Last week Pudsey bear made a special visit to St Edmund’s Catholic Academy in aid of raising money for Children In Need. Sixth Form students sold wrist bands, somosa’s and undertook a special staff Vs. students football tournament all for charity.

We’d like to thank everyone who took part during last week’s fundraising activities and especially the Sixth Form students who helped organise such an eventful week.

We will keep you posted as to how much we have raised!

On Wednesday morning, St Edmund’s Catholic Academy came together as a whole school as part of our Remembrance Assembly in honor of the sacrifices made by our brave Service men and women.

It was a moving Assembly with readings and tributes read by staff and our Senior Prefects team were on hand selling poppy’s.

Adria Dongo Year 12 played the piano beautifully with Isobel Casey and Alex Platt singing ‘Amazing Grace.’ Mr Lloyd showed his hidden talent by playing the trombone to mark a one minute silence.

We’d like to thank all students and staff for taking part and also those who have helped organise such a lovely Service.

Principal, Mrs Hughes added: “St Edmund’s is a big family of many languages, cultures and faith traditions and today was an outstanding example of the strength and cohesion of our faith community in action.”

On Monday 2 November 2015 members of the Academy Council,  Mr Farr (Vice Principal) and Mrs Hazeldine (Vice Principal), Mrs Hughes (Principal) and Mrs Gallagher (Academy Chair) joined together in our Chapel to celebrate the Feast of the Holy Souls.  The mass was celebrated by our Chaplain Father Mark Crisp.

The Feast of All Souls has always been a significant day at St Edmund’s. It is the day we especially commemorate the souls of all the faithful departed and take time to pray for our own loved ones who have gone before us.

Mrs Gallagher said, “I am most impressed by the reverence and attention of the young people in remembering family and friends from our community who have died during this year”.

We would like to say a huge congratulations to former student Kristian Thomas, as he delivered a show-stopping final round at the World Gymnastics Championships last week.

It helped Great Britain claim an historic silver in the team all-around final in Glasgow.

The 26-year-old, who also claimed bronze at the 2012 Olympics in the same event, banished all memories of the team’s fourth-place finish in 2014 with three high scores from his rotations.

It looked like it might not happen for Britain, heading into the final rotation at the SSE Hydro.

But some solid floor work from Thomas, Dan Purvis and Max Whitlock saw them edge out China and claim their first-ever world championships men’s team medal – Japan holding on for gold.

Thomas said: “It’s an absolutely incredible feeling, it really is. We’ve made history and I can’t say much more than that.

“There was definitely a lot of pressure going into that final routine but, at the same time, we knew we’d worked hard for it.”

Content is courtesy of The Express & Star.

On Friday 23rd October, the Catering team at St Edmund’s Catholic Academy ended the term with a Caribbean/African lunch theme held for pupils and students, in aid of celebrating Black History Month.

On the menu was jerk chicken, rice and peas, dumplings, banana curry and of course the traditional Jamaican ginger cake.

Dressed in colourful tops representing the different flags of Black History month, Head Cook Pam Dhaliwal commented: “Here at St Edmund’s and within Wolverhampton we love to celebrate diversity and culture. What better way of celebrating Black History Month by giving them a taste of the Caribbean.

It’s been a fun day, I think the pupils have really enjoyed it and it’s something we will continue to do each year.”

Earlier this month, Beth Sherburn Pop singer and songwriter, visited St Edmund’s Catholic Academy.

Beth works alongside ‘Life Skills’ and came into school to talk to our Year 7 and 8 pupils about eSafety and Cyber Bullying.

With Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram being popular amongst our young people today, Beth spoke of the importance of being safe online and how these platforms of Social Media can be dangerous if not used in right way.

She commented: “Your words are very powerful – so make sure you use them wisely…don’t be mean behind the screen.”

She also shared a real life story about a girl who committed suicide due to cyber bullying taking place in a school.

“If you are being bullied or know someone who is, it is really important you tell someone, so that the bullying stops. Don’t ever let anyone take away your dreams and ambitions.”

Beth also performed a number of songs including her latest single; ‘Joker,’ featuring Lil Wayne, which is out now! Everyone was on their feet singing and dancing, we look forward to Beth’s visit again in the near future.

The Happy Puzzle Company came for the third year running to St Edmund’s Catholic Academy, to provide some wonderful Maths games and challenges for our Year 7 pupils.

These puzzles and games were designed to help and develop maths and thinking skills, team skills, communication skills, logical reason and help to raise children’s expectations of what they can achieve.

Pupils enjoyed challenges such as the Penguin Iceberg, the road map challenge, and many more.

Sana Shakeel – Year 7 pupil said: “We couldn’t have completed the difficult tasks without working as a team.”

Serena Mayoudom – Year 7 pupil said: “It was a really good experience, I particularly enjoyed the illusions that Miss created.”

Ayaan Bukhari – Year 7 pupil said: “Nothing was impossible and I liked that we could all take part in solving these physical activities.”

Mr Morris Curriculum Leader Mathematics said:  “All pupils felt a sense of achievement at being able to tackle the seemingly impossible tasks. But through teamwork and perseverance they found strategies to succeed that will help them progress in their everyday lessons.”

Last night we held our Open Evening for prospective parents and their children. With more than 400 people attending, we really showcased why St Edmund’s is one of the UK’S most improved schools in England.

The atmosphere was buzzing with families enjoying the St Edmund’s team spirit and a range of activities and talents being displayed. These included: crazy science experiments, food tasting, teachers dressed as Egyptians and many more.

The feedback was very positive with many parents commenting on how impressed they were with our excellent facilities. One parent said: “Everything was perfect and we have had a lovely evening.”

Overall, the evening was enjoyed by all and we’d like to thank pupils and staff who contributed their time in making it a success.