A huge congratulation goes to the eight gymnasts who competed in the West Midlands Milano Gymnastics competition on Saturday 1^st December at Fenton Manor Sports Centre, in Stoke-on-Trent.

All gymnasts performed exceptionally well on both the vault and the floor.  The team are such a wonderful credit to St Edmund’s Catholic Academy. They went on into the afternoon and performed their trio routine that contained sports acrobatics balances as well as skills that showed excellent strength and flexibility. The team were also marked on their synchronisation during the routine.

They all rose to the occasion and exceeded expectations, produced exceptional performances. The U13 team, Ewan Cox, Maja Ura, Ben Jones & Ellie Marrandola executed their routine very well and came fourth overall. A great result considering it was their first West Midlands Competition for three of them and when competing against club gymnasts who train 4-5 times a week. Well done!

The U16 team, Lysia Bayley, Josh Dodd-Matthews, Brientony Jayarajan & Amelia Beet performed with precision throughout their trio routine and impressed the judges with their synchronisation.  This together with their individual floor and vault scores placed them in 1^st place overall in the West Midlands.  They will now represent the West Midlands region in the British Schools National Finals in March, which is a tremendous achievement.  Well done to everyone involved.

Mrs Cartlidge/Mrs Swindells

Stars of St Edmund’s Presentation and Reunion Party, Thursday 20th December, is going to be a unique and exciting opportunity to celebrate the achievements of our highest-performing students, in particular those students who have distinguished themselves in their public examinations, both at GCSE and at A-level.

At St Edmund’s we recognise that awards should also be presented for outstanding academic performance and contribution, progress and achievement, creativity, exceptional endeavour, perseverance and contribution to Catholic Life; all of which go hand in hand with academic success.

This year’s Guest of Honour will be Scott ‘Yaz’ Yarrington, a former Army Lance Corporal, who lost his legs stepping on an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan, then went on to win Bronze in Wheelchair Basketball at the Invictus Games in Toronto 2017.  Scott will speak about how his experience has shaped his positive outlook on life before making the presentations, and then join the Reunion Party where former students will have the chance to join the Future First Alumni Network (for free). This will be an opportunity to become part of a thriving engaging community with access to relatable role models and connections.

Richard Branson believes connections have helped drive the success he continues to experience today.   We would like to give the same opportunity to make connections by joining us at the Stars of St Edmund’s Presentation and Reunion Party.

Saturday 1st December was the Feast Day of our founder St Edmund. We marked the day with a celebration Mass for the whole community on Friday 3th November.
Monsignor Mark Crisp, our Chaplain was the celebrant at the Mass. He gave a great homily, helping us to recognise how lucky and privileged we are to be able to celebrate Mass together as a community without being persecuted for our faith, like people did in Queen Elizabeth 1 reign.
In 1580 Campion joined the first mission that was sent by the Jesuits, to minister to the Catholics of England, who were strictly forbidden to practice their religion. He preached at secret Catholic meetings in Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire and Lancashire.
He was arrested by a spy at Lyford, Berkshire, on July 17, 1581, and taken to the Tower of London. When he refused, under severe torture, to recant his religious convictions, his captors invented charges that he had conspired to overthrow the queen. He was convicted of treason and executed. Throughout his ordeal, Campion exhibited religious zeal and great courage. Campion Hall at Oxford was named for him. He was canonized in 1970 by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.
Many of our pupils took part in the Mass, Alter Servers, and the choir, people taking the Offertory and readers from our 6th form. We especially give thanks to John Smith who stood in at the last minute, and expressed the Reading of from St Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, so eloquently. Which ended in:
‘ So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.’

C – Calm

A – Aspirational

R – Respectful

E – Engaged

Well done Year 7 students.

On Saturday 1st December, three of our 6 formers gave up their Saturday to hold a stall at St Mary’s and St John’s Christmas Fayre.
Over the week, they made different Christmas decorations such as sleighs, stars, candleholders and wreaths. On the day, they met the Mayor of Wolverhampton and his wife, who thanked them for supporting the community and said they were a credit to the school. Their stall made £40 for the church. Well Done to all who supported this event.

We are delighted to inform you that St Edmund’s Catholic Academy is working with the education charity Future First to build a thriving alumni community. Amongst our former students is a whole host of talented role models who we want to connect with in order to celebrate their success and inspire our current students. Alumni can be brought back to offer careers and education advice, mentor students, provide work experience placements and much more besides.

We need you

Please help us reach out to our former students using your own networks. From doctors to dancers, pilots to plumbers, we need alumni from a range of careers to open our students’ eyes to what’s possible.

If you are a former student or know of any who’d like to stay in touch and give back to their old school, ask them to sign up at:

https://networks.futurefirst.org.uk/signup/stedmundscatholic

Thank you.

A big thank you was given to Miss Rous on Thursday.  During her established career at St Edmund’s she has not only taught Science but also:-

• Taught embroidery/sewing for a year back in 2005
• Introduced students to her successful Gardening Club, both at the old site and the new, raising students’ awareness of flowers, vegetables and herbs. The academy has entered the Tettenhall Horticultural Society/s School Garden competition for many years and been successful.
• Looked after the Peace Garden ensuring tubs fully stocked with flowers throughout the year and also provided flower arrangements for academy events.

Miss Rous has worked tirelessly behind the scenes to help make St Edmund’s the best it can be.  A big thank you from all students and staff is certainly in order!

Miss Rouse with Principal Maggie Hazeldine.