking a place in the final at Cambridge University. There is a debating club for sixth form students and the Year 12 Politics Ambassadors support the debating club for years 9-11. Students in years 7-11 can also participate in SWAT challenges (South West Academic Trust) schools. Last academic year the top two SWAT debating teams were placed second by just two points. The top two teams were then invited to present at the SWAT Schools conference at Exeter University.

Both the drama and dance clubs are thriving and the students get plenty of opportunity to practice at the clubs, to visit other productions and to perform in our own productions. At TGGS the drama students have regular productions for all age groups; recent productions have included 'Olivia', 'Dream On' and 'Ebeneezer'. Students also have the opportunity to earn house points through a House Dance Competition.

The DofE (Duke of Edinburgh Award) enables young people to develop their mind, body, and soul in a non-competitive environment. Its ability to elevate self-confidence, skills and aspirations should not be underestimated. All 3 Levels of the Award are offered at TGGS, on a progressive basis from the beginning of Year 9 upwards.

Our DofE programme is driven by ten guiding principles:

• Personal challenge
• Achievable by all
• Non-compulsory
• Inspires personal and social development
• Tailored to an individual’s circumstances
• Balanced development of the whole person.
• Scope for progression
• Achievable goals
• Encourages commitment and persistence
• Enjoyment and fulfilment

A DofE Award at any level represents a great achievement and will undoubtedly add value to the formal educational curriculum.

We want our students to be ambitious with their future destinations and there are many opportunities for students to enter competitions relating to STEM and other areas, for example essay competitions. These are widely publicized through the career's newsletter, which is shared with students and staff, and is also available publicly on the website. Careers talks are provided for students, and we use student, parent and staff surveys to inform the development of our careers programme. Students are also given support to engage with professionals in the health care profession through the Health Care Conference with representatives from Torbay NHS, Medical History group and alumnae who are now health care employees. Sixth form students at TGGS are also one of the very few Junior League of Friends in the country and they raise money for the local hospital through fundraising and attending board meetings with the charity founders of the League of Friends.

Beginning a new secondary school is an exciting yet daunting time! Welcoming our new students to TGGS and helping them feel a sense of belonging to our school ‘family’ is important to us. Being part of a school house is one way that students can feel a sense of connection to others within our TGGS school community. Our school has been here for over 100 years, so we have a long history of House Culture and now have five student houses- each with its own name, house colour, mascot and motto! There are regular House events and competitions throughout the academic year, including elections for new sixth form student Heads of Houses, the annual House Charity Week, various sporting competitions, a range of creative competitions and the grand finale- the end of year House Shout, where each house competes for the coveted House Cup to be adorned with ribbons in their house colour. Our exciting range of extra-curricular House activities and events allow students to display their various skills, pursue their own interests, engage in team building and develop peer relationships across the different year groups. Research shows that this sense of belonging to a school house can help promote well-being, good behaviour, healthy competition and teamwork. Cultivating a strong house culture links to promoting our school values of encouraging kindness, well-being, and collaboration.

Imprezza is our partner school in the third most deprived area in Kenya, offering free education to students that can't afford to pay school fees. 20 years ago, one of our former Head Girls travelled to Kenya and spent time in the school. She was inspired by what she saw and upon her return to TGGS she explained how the collective efforts of the school community could make a real impact upon the lives of the school children in Kenya. Since then, we have been supporting the school through fundraisers, events and our annual sponsored walk. We have also managed to secure fundraising to organise some teacher visits to the school and for their Headteacher Catherine (who is now also an MP) to visit our school.

Our school community encourages students to develop their leadership skills and oracy and all students can apply to become leaders from year 7 until they leave school at the end of year 13. There is a large variety of different leadership positions including the School Council, House Captain, Sports’ Captain, Form Representative and deputies. The Sixth Form students are expected to take a leading role in school life, especially in working with younger members of the school. Sixth form students run the school hub project which typically involves over 70 year 12 students working with subject teacher to offering specific subject intervention to students in younger years. Students in year 10 can also apply to be subject prefects and support peer mentoring for younger students.

Click here for more Leadership Opportunities

Last academic year, some of our students from years 7-11 became trained Anti-Bullying ambassadors - a scheme led by the Diana Award. The students have led assemblies and attended training on supporting students who may have experienced unkind behaviour. Recently, the ambassadors attended an online training session that focusing on anti-racist bullying. Student voice also had an input into the values that we wanted in our new Behaviour Charter and revised Anti Bullying policy which has focused upon being upstanders in the school community.

Our students take part in annual National Competitions at Junior, Intermediate and Senior levels. Questions are interesting, thought provoking and fun and certificates are awarded for levels of success achieved. Each year a few students are asked to take part in the second round which is much more demanding and many have been very successful.

There is a strong musical direction to the school. The students have the opportunity to take part in a range of activities including award winning ensemble groups such as the Choir, Orchestra, String group, Jazz band, Pop band, Close Harmony Choir and the student run Flute group. There are 12 peripatetic staff attached to the school so there is tutoring available for most instruments. There are also plenty of opportunities to perform such as Carol services, Open evenings, Torbay Proms, Carol Singing, Assemblies and Community events.

A meeting with te Minister for Violence led to students at TGGS instigating a joint initiative with students from TBGS to coordinate PSHE provision which has helped to foster a better understanding of respectful relationships. The PSHE leads have delivered assemblies on managing exam stress to Years 10 and 11, friendships to Year 7 and diversity to Year 8 both at TGGS and TBGS. In addition to this, the leads have delivered 30-minute lessons to KS3 classes, dealing with self-esteem, neurodiversity and relationships. They have also been a part of the PSHE drop down days at TBGS. Last summer, the lead students from TGGS and TBGS were invited to talk about their journey at the Southwest Academies Trust annual meeting held at Exeter University.

Charity fundraising is a huge part of the school’s identity and there are events held throughout the academic year ranging from Red Nose Day, Macmillan cake day, Young Minds as well as more reactive efforts for example supporting the people in Ukraine and the most recent appeal to support humanitarian efforts in Turkey and Northern Syria. Students across the year groups are given opportunities to fund raise for charities of their choice and year 9 students recently raised over £1000 for Guide Dogs for the Blind. The annual TGGS Charity Week is held in the autumn term. This busy event is entirely led by students who run their own stalls selling homemade cakes, handmake accessories, secondhand books, and other wonderful creations- all for a worthy cause. Putting into practice our TGGS school values of kindness, equality, and collaboration, our students raised a grand total of £2,450.02 during Charity Week 2022. This money was distributed to several charities, chosen by our students.

We have had considerable success in team and individual sports with students competing at local, national and international level. Games, dance, gymnastics and athletics form a large part of out-of-school activities. Aerobics, cricket, hockey, netball, tennis, badminton, rounders, tag rugby and football are available, and clubs include yoga, handball, table tennis and trampoline. Annually we run an inter-house Gymnastics competition, as well as a very popular Evening of Gymnastics & Dance performance.

Our sports hall greatly enhances our ability to provide sporting opportunities and we have a fully equipped modern gym. There is an extensive programme of fixtures, and students are encouraged to attend extra coaching sessions as well as enter themselves for area and county trials and assessment development centres.

Student voice has an input into the clubs that we offer at school, and we continuously adapt our provision to try to accommodate student requests. Clubs range from sporting clubs to more relaxed clubs such as knitting and the quiet club which allows space for students to take some respite from the school environment. We also have a GSA (Gender & Sexuality Alliance) group and students who are interested in current affairs can join the debating club. The library, which was co-designed with the student council, is also open on rotation to all year groups and students can relax in this newly refurbished space.