Last Thursday our Under 13’s Rugby players went to Highfields for the first of this year’s tournaments.

With half of Year 8 on a trip, and Soccer fixtures for Years 7 and 8 – it was difficult to get a team but we managed to get 8 boys on the Mini-bus.

Our first game was against Deansfield and St. Edmunds dominated possession. Tries from Bill Rowley and Azif Mir gave us a 10-0 lead before a late consolation from Deansfield made the final score 10-5.

Aldersley were a strong second opponent but some excellent tackling kept the score at 0-0 until late in the game. However, the pressure finally told in the last couple of minutes and two tries made the score 10-0 to Aldersley.

As we only had 8, there wasn’t the opportunity for substitutions so St. Edmund’s got to the last game bruised and weary. Overall, a tremendous final effort meant that tries from Connor Heaney and Tom Kosiorek gave us a 10-0 victory.

Two wins out of three was a fine effort and training will now take place every Wednesday lunchtime in preparation for the next tournament.

Well done to;

Dan Alcaraz                             Sahib Duhra                            Connor Heaney

Tom Kosiorek                          Adam Langston                       Azif Mir

Destiny Osazuwa                     Bill Rowley

Last week some of our Year 8 pupils went along to Carding Mill Valley as part of their Geography trip. It was an opportunity for them to gain first-hand experience of fieldwork by getting into the river and taking various measurements.

The pupils will use this information to produce a coursework style project in which they will write about their hypothesis, a description of what they did, draw some graphs to show their results, and evaluate their work to say what they did well and what they would change.

The students had a fantastic time and really engaged in the activities that they were doing. They displayed fantastic skills of teamwork and spirit, not to mention their determination to complete the climb to the top of the mountain!

Many of the students returned to the coach with a huge sense of achievement stating that:‘it was the best trip they had ever been on’ and ‘that was awesome Miss, can we come back again?’ A great experience had by all.

From tutus to tiaras, today teachers and support staff at St Edmund’s Catholic Academy held a ‘Pink Friday’ in aid of raising funds for Breast Cancer awareness.

Organised by Lay Chaplain, Debra Ferris, she said: “I have recently joined St Edmund’s as their new Lay Chaplain and I had asked the staff to let me know if they wanted to raise any money for a cause. One of our Modern Foreign Languages teachers asked for a ‘Wear it Pink Day’.

Most of us know someone who has been affected by Cancer and my mum is in remission at the moment, so we decided at our next Staff Inset Day we would have a bit of fun and raise money at the same time. Everyone got into the spirit wearing something pink; the Principal gave a gift to the ‘best dressed’ and enjoyed all the pink sweets on their tables to keep them going through the day.”

All proceeds will go to the breast cancer support charity, Breast Cancer Care.

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 were 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.

Five home-grown stars of the Commonwealth and Invictus Games were honoured in a special civic ceremony last week in Wolverhampton.

Commonwealth gold medallists Matthew Hudson-Smith and former student of St Edmund’s Catholic Academy – Kristian Thomas, joined silver medal-winning cyclist Andy Tennant, bronze medal-winning wrestler Chinu Singh and Invictus Games wheelchair basket-ball gold medallist Andrew Roberts as guests of honour of Wolverhampton Mayor Councillor Michael Heap.

“These young men are role models for our youngsters,” the mayor said.

Gymnast Thomas, who picked up gold in the team event and two silvers in the vault and horizontal bars in Glasgow, described the ceremony as a ‘proud moment.’

Photograph courtesy of Wolverhampton Chronicle

On Thursday 18th September, St Edmund’s Catholic Academy hosted their annual Presentation Evening, with special honoured guest, The Right Worshipful the Mayor of Wolverhampton, Mr Mike Heap and his Mayoress Frances.

The evening was a resounding success, with over 100 learners receiving prizes, shields and bursaries for further study, in recognition of their hard work, determination and tenacity.  The event was excellently attended and was a perfect opportunity to showcase the fabulous “new-build” academy to prospective and current parents and carers.

Christopher Czepukojc, Assistant Principal at St Edmund’s, who compèred the event, said that: “the evening was an inspiration to us all.  We really enjoyed the opportunity to congratulate and champion all our prize winners for their grit and determination as they flourish at our academy.”

Yesterday morning– six of our enthusiastic Year 13 pupils: Niamh Burns, Keren Bucknall, Thomas Power, Hannah Price and Samantha Newill took part in raising money for cancer by holding a fabulous Macmillan’s coffee morning at St Edmunds Catholic Academy. Not only was it for a good cause, it was part of their practical assessment in completing their BTEC National Hospitality Unit 16 Hospitality Business Enterprise.

Mrs Saira Ali, Vocational Education Teacher said: “Unit 16 explores the skills needed to plan, set up and operate a hospitality business enterprise. I thought this would work really well in assessing them, and of course in raising money for charity. Two years ago a similar event was held but it was for Oxfam and this year we’ve gone with Macmillan. They’ve worked extremely hard preparing the beverages and setting up the stall and everything looks lovely.” Mrs Ali adds “The campaign will continue on the open evening for my year 12 Hospitality students to complete their practical assessment”

There was a wonderful selection of handmade cookies, cupcakes, sweet bouquets, hand wrapped popcorn, juices, coffees and teas.  It went down a treat with the rest of the school and in particular the chocolate brownies sold quickly. They raised £70.65 in total and all of proceeds raised will go to Macmillan.