St Edmund’s Catholic Academy Celebrates “Good” Rating

By S Huynh24th March 2016

Staff and pupils have been celebrating in style after Ofsted rated St Edmund’s Catholic Academy as “Good”.

Catering assistant Sam Hamilton and teacher Angela Jeer baked a cake to mark their success following the publication of the report this week.

Inspectors found the students to be “well behaved and a credit to St Edmund’s Catholic Community”, and said the leadership team had maintained a good quality of education at the academy.

They praised Principal Maggie Hughes’ “clear-sighted and organised” leadership and said that under her direction, senior leaders work with “rigour and clarity of purpose”.

They said the academy has a culture of “high expectations for achievement, exemplary behaviour and a strong community spirit”, with pupils who are well turned out and show pride in themselves and St Edmund’s.

And they found rates of progress in English and mathematics increased sharply in 2015 from those recorded a year before.

Mrs Hughes, who was appointed in September 2014, said: “I am delighted to say that the inspection was a great success and we have retained our Good judgement.

“The feedback from the inspectors is extremely positive, highlighting the progress we have made since our previous inspection and pointing out next steps towards an outstanding judgement.

“Our strength lies in working together to ensure our young people make the best use of their skills and talents giving them the outstanding results.”

Julien Kramer, the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Director of Education said: “I would like to congratulate the staff, pupils and parents at St Edmund’s on a superb outcome which reflects well on this great school and our city.

“I’m delighted that the hard work of the principal, her leadership team, the pupils and everyone else associated with the Academy has been recognised, and I am sure parents will join me in congratulating them as they continue their journey towards hopefully receiving an Outstanding judgement from Ofsted in the future.”

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The Great Minds Tour Bus

By S Huynh22nd March 2016

The Great Minds Tour bus from Staffordshire University popped by yesterday to give students the opportunity to experience university life. The use of virtual reality allowed students to select their tour through the campus. The students sat back with popcorn to experience the on board cinema which showcased the facilities at the university.

The top deck of the bus allowed students to see what a typical student hall of residence looks like. They sat in the kitchen diner enquiring about entry requirements and the courses available.

Our year 12 student Quxah said: “Today was brilliant, I loved it!”

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Students Swap their Beds for Cardboard Boxes

By S Huynh17th March 2016

A number of enthusiastic Wolverhampton students braved the cold weather and took part in the ‘Sleep Easy’ campaign last Friday night, to raise money in changing the lives of young homeless people in the Black Country.

Sleep Easy is a national event which sees hundreds of people from up and down the country giving up their TOG rated duvets to help change the lives of homeless young people in their communities. Sixth Form students at St Edmund’s Catholic Academy in Wolverhampton prepared themselves to spend their Friday night sleeping in a cardboard box.

Every night, YMCA Black Country Group provides support and shelter for over 300 homeless young people across the Black Country and Staffordshire border area in addition to family mediation, substance misuse support and other services in order to prevent homelessness occurring in the first place.

St Edmund’s Catholic Academy are hoping to raise around £200 for the Moving Forward Fund which enables these young people to move on in their lives, by providing not only the practical things that make a house a home but also accessing employment and training opportunities, as well as providing them with much needed emotional support.

The campaign took place at St Edmund’s Catholic Academy, on Friday 11th March from 6pm – 6am, with a soup kitchen provided by the YMCA and an inspirational speech from  ‘Chedene’, who was previously homeless but had her life turned around with the help of the charity.

St Edmund’s would like to say a very big thank you to all the students who took part in such a worthy cause, Wolf Mountain for entertaining our students for part of the night and most importantly to Mr Bentley, Mrs Wrenshall-Jones and Mr Auger, for giving up their well-earned, comfortable Friday night to accompany the students. This type of event just couldn’t go ahead without the good will and support of our fantastic staff.

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Last Chance to Apply – St Edmund’s Sixth Form

By S Huynh15th March 2016

LAST CHANCE TO APPLY

Friday 18th March 2015 – 4.30pm

Come along to find out more information and to see what we have to offer.

Best results ever… 100% PASS RATE at all A2 level subjects!

You can find the Application Form by clicking the ‘About us’ then the Sixth Form tab on our website.

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Ofsted Inspection Update

By S Huynh4th March 2016

On Tuesday 1st March we welcomed Ofsted into St Edmund’s Catholic Academy for a one day Section 8 Inspection.

I was delighted to hear such positive feedback from the Inspectors at the end of the day. Our young people gave an excellent account of themselves and the academy and I’d particularly like to thank parents and carers for the favourable responses given to Ofsted via Parent View.

I’d also like to take the opportunity to thank every single member of staff for their dedication to the St Edmund’s family and the care they show to all of our young people. We look forward to the publication of the Inspection Report and to further successes for St Edmund’s Catholic Academy in the future.

Ann Shorthouse

Vice Chair, St Edmund’s Catholic Academy Committee

West Midlands Gymnastics Floor & Vault Competition

By S Huynh2nd March 2016

Last term, eight St Edmund’s gymnasts travelled up to Fenton Manor Sports Complex to compete in the West Midlands Floor & Vault Competition.

This year there were 10 teams that entered the competition and the standard of gymnastics was very high.

Joshua Dodd-Matthews competed first in the U14 section and he did not let his nerves phase him at all as he pulled out two amazing performances on the floor and vault. This was his first West Midlands competition and he was fabulous; a coach from another school even commented on how well he had performed.

St Edmund’s team competed on the floor first and they did so with style, precision and lots of extension. Rebecca Butler scored the highest on the floor with 14.15 out of 16.0.

In the vault section all St Edmund’s gymnasts nailed their landings and again scored well, Lisa Spratt scoring 14.9 and Christina Clifton 14.7.  Amber-Leigh Nicholls performed in the individual section and did exceptionally well too.

We were very proud of everyone and to find out that we came 4th out of 10 teams was very pleasing.

We would like to thank all the gymnasts for their hard work both during the competition and during their many late night training sessions.  It has all paid off!

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Year 7, 8 & 9 Reading Challenge

By S Huynh1st March 2016

For Years 7, 8 & 9 there is a Reading Challenge competition. Collect stickers for every time you borrow a book and there will be prizes for the winners!

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Scholastic Book Club

By S Huynh1st March 2016

The deadline for our Scholastic Book Club has changed.

The latest date you can place your order at http://schools.scholastic.co.uk/st-edmunds-wv3 is now March 11th, 2016.

If you haven’t ordered yet, why not take a look at some of the great offers across a huge range of titles. Every order earns free books for our school.

You can also send orders into school. Just write out your order including your child’s name, tutor group, number and title of the item you wish to order and total amount to pay. Place this in an envelope with the money and send it in to Mrs Lowe who will place the orders and distribute the items when they arrive in school.

 

 

 

What Will You Do Next? Free Careers Event

By S Huynh26th February 2016

There will be a FREE Careers Event on Saturday 27 February 2016, (tomorrow)) at the NEC Birmingham. We encourage all Years 10,11 & 12 students to attend as it will be a great opportunity to meet some of the UK’s leading employers & Universities helping to map out your future!

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Pupils Celebrate Chinese New Year

By S Huynh12th February 2016

On Monday afternoon, to mark the year of the monkey – the Catering team at St Edmund’s Catholic Academy held a Chinese themed lunch for pupils and students, in aid of celebrating Chinese New Year.

On the menu was, egg fried rice, vegetarian stir fry, Thai fish green curry and of course the traditional sweet and sour chicken.

Bunting depicting the Chinese flag was draped across the dining hall and everyone really got into the spirit of celebrating the Chinese culture.

Wendy Hall, Catering Team Leader said:

“Last year we gave students a taste of the Caribbean to celebrate Black History Month and this year we wanted to give students an authentic taste of Asia. We really embrace different cultures here at St Edmund’s and we want students to try all different kinds of foods from around the world.”

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