Torpoint Community College is situated in the South-East of Cornwall and very much a part of the local community. The College is located in Cornwall but due to its proximity, enjoys close links with the urban area of Plymouth city. This results in a rich mix of urban and rural, village and city based students and the College is very much an economic driver for the area.

A majority of students attending the College live in the Torpoint and Rame Peninsula with a number of students travelling from Plymouth via the ferry over the River Tamar. The current number on roll is approx. 650, of which approximately 90 are in the Sixth Form.

TCC has a thriving Sixth Form offering a wide range of A Level subjects for post 16 students.

The College works closely with our partner and feeder schools. Our designated primary schools are from the Torpoint and Rame Peninsula:

• Carbeile Junior School, Torpoint
• Fourlanesend Community Primary School, Cawsand
• St Nicolas C of E VA School, Downderry
• Millbrook C of E VA Primary School, Millbrook
• Antony C of E Primary School, Antony

We also enjoy links with Torpoint Nursery and Infant School, St Germans Primary School and many other primary schools in Plymouth.

Our aim is for all young people who attend Torpoint Community College to leave us aspiring to be the best they can be. We are committed to recognising and realising the potential in each student: of nurturing curiosity, creativity and leadership, of achieving the very highest of standards and of instilling respect and care for ourselves, each other and our environment. We aim to harness the innate drive, energy and enthusiasm of young people so they leave our College confident, knowledgeable and successful citizens, capable of learning and adapting to an uncertain future. In a nutshell – promoting ‘healthy minds and healthy bodies’.

The word ‘optimism’ is originally derived from the Latin ‘optimum’, meaning ‘best’.

• An optimistic learner is happy and healthy, confident and resourceful, resilient and successful, able to work independently and in teams, and;
• An inspired learner is motivated to learn and radiates a sense of purpose that in turn inspires others.

At TCC, we believe an inspiring optimistic learner has the skills, knowledge and positive values to make the most of the changes and challenges facing us in the 21st century. We aim for our students to talk about enjoying their learning; being empowered to go and find things out rather than being ‘spoon fed’ information. The results our students achieve are a reflection of our care, support and guidance and of the opportunities students are encouraged to lead and participate in. This applies equally to those students challenged by disadvantages, but we do not allow any issue to be a barrier to success (see Pupil Premium and Catch Up Premium).

We believe strongly that personal growth occurs through adventure and we work hard to provide learning opportunities for students’ well-being as well as academic progress and attainment. TCC has been accredited as an Adventure Learning School and AcSEED accredited (2017). Our work is widely recognised; National Co-operative Green Schools Award winner in 2013, a Learning in the Natural Environment (LINE)  beacon school sharing our practice with others, UNICEFs’ Rights Respecting School award holder (2017) and UCLS Beacon School for Holocaust Teaching. We have even shared our learning with the DfE and government ministers.

We are tasked with, on your behalf and in partnership with you, inspiring such optimism.

We place a strong emphasis on working with and supporting our community – local, national and global – celebrating our community champions, regularly supporting charities and being ambassadors in other countries so that our students understand they need to be responsible global citizens. This is all part covered by respecting the rights of all students (pupils) under the UNCRC. Recent trips include Nepal, a teacher and student exchange with Sri Lanka, discussion at the New York United Nations headquarters and camping on the Isles of Scilly.  We also excel in offering a range of extra-curricular activities that benefit from unique links with our environment; Ten Tors Challenges, Outreach Youth Challenge, and Community Action Through Sports (CATs) to TCC’s spectacular original drama productions; our most recent original musical ‘Eva Kids’, our successful Shakespeare play ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and the Sixth Form production of ‘Blood Wedding’.

As a result, we offer a broad curriculum from Year 7 to 13 and the opportunity to experience or specialise in the performance arts, sciences, sports and physical education, emerging and creative technologies, languages, humanities, ethics, media, literature, psychology, health and social care and business… far more than our small size of school would normally allow. We have vocational courses as well as formal academic courses at Key Stage 3, 4 and 5 and work closely with parents to identify the best combination for each individual. We have a strong focus on values including those identified as Fundamental British Values (see Policies page).

Our high quality pastoral care is widely recognised as an example of best practice. Students are organised into vertical learning communities: Freathy, Polhawn, Tregantle and Tregonhawk named after four local beaches. Behaviour across the College is underpinned by our positive learning ethos and with just under 640 learners, 110 of which are in our excellent Sixth Form at TCC, we are recognised for the high level of individual care given to each student; our staff going the extra mile to support.

Becoming a Foundation School with a Co-operative Trust on 31st December 2011, was a natural next step for the College. We already worked closely in partnership with a large number of other schools, higher education providers, organisations and businesses so formalising links with key partners enables us to bring even better opportunities and improvements. Harnessing their strengths for the benefit of our learners in College and in schools across Torpoint and the Rame Peninsula is an exciting and rewarding journey.

Vision

Inspiring optimistic learners 

In short, every member of Torpoint Community College will have:

• Ambition, commitment, resilience & perseverance
• Confidence to take risks
• An ability to organise and present themselves effectively
• Intellectual curiosity
• Imagination and creativity
• Initiative and self-motivation to learn independently and with others
• Optimism for a future in a rapidly changing world

Our Vision Statement is based on the fact that for children and adults to be inspired to learn it is our fundamental belief that TCC provides:

• A curriculum that responds to the needs of each and every individual irrespective of their age and aptitude
• Learning experiences that are diverse, flexible, rich, experiential and active
• Positive, effective relationships within a collaborative and sustainable community
• Academic, social and emotional intelligence

These beliefs are in keeping with Co-operative values, Fundamental British Values (FBV) and Human Scale Education (HSE)and echoed in detail in TCC’s values policy and underpin the College’s other policies i.e. Safeguarding and Child Protection

If you're searching for your next post, why not contact us now? You'll be working at a great school and be part of a friendly, helpful team. We're always interested to hear from enthusiastic, committed individuals - send us your CV now via our School Talent Pool and say what sort of role you're looking for. By joining our School Talent Pool we'll know you're interested in working here when a future vacancy occurs.