Viktorija, one of our Year 12 students recently spent an interesting 3 days at Staffordshire University on their Unilife programme. This programme is free to students and gives them an opportunity to experience University life. Students took part in a variety of activities including lectures on their chosen course, student finance and degree apprenticeships as well as how to prepare their personal statements. They were then treated to fun activities such as a flight simulator experience and a talk by staff from an exotic zoo in Telford where she faced her phobia by holding a tarantula spider!

During July, 2018 we both participated in the Young Lawyer Programme at University College London. This was a great experience for the both of us as we are both interested in the subject and are currently considering going into it as a future profession. The day allowed us to walk in the shoes of real life lawyers with case studies being presented to us which meant we were really able to engage and share our ideas in group discussions with our fellow peers. The day included talks from various different lawyers who are excellent within their fields. These talks included the Solicitor, Family Lawyer, Barrister and the City Lawyer. We also had a mock murder trial after lunch which gave us the chance to engage and cross examine witnesses which was probably the highlight of our day as it was set up like a real life case and therefore felt as if we were in an actual court. Not only did we have talks from various different professionals but also talks about applying for university and the recruitment process. Then finally the day was rounded off by having a panel discussion where all the lawyers came together to answer any final questions we may have had. So overall, we are very happy that we took this opportunity as it has really helped us decide on what we want to carry on doing after sixth form and has also given us valuable experience.

During the summer Miss Mifflin volunteered in an orphanage in Mawanza Tanzania through the charity Forever Angels.

St Edmund’s were kind enough to send out a donation to the orphanage to help support their work and provide life saving food and shelter for both children and their families.

Here is where that money went.

St Edmund’s are celebrating excellent GCSE and Btec results this year!  80% of our 2018 Yr 11 examination candidates achieved the new GCSE grades 9-4 in English and 73% in Mathematics.

Grade 4 is equivalent to grade C and grade 8 equates to A*, with a grade 9 , now the highest grade, awarded nationally to a small percentage of the very best candidates.

42% of St Edmund’s students received the news today that they hold grades 7 to 9 (all A grades) with the highest grade 9s achieved across a range of subjects.

Our highest achieving students include Jessica Bradley 9,9,9,9,8,8,8,8,8,7 ; Bilal Aslam: 9,8,8,8,8,7,7,6,6,5; Ciara Byrne: 8,8,7,7,7,7,7,7,6,5;  Rhian Cullen: 8,7,7,7,7,7,7,6,6,5; Julliana Mejia: 8,7,7,7,7,7,7,6,6,6 Luca Xue: 8,8,7,7,7,7,7,7,6,6,6, Alyssa Capuno: 9,7,7,7,7,6,6,6,6,5; Abigail Caron: 8,8,8,7,7,7,7,7,6,5 & Mareks Ceplitis: 8,8,7,6,6,6,5,5,5,4.

New Principal Mrs Hazeldine said:

Once again our students have excelled in their efforts through conscientious study and listening to the advice and guidance of their exceptional teachers. Five years of commitment and dedication has been rewarded today and I look forward to seeing them return to our sixth form next month.

I would like to thank all of the St Edmund’s students, families and staff for everything that they have contributed to this success. It is through working with and for each other that we consistently achieve these high standards each year.

Maggie Hughes (Principal)
Maggie Hazeldine (Principal Designate)

Yet again St Edmund’s students have achieved outstanding A Level and Btec results, continuing the tradition of academic and vocational excellence.

Our students have been extremely successful this year with 49% of all students achieving at least 1 A* or A in their results .

Our top achieving students include Jakub Kolasa with A* A* A in Maths, Further Maths and Physics (Mechanical Engineering), Arnav Sharma with AAA in Biology, Chemistry and Maths (Medicine) and Princess Viloria with AAB in Geography, Maths and Chemistry (Accounting).

Principal Mrs Hughes said,

I am truly delighted to see the hard work and dedication of our students and staff so well demonstrated in today’s A level results. This excellence can be seen across our broad range of A level subjects, notably the very popular Law, as well as in the STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Maths), Psychology, Sociology, English Literature, RE, History, & Geography, PE and Music Technology, Health & Social Care.

The persistence and determination of our students alongside the dedication and expertise of our staff is the ideal combination that delivered these successes.

Maggie Hughes (Principal)
Maggie Hazeldine (Principal Designate)

On Tuesday 10th July the Modern Foreign Languages Department had a visit from Oriel College at Oxford University. We were visited by a graduate who did a taster lesson on Ancient Greek and Latin for talented Year 9 GCSE linguists.

By the end of the session, students were able to read extracts in these languages and they really enjoyed seeing a different side to their normal language learning in school. The session enthused students and made them realise the numerous potential careers available through knowing different languages.

We hope to have Oxford University visit the department again in the future to talk to students about studying languages at university.

Looking for something to do this summer? HeadStart are offering free summer activities for young people aged 10 to 16 living in Wolverhampton. Activities are led by local community organisations, and designed to support young people’s emotional wellbeing and mental health through fun, free arts and crafts, sports, music, dance, and more.

For more information, including how to book your free places, please visit https://www.headstartonline.co.uk/whatson/

On Friday 6th July Professor Coleman, a Professor of Toxicology from Aston University, visited our Academy and gave a talk to A Level and Year 10 students about his work.  He spoke to them about his own career path and what led him to study toxicology.

Professor Coleman spoke about the different cells in the brain and the impact of drugs on the human brain compared with animal brains and therefore the need for testing on human cellular systems instead of animals.

Professor Coleman continued with an insight into university life and the need to learn independent study skills and to choose a course/career that interests them.  This was followed by a question and answer session as students gained an insight into the research that Professor Coleman carries out and also about University life.