Can I thank everyone for their very generous donations to the “Brave the Shave” in aid of CAFOD’s Gaza Crisis Appeal – now called the”Middle East Humanitarian Appeal”. The school collection, added to the donations made from the school, the parish of St Carlo Acutis, family and friends on the Just Giving page (which is now closed), brought the grand total to £1491.69!

My thanks to all who were able to sponsor me for this, and who gave so generously.

A big shout out to Mrs Beech, who was in charge of the “shearing”, Mrs Nahman, who filmed it, and to Mr Thompson and Mr Bill, who put the film together. Many people are going to benefit from this, so once again,

THANK YOU! Rev

You can watch the film at the following link:

P.S. The hair is growing back good and steady now, which will save me from having to buy new hats!

Today we concluded our Rosary Rally, which we pray every May and October at St Edmund’s. We do one section (called a “decade” or “mystery”) each day, and students lead this in a different language – usually one that is taught in school or spoken by our students and their families.

This October, we prayed in 20 different languages. Today, we concluded our prayers in Portuguese (the fourth Glorious Mystery – The Assumption of Our Blessed Lady)  and then the final mystery, the Crowning of Mary, was prayed in Latin, the universal language of the Church. The students, who have led this prayer, have been truly inspirational in the way they have shared their gift of language, and most importantly, their faith. A huge thank you to all who took part in leading this beautiful prayer. The languages in which we prayed were:

English, French, Spanish, Czech, Polish, Igbo, Irish, Italian, Flemish, Malayalam, Tamil, Romanian, Swedish, German, Moldovan, Greek, Slovak, Russian, Portuguese, and finishing in Latin, the universal language of the Church. A true reflection of the universality of the Church, and the beautifully inclusive and diverse nature of our Academy. 

May the Lord Jesus bless you, and His Blessed Mother keep you always in her love and prayers. 

This is fantastic news! Congratulations to the Caterlink Catering Team on receiving the Certificate of Excellence!

Achieving a 100% score in Allergen Management in an unannounced audit by Navitas Safety is a truly impressive accomplishment. It speaks volumes about their dedication, professionalism, and hard work in ensuring the safety and well-being of all the students and staff they feed daily.

They absolutely should feel incredibly proud of this well-deserved recognition!

Following the incredible success of our event last year, the second TechJam at St Edmund’s proved to be an even bigger hit! It was an unforgettable day where our students showcased their brilliance and passion for technology, teamwork, and problem-solving.

Our students fully immersed themselves in a series of high-energy, hands-on challenges designed to foster essential 21st-century skills. Every activity was a practical lesson in collaboration, creativity, and vital teamwork skills, and our students absolutely rose to the occasion!

The day was packed with innovation and excitement, featuring the return of our most popular challenges:

3D Construction Challenge: Students used 3D pens to tackle creative architectural problems, building resilient towers and structures that put their design and engineering skills to the ultimate test.

Gran Turismo Team Racing: This adrenaline-fueled challenge required perfect communication, as teams navigated the racetrack without being able to see it – they relied entirely on verbal instructions from their partners to secure victory.

Virtual Reality Detonation Challenge: Teams employed critical thinking, teamwork, and precise logic to successfully complete complex explosive detonation challenges under a high-pressure scenario.

Seeing our students push the limits of their technical knowledge and soft skills was truly rewarding.

A huge thank you once again to our fantastic partners, LearnPlay, for delivering such a creative, educational, and unforgettable experience. We are already looking forward to making TechJam an even greater annual tradition next year!

Ordinarily, playing computer games during lessons is strictly banned, but today we made an exception for our Year 10 IT students. We set up four unique stations in the lab to provide a fun, hands-on look at how different display technologies work. Here’s a brief look at the hardware we’re exploring and the key concepts they illustrate:

RGB LED Etch-A-Sketch: We see how emissive displays work: the light source is the pixel. This setup offers high brightness and is energy efficient, making it popular for large-scale outdoor screens and domestic TVs.

OLED Space Invaders: perfect contrast and fast response time are perfect for games, and their thin and light profile makes them ideal for our smart watches and other portable devices.

LCD Dinosaur Cactus Jump: an LCD does not emit its own light. It uses a separate backlight to shine through a layer of liquid crystals. Commonly used in calculators and TVs.

ePaper Adventure Game: used in Kindle eBooks, ePaper looks just like real paper and only uses power when refreshing, but does its low response time mean it’s unsuitable for gaming?

By interacting with these devices, students are gaining a practical understanding of key concepts like emissive vs. transmissive/reflective, response time, contrast ratio, and the trade-offs between cost, efficiency, and image quality. This knowledge is vital when considering the best hardware for a given task, whether it’s building a gaming rig, selecting a smartphone, or designing digital signage! And they may even achieve a high score!

A huge congratulations to the ten St Edmund’s students who represented the Academy superbly at the Wolverhampton City Cross Country Championships, held at Wolverhampton Grammar School.

The Year 7 girls were first to take to the course, competing with great enthusiasm in their one-lap race. Lily-Mia finished 22nd, closely followed by Jiya Dhadda (23rd) and Destiny Harris (28th) — a brilliant effort from all three runners!

The Year 10 girls showed fantastic team spirit with an impressive turnout of six competitors. Daisy Winwood put in a strong performance, finishing 9th and narrowly missing qualification for the West Midlands Championships. She was closely followed by Cerys Hard (15th), Rocio Okeke Oyema (16th), Adaobi Ezike (22nd), Destiny Nnaji (23rd), and Alba (24th) — an excellent team effort and a testament to their hard work and commitment.

In the Year 10 boys’ race, Aaron Guest ran brilliantly, finishing 7th and earning qualification to represent Wolverhampton at the West Midlands Cross Country Championships. What a fantastic achievement — well done, Aaron, and best of luck in the next stage!

To mark World Mental Health Day 2025, our school recently hosted a wonderful wellness session for staff, focusing on relaxation and self-care.

We were thrilled to have Pav and Simran Mahey, from ‘True Path Living’ lead a session on mindfulness and sound baths. The goal was to help our dedicated staff manage stress and promote better mental health.

Staff who attended had a deeply relaxing experience. Pav and Simran guided them through mindfulness exercises, followed by a soothing sound bath using instruments like singing bowls. The resonant sounds helped everyone to quiet their minds and feel a true sense of peace.

The feedback was fantastic, with staff describing the session as “incredibly relaxing” and a “wonderful way to reset.”

A big thank you to Pav and Simran for their generous time and support. This event highlights our commitment to looking after the well-being of our entire school community.