St Edmund's Catholic Academy

Earlier this week, each year 9 form had the opportunity to go to the new school Chapel and take part in a Vocation Liturgy. They looked at what ‘Vocation means to them’ and ‘Does my Career Matter to God?’

We hope that this will help them to pray, listen, think and choose their options wisely, but also have the courage and generosity to follow the call of our Loving God. Helping them to understand the vocation and desire the Lord has for them.

The session was concluded with the following Vocation prayer:

Lord,

I know you love me and have great plans for me.

But sometimes I am overwhelmed

By the thought of my future.

Show me how to walk forward one day at a time.

May I take heart while I search openly,

Learn about all the choices,

Listen to others for advice,

And pay attention to my own feelings.

By doing these things,

May I hear your call to a lifestyle

And a career that will let me love as only I can,

And let me serve others

With the special gifts that you have given me.

Amen

At the start of term, St Edmund’s Year 7 Netball team played a league match against Wolverhampton Grammar School.

The team knew it would be a tough game after narrowly losing to WGS ‘B’ team before Christmas. The first half was dominated by WGS and St Edmund’s found it difficult to move the ball into their attacking area. The score at half time was 0-6. A much improved performance in the second half saw St Edmund’s score two goals and limit WGS to three late goals, resulting in a 2-9 win for WGS.

Well done to all the pupils who played, you battled back in the second half and showed a great spirit throughout the game. A special mention to Chaya Coleman and Tamar Harris, who came along to support.

The Senior Citizens’ Party, organised by the Sixth Formers on Wednesday, was a great success.

Around 130 guests, invited from care homes and the local community, arrived for a great afternoon of Christmas entertainment – the dining room was transformed into a fabulous party venue in record time!

Mrs Roberts and the brilliant choir sang a selection of carols and folk songs.Daniel Collett found his natural vocation in running the Bingo session, and Mrs Dhaliwal and her hard-working kitchen team, provided lots of food for our guests to enjoy.

All the guests said how pleasant and polite our Sixth Formers were, and really enjoyed chatting to them during the afternoon. We have already had emails and letters of thanks and requests to return next year!

Thank you to all of the Sixth Form students for planning and participating in the day with enthusiasm, and to the staff (especially Mrs Hogg,Mrs Downing and Ms Richards) for giving their time to help organise another great event. .

On Friday, Sixth Form students and staff took part in Christmas Jumper Day for ‘Save the Children’.

We would like to thank all of our students and staff who took part in this event and contributed their kind donations to a great cause.

They all looked fabulously festive!

A huge thank you to everyone who took part in the Christmas Concert, that took place on Wednesday 10^th December. It was a lovely evening filled with music and festivities, with performances from the orchestra, choir and folk band as well as performances from year 10 bands and drama groups.

The orchestra opened the concert with a performance of ‘The Great Gates of Kiev’ which set the evening off to a great start; this was followed with performances by the folk band and drama groups. The choir did their rendition of ‘Wherever you are’ originally sang by the military wives, and also joined in with the festivities with Christmas staples such as ‘Gaudete’ and ‘Ring Christmas Bells’. The string group added to the atmosphere by playing ‘Walking in the Air’.  The concert was also finished by the orchestra by playing ‘The Gloucestershire Wassail’.

The concert was a success and a celebration of the musicians that dedicate themselves to making these concerts happen.

On the 3rd December, exam students from St Edmund’s Catholic Academy performed three songs at Newhampton Arts Centre in a multi-school pop event.

Pieces included ‘I need a dollar’ – Aloe Black, ‘We found love’ – Rhianna/Calvin Harris & ‘Das Model’ – Kraftwork. The show was a complete success and all of our student performances were excellent.

The students conducted themselves admirably, supporting each other and students from other schools. They were a credit to the school.

Miss Kelly and Miss Toor accompanied Year 10 students on a visit to the Wildside Activity Centre.

The morning was spent learning about wildlife, natural habitats, conservation and how local volunteers help to keep the canal and Hawthorn Wood habitable for local wildlife.

The group enjoyed going out into the woods and learning some fascinating facts about bats from the Ron Rock bat expert.

He also kindly showed the pupils a Noctule bat, which can fly up to 40 mph and is the biggest bat in the UK.

Special thanks to John Roberts and Mr Playford for providing transport in the school mini bus and thanks go to the Ron Rock carers for the bats and nurturing them back to health.

Year 10 photography students were offered an exciting photography demonstration by a professional freelance product photographer Simon Bruntnell, at the Science Park.

He demonstrated in the photographic studio the use of lighting and equipment, where students watched, listened, developed techniques and skills to improve their presentation. Simon encouraged them to discover their hidden creativity and learn how to shoot perfect, captivating photographs.

The trip was enjoyed by all and some stunning photographs were taken.

Many of the students were intrigued to learn about the different lighting and background effects which they can now use as part of their assessment.