ÖÆ·þÓÕ»ó

Torquay Boys’ Grammar School is top 10 school nationally!

It is great to be recognised as the top 10 school in the country, out of over 3000 secondary schools.

ÖÆ·þÓÕ»ó regularly celebrates the huge progress students make academically during their time at ÖÆ·þÓÕ»ó, but last week saw further recognition for how well the school compares nationally.  Researchers from Bristol University analysed the 2018 progress scores of all secondary schools across the country and made an adjustment to take into account disadvantage, gender, SEND and English as a foreign language.

Headteacher, Pete Lawrence, said, ‘It is wonderful to see this recognition of the achievements of our students, and due reward for the hard work of everyone involved.’

In the report, published in Schools Week, grammar schools are noted to have their ratings go down in the Fair Secondary School Index, so it is particularly pleasing to have secured such a stellar position.

The findings come from measuring student outcomes at GCSE, but the high performance of ÖÆ·þÓÕ»ó students is testament to the well-rounded nurturing educational experience offered at the school, which leads to students achieving so highly compared to their peers across the country.

With the winter upon us, here is the latest edition of the ÖÆ·þÓÕ»ó Winter Sports .

A packed Centenary Hall enjoyed a delightful evening of music from a variety of genres on Tuesday 12 November 2019.

The calibre this year was exceptionally high, and the finale performance of ‘With a Little Help from my Friends’, featuring every student who had taken part during the concert, was a testament to the volume and quality of the musical talent being nurtured in the school. Enjoy some of the highlights in this video.

It is getting very Autumnal outside now, here is the latest edition of the school .

This term began with a celebration of last year’s success. On 19 September, almost 100 students were invited with their families to celebrate at a prize giving. Each year, students in the lower school are awarded for either progress, academic achievement, endeavour, or our school Aude Sapere prize, a prize devoted to resilience and triumph.

The evening started with welcome drinks served in our new constructed bar area in the Centenary Hall, paid for with the money raised through the school musical. This has transformed the atrium area into a real venue. Accompanied by some vibrant jazz from the year 11 quartet of Thomas Grogan, Isaac Hutchinson, Oscar Garbett and George Thorne, there was a really exciting welcome vibe to kick start the celebration.

Mr Lawrence introduced the award giving with a famous clip from Educating Yorkshire (where a Musharaf experiences a turning point in his education as a teacher opens up his ability to speak, overcoming a stutter, by listening to music), to highlight the power of education to transform lives, and what happens when talented teachers work with dedicated students.

During the award giving, Heads of House awarded special certificates, and coveted gold star lapel pins to the winners, along with perhaps something even greater to cherish; a special individualised tribute was given to each person in turn. Much of the school’s success, and the success that students go on to achieve at the end of school and beyond, comes from strong pastoral relationships between staff and students as they work together through each student’s educational journey. The evening demonstrated that Heads of House know their students, their strengths, motivations and goals, reinforcing the power of our house system.

Congratulations go to all the prize winners.

We look forward to celebrating success further at the upper school evening on 31 October.

This is a video

With the summer upon us, here is the latest edition of the school .

The Parents Association now has it’s own website  and Facebook page with news and details of events and activities, as well as a Nearly New Shop, Lottery updates and details of finances.  Find them on

During the day, all students in Years 7-10 and 12, had the opportunity to spend an hour visiting the stalls and speaking with exhibitors.  A wide range of Careers were represented; these included, but were not limited to, Law, Medicine, Environmental Planning and Veterinary Surgery to name just a few. 

In addition, representatives from the universities such as Exeter, Bath and Plymouth, alongside other training and education providers, were on-hand to speak with the students.  There was a fantastically inquisitive buzz about the day thanks to the hard work and approachability of all those who volunteered to share their expertise with our students.

After a year of disrupted training, Torquay Boys’ Grammar School and National Trust Ten Tors teams prepared for this year’s event with some rather unfamiliar weather forecast. Indeed, with training walks having been scheduled to hit all five named storms that fell on weekends through the training season, students and staff could not believe their luck under glorious blue skies last weekend. Luckily, our students were not thrown by this and performed extremely well over the course of the weekend. Our formal dinner at Betty Cottles Inn prior to the event was well received by the students and helped to re-enforce the ethos and culture of the school and Ten Tors teams. It was fantastic to see last year’s 55-mile students come back to help organise the weekend. In particular, their help in cooking breakfast for this year’s walkers was much appreciated. Huge credit must go to the students themselves of course, who succeeded in coming through this gruelling challenge with enthusiasm, resilience and admirable team work. Despite our disrupted training season, the students were extremely steady and strong. The three 35-mile teams all arrived back on Sunday before 10:15am, with the 45-mile team back at 1:36pm and the 55-mile team, the first team back over the line, at 11:06am. Whilst we do not treat this event as a race, the fact that the teams were so steady proves that the students themselves showed excellent team work and leadership. Congratulations to them all! Thanks must also go to the staff and volunteers from both the school and National Trust and particularly Pete Davies who has headed up the National Trust’s teams this year. Between all these individuals, hundreds of hours have been volunteered from their free time over the course of this year to allow the students the opportunity to engage with such an enriching event.

The 35-mile Scout team (Joe Cunliffe, Euan Jones, Lawrence Gardner-Jenkins, Henry Hunter, Hugo Hedges and James Robinson), reached their 8th Tor on Saturday, leaving just 17km for Sunday, completed in 2hrs 35mins, making them the 4th team to cross the line (just behind the school 35-mile team!).