Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• GTS Transition 2021

  Thu 17 Jun 2021

  t is with an extremely heavy heart that the decision has been made to cancel all transition activities at GTS this term. This includes Transition Week (22^nd June-25^th June), extended transition (Year 6) and the Year 5 day (Friday 2^nd July). As I am sure you can appreciate this is not a decision that has been made lightly, however after seeking external advice we have been directed not to proceed. As yet we have no further update on our Summer School activities (16^th August- 19^th August)

   

  We are absolutely devastated not to be able to offer the transition we were all hoping for, but as with many things in the current climate we are having to remain flexible, with the safety of all our families as our priority.

   

  We will be offering a ‘Virtual Transition’ package (similar to last year) all of which will be on our website. I urge you to regularly visit our website and follow us on social media to ensure you are kept up to date.

   

  We thank you for your understanding and patience in these challenging times.

• URGENT NOTICE - Year 10

  Wed 16 Jun 2021

  Apologies for the late notice, but unfortunately we have had to reach the decision for ALL YEAR 10 pupils to stay at home tomorrow (17/6/21). Having previously reached the decision today (in discussion with DCC, PHE and SWHPT) that it was appropriate for Year 10 to remain at school, we have tonight received notification of a further case within the year group. Therefore, the decision has been to isolate the entire Year group.

   

  We will write again tomorrow with regard to return dates but in the meantime please keep your child at home. Household members do not need to self-isolate unless someone returns a positive LFD test, PCR test or becomes symptomatic. Please continue to test regularly. Please notify us of any positive result immediately via covidcontact@gts.devon.sch.uk.

   

  Pupils should remain at home as they are now considered to be proximity contacts and therefore at risk of transmitting COVID-19.

   

  Work will be available via the school website in the first instance.

• COVID-19 Precautions

  Tue 15 Jun 2021

  You may be aware that there have been a number of cases of COVID-19 across a range of north Devon schools. We are currently in the process of determining whether there is any need to ask pupils to be collected from GTS and isolate.

   

  At this point, there is no indication that any pupil who had direct contact with an individual who has COVID-19, has come into school.

   

  However, you will appreciate that this is a complex situation and we are currently trying to establish all facts and possible contacts. We have therefore taken the precautionary measure of asking pupils to wear masks in lesson, and around school, until we are as confident as we can be regarding possible cases.

   

  Best wishes,

   

  Andy Bloodworth

• National Theatre Connections 2021

  Wed 09 Jun 2021

  Our Year 10 Drama students here at GTS have a long tradition in taking part of the National Theatre Connections programme, which usually culminates in us visiting the Theatre Royal in Plymouth to act on one of the stages there.

   

  Unfortunately, this was not possible last year, so this year the National Theatre has been working on ensuring the Connections festival would be able to proceed no matter what. To this end, all the National Theatre Connections productions (including the one featuring our very own GTS Troupe) are all available to view on the National Theatre website by signing up for a free Festival Season Ticket.

   

  GTS's Pike and Musket group are performing the play The IT by Vivienne Franzmann.

   

  After the festival is over, our performance will be made available on the school's YouTube channel.

   

  The National Theatre Connections festival is a celebration of young people, theatre-making, and the importance of access to the arts. Each year the National Theatre commission ten new plays for young people to perform, bringing together some of the most exciting writers with the theatre-makers of tomorrow.

   

  It’s been a tough old 18 months for everyone, but these creative, talented, resilient young people- taking part in this digital festival- have proven art will always find a way! Connections WILL ALWAYS be made… between performers and an audience, between cast members and friends, but really just between people- every day. Theatre Royal Plymouth are determined to make some of those connections over this 14 day digital festival and they invite you to join them through varying size screens!

   

  With 30 Partner Theatre festivals taking place across the country, Connections 2021 will involve at least 5,000 talented young people from right across the UK, and inspire and entertain audiences with plays for and about young people that are current, challenging, and resonant. Theatre Royal Plymouth is one of those partners.

  Dani Hamlin, NT Connections Festival Producer at Theatre Royal Plymouth said: “I am so proud of each and every young person and the journey their production has taken them on this year. From Penzance to Great Torrington to Dawlish and everywhere in between It hasn’t been easy for any of the 9 companies taking part, but they’ve done it, they’ve reached the end of the process and now it’s time to celebrate! These young people are the future. They are putting the arts in the South West on the map and for that I give them a standing ovation (in my living room on my own)!”

   

  This year the National Theatre adapted their programmes for schools, young people and community groups across the country to keep providing opportunities to create and take part in theatre safely. Working with theatres across the country, including Theatre Royal Plymouth, they’ve restarted activity with content delivered digitally, where it wasn’t safe to deliver in person, until live projects can be resumed.

   

  Tickets are FREE. Book your FESTIVAL SEASON TICKET to watch all of the productions by participating schools and youth theatres. Connections is part of the National Theatre’s nationwide Learning programme. Let’s make sure, together, that creativity remains an essential part of young people’s lives. Book your free Festival Season Ticket on the TRP website here: https://theatreroyal.com/nt-connections-2021/

   

  The Show

  The IT by Vivienne Franzmann.

  Great Torrington School – Pike and Musket

   

  The IT is a play about a teenage girl who has something growing inside her.

  She doesn’t know what it is, but she knows it’s not a baby. It expands in her body. It starts in her stomach, but quickly outgrows that, until eventually it takes over the entirety of her insides. It has claws. She feels them. Does it have teeth, skin, and hair as well, or is that feathers, or spikes she can feel, butting up against her organs? What is it? It makes a noise, like a lizard or a snake.

  No one must know about it. She has to keep its presence, its possession of her, concealed. She pulls away from her friends. She refuses to speak in case The It is heard. Then the It tries to escape from her body. She can’t let that happen. She cuts an isolated weird figure at school, trying to live her life ‘normally; but battling to keep The It inside of her. But she can’t contain it forever, sooner or later something’s got to give…

  Presented in the style of a direct to camera documentary, this is a darkly comic state of the nation play exploring adolescent mental health and the rage within, written very specifically for today.