Jo Boyce, Singer/Songwriter, Visits St Edmund’s

29th March 2018Mrs D Curtis

On Monday 26th March Singer/Songwriter Jo Boyce inspired our school by undertaking singing workshops with Y7, 8, 9, 10 and Y13 during Personnel Development Day.

Jo has featured on the BBC programme Songs of Praise a few times and kindly agreed to come along to join us in a Lent celebrations.

Her captivatingly sweet vocals not only engaged all pupils but inspired them to sing and learn songs written by her, Matt Redman and Stormzy (who was a particular hit with most students).

Jo also joined us for our Lenten Liturgy and her musical talents and vocals made the service very special service.

 

 

Jo Boyce and our Lay Chaplain Debbie Ferris

Monsignor Mark Crisp, Jo Boyce, Mr Bard (Curricular Leader Performing Arts) and students in the Lenten Liturgy

Parent Pay Update

27th March 2018Mrs D Curtis

We now have 86% of St Edmunds’ parents registered for Parent Pay which allows payments to be made online and over the phone for school meals and trips.

Letters containing log on details were sent out to parents earlier this month.  Please register your account  as soon as possible to allow payments to be made straight away.

If you have any queries or would like to pay over the phone please call the Finance Office on 01902 558888

City Schools Gymnastics Championships 2018

23rd March 2018Mrs D Curtis

On Monday 19 March twenty-five students competed in the City Schools Gymnastics held here at St. Edmund’s. There were a great number of gymnasts, both boys and girls, from eleven schools across the City and the standard of the performance were impressive.

St. Edmund’s gymnasts performed very well indeed, all their commitment and hard work training after school certainly paid off. We received numerous medals throughout the different sections of the competition and came a very respectable 3rd position overall, only 0.9 off first place! This has enabled us to represent Wolverhampton in the Black Country Gymnastics Championships in June.

Medal winners were:-

Beginners section

Martha Cooke – 3rd place on vault and 4th overall

Ben Wilkinson – 2nd on vault and 2nd overall

Ben Jones – 1st on vault, 1st on floor and overall CITY CHAMPION

Aaron Dodd-Matthews – 5th overall

Novice Section

Lysia Bayley – 2nd on vault, 2nd on floor and overall CITY CHAMPION

Amelia Beet – 1st on floor, and second overall

Natalie Bott – 3rd on vault

Maja Ura – 3rd floor

3rd position team – Lysia Bayley, Amelia Beet, Josh Dodd-Matthews, Maja Ura & Natalie Bott

 

A Level Students Attended Manchester PE Conference

22nd March 2018Mrs D Curtis

On Thursday 8 March students from St. Edmund’s PE group attended an A Level PE conference at Cheltenham’s Music School in Manchester.  Sara Van-Wely opened the day with some excellent exam tips and tactics in particular about how to approach the three exam papers.  Karen Foans and Russell Tomlin followed with specialist areas of Anatomy & Physiology, Exercise Physiology, Skill Acquisition, Sports Psychology, and Biomechanics. A great day to consolidate knowledge in preparation for their final exam.

Will Tudor describes his experience.

After an early start and a power nap on the way to Manchester I was ready to see what the day had to offer. The conference went over key topics and looked at the common mistakes that are made by students in the exams. There was also a focus on exam technique which I definitely benefited from as the timings and structure for particular questions were shown in a clear way. Revision techniques were explained by establishing links that can be made between topics to make revision more efficient. Overall I took a lot from the day and feel more confident in the final few weeks leading up to my exams.

By Will Tudor

 

British Schools Gymnastics Championships 2018 Success

21st March 2018Mrs D Curtis

Congratulations to St. Edmund’s gymnasts who performed in the British Schools Gymnastics Championships over the weekend of 17 and 18 March. They had already performed exceptionally well in order to qualify for this prestigious event, and were so proud just to be there. All gymnasts performed exceptionally well on both floor and vault and then as a group in a trio routine. The U13’s team were placed 10th overall and the U19 team were 6th overall, an amazing outcome for St Edmund’s first National debut.


The U19 team actually exceeded all expectations and the West Midlands team (St. Edmund’s and Arden School) became silver medal winners in the Regional competition behind the South East.  St Edmund’s were delighted to actually qualify for this National competition so to come home with a medal made it a fantastic Friday!  The U13’s team narrowly missed a medal as a region however 4th place in the country was an exceptional achievement, especially when for some, it was their first competition for the school.

The gymnasts have worked so hard over the last few months for this and all did St. Edmund’s proud. The hard work, determination to improve and numerous hours training after school contributed to this successful outcome. Well done!

U19 team – Christina Clifton, Josh Dodd-Matthews, Lysia Bayley and Corrin Smith.

U13 team – Brientony Jeyjaran, Maja Ura and Mia Davis

And many thanks from the team to Mrs Cartlidge and Mrs Swindells for making this possible.

 

Black Country School Games

21st March 2018Mrs D Curtis

On Monday 19 March the Y9 Indoor Athletics Team represented St Edmund’s at the Black Country School Games. This is a prestigious competition and the standard is very high.

The Team had earned their place from their fine performance in the Wolverhampton Schools Section where they finished in the top three. This earned them the right to compete again against other schools from Wolverhampton, and schools from Walsall and Sandwell.

Favour Enoghama, Jamal Morris, Pharrell Thelwell, George Oginga, James Edobor and Dammian Chigovanyika joined Mr Selvey at Aldersley Leisure Village and took part in the running, jumping and throwing events.

As always they represented the academy very well and showed how good and competitive we are. They earned sixth place at the event, which means they are the sixth best Indoor Athletics Team in the Black Country.  Around 40 teams across the Black Country would have entered their sections competitions so to finish sixth overall is fantastic.

Well done.

Mr Selvey (Head of Year 9/Teacher of PE)

 

Reconciliation

20th March 2018Mrs D Ferris


Reconciliation Liturgy and Confessions
The common definition of reconciliation as it relates to relationships is ‘The restoration of friendly relations’. The Lord our God is your friend so it makes sense to have the opportunity to confess our sins and have our relationship made anew.
Last Thursday, Year 8 had the opportunity to do this and attend confession if they wished. We were blessed with the presence of our Chaplin Fr. Mark, Fr Janek, Fr Pawel and also Fr. Paul Whielden, who took confession and listened to any thoughts and prayers. The students were given the opportunity to say sorry, make cards, write a letter of forgiveness, offer prayers to our Lady and wash away their sins.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is one of the most unique and beautiful aspects of Catholicism. Jesus Christ, in His abundant love and mercy, established the Sacrament of Confession, so that we as sinners can obtain forgiveness for our sins and reconcile with God and the Church. The sacrament “washes us clean” and renews us in Christ. We are in the last two weeks of Lent; maybe God is calling us to go to Confession before Holy Week so that we can be forgiven and given a fresh start at Easter.
“Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’” (John 20:21-23)

Vacancy for a Foundation Representative

20th March 2018Mrs D Curtis

Do you want to make a difference?

WE’D LIKE YOU TO BECOME INVOLVED!

Have a say in:-

Reviewing our Mission

The Curriculum Plan

Ensuring a healthy environment for our students

Maximising the potential of the site

Admissions

Helping to move St Edmund’s forward

AND MUCH, MUCH MORE!

 

Become a Foundation Representative of our Academy Committee here at St Edmund’s and join like-minded people who WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE and move forward!

WE CURRENTLY HAVE TWO POSITIONS AVAILABLE

You will need to be a practising Catholic and should approach your

Parish Priest in the first instance.

 

Please contact Mrs Gallagher mgallagher@stedmunds.org or Mrs Knowles jknowles@stedmunds.org 01902 558888 Extension 120 in the first instance

Application forms are available from c.kirby@bdes.org.uk

 

YOU’LL BE GLAD YOU DID!

Wolverhampton Swimming Gala

16th March 2018Mrs D Curtis

Two under-13 swimming teams represented St Edmund’s on Wednesday 14 March at the annual Wolverhampton Swimming Gala at The Royal School. The A team consisted of Leo Bayley, Oliver Green, Ben Wilkinson, Herbie Mandare-Singh and Lukas Lopetaitis and the B team consisted of Josh Gibson, Nathanael Somerville, Gareth Jones, Sean Cadiz, Ethan Gay and Byron Kavanagh.

Highlights from the event were;

Lukas Lopetaitis – second in two lengths butterfly heat and one length butterfly heat

Leo Bayley – first in one length backstroke heat

Sean Cadiz – second in two lengths backstroke heat

Byron Kavanagh – second in one length frontcrawl heat

Nathanael Somerville – second in one length backstroke heat

All students represented the academy very well and enjoyed the competition. Well done to all.

 

Mr Selvey

Teacher of PE/Head of Year 9

Surprise party for Site Officer

14th March 2018Mrs D Curtis

John Roberts was taken by surprise on Friday evening!!!  John’s partner, Apple and staff at St Edmund’s Catholic Academy decided to organise a Birthday Party for him, without his knowledge, to celebrate his 60th Birthday, and also to mark the fact that he has given almost 21 years of service to the former school, which converted to academy status four years ago.    Preparations had been underway well in advance, with gifts, music, food and a cake organised for him.  On arrival John was met with the sound of huge party poppers, music and a welcome from some 50 former employees, all anxious to congratulate and make a fuss of him!!!!

John commenced his employment  in June 1997, and became the Caretaker/Site Manager at the former school in 2004.  He worked for many years doing a ‘split shift’, supervising evening events at the school and ensuring that all was safe and secure at all times.    John is in his 21st year of employment with what is now St Edmund’s Catholic Academy – part of Bishop Clearly Multi Academy Company.  Celebrations were to continue with a family party on Saturday.

Principal Maggie Hughes commented ‘ John has given 21 years service to St Edmund’s and it was a great pleasure to assist in the subterfuge to keep his birthday celebration a secret’.

John Roberts (centre) with his partner Apple (left of John) and work colleagues.