Daily Gospel Reflection

22nd April 2020Mrs D Ferris

ONLY THE HUNGRY HAVE LIFE
“Look there! Those men you put in jail are standing over there in the temple, teaching the people.” —Acts 5:25
An angel freed the apostles from jail and told them to teach about “this new life” (Acts 5:20). Christianity is new life, but Christians must be taught to live this life, thus, the great importance of teaching in the Christian life and regarding this life.

On the day Jesus rose from the dead, He spent hours in the afternoon and evening interpreting the Scriptures (Lk 24:27) and opening the apostles’ minds to understand the Scriptures (Lk 24:45). At the first Christian Pentecost, Peter was preaching and teaching. Thereupon, the newborn Church “devoted themselves to the apostles’ instruction and the communal life, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42). After an angel freed the apostles from jail and told them to keep teaching, they devoted themselves to “prayer and the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4) by resisting temptations to lose their focus on teaching God’s Word. They even filled Jerusalem with their teaching (Acts 5:28). Jesus was frequently called “Rabbi,” meaning “Teacher” (see Jn 20:16), and the Church founded by Jesus is therefore a teaching Church.

PRAYER: Father, send the Holy Spirit to teach me everything (Jn 14:26) and guide me to all truth (Jn 16:13).
PROMISE: “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” –Jn 3:17
PRAISE: Every day, try and read s Bible verse, reflects on how this Word applies to your life, and then says “Lord, Your will be done.”

Daily Gospel Reflection

20th April 2020Mrs D Ferris

OUR ONLY NEED
“The place where they were gathered shook as they prayed. They were filled with the Holy Spirit.” —Acts 4:31
When Peter and John were released from jail, they did not ask for:

  • .future safety,
  • protection from their enemies,
  • .justice after being wrongly arrested, or
  •  an easier mission.
    Rather, they asked to be filled again with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4; 4:31) and thereby receive “complete assurance,” that is, holy boldness in witnessing for the risen Christ (Acts 4:29).

Let’s not focus on the immensity of our problems and the human impossibility of dealing with them. It doesn’t make that much difference whether we have to move a mountain or a mountain range. It’s irrelevant whether we face thousands of enemies or only a few. Even if Satan himself is pulling out his heavy artillery, it isn’t important. We must turn to the Spirit dwelling within us (see 1 Cor 3:16), Who can handle any degree of difficulty. We need only stir into flame the gift of the Spirit in our lives, for “the Spirit God has given us is no cowardly spirit, but rather One That makes us strong, loving, and wise” (2 Tm 1:6, 7).

Come, Holy Spirit! Give us Easter.

PRAYER: Father, may I be baptized in and preoccupied with the Holy Spirit.
PROMISE: “The wind blows where it will. You hear the sound it makes but you do not know where it comes from, or where it goes. So it is with everyone begotten of the Spirit.” –Jn 3:8
PRAISE: Pray regularly for discernment to know what comes from the Holy Spirit and what comes from the evil one.

St Edmund’s Supports The NHS

18th April 2020Mrs D Curtis

St Edmund’s Catholic Academy is proud to follow its CARE values and donates Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the NHS front line.

Earlier this week Mrs Sehera, Art & Design Technology Technician, delivered a supply of  PPE to Russells Hall Hospital.

Hospital staff expressed their sincere gratitude for the much needed overalls and thanked staff at St Edmund’s for their generosity and support during this challenging time.

 

Timings for Online School Day

7th April 2020Mr M Jones
After the Easter break, lessons will resume on Tuesday 21st April with a new timetable for Years 7 to 10:
This will allow more time to be devoted to exercise and well-being and allow teachers to plan and deliver lessons in more detail.
Some things to note:
A copy of the new timetable was emailed to all students on the last day of last term.
There may be a change of teacher for some students in some subjects. This does not mean they have moved sets.
Where the timetable says MADTCF students will study either Music, Art, Drama, Tech, Computing or Food, depending on which group they are in. This will be apparent when they get their work set.
The timetable is only in place whilst online learning is taking place. The normal timetable will resume as soon as we return to school.
The timings of the day have been altered slightly so that all students in all years follow the same timings (to help where there are students from different year groups in the same household.
Work will continue to be set using Google Classroom; as long as students are logged in throughout each weekday, they will access all the correct lessons for that day.
The time table is unchanged for students in Year 12.
A “preparing for Post-16 study” timetable will be added for Year 11 early in the new term, ready for teaching from Monday 27th April.

St Edmund’s Supporting Wellbeing

3rd April 2020Mrs D Curtis

We understand that the outbreak of COVID-19 can create worry and distress for our students and families. These feelings are normal and it’s important we acknowledge them and remind each other to look after our physical and mental health.

There are many things that we can do to support and manage our wellbeing during these times. The academy has collated guidance and resources to support you through this.

Please click on the website link below for further information.

https://www.stedmundscloud.co.uk/wellbeing/

British Schools National Team Milano Gymnastics Final

24th March 2020Mrs D Curtis

On Friday 13th March, 2 teams (an Under 13 Mixed and an Under 16 Mixed team) and 2 teachers headed up to Fenton Manor Sports Complex in Stoke at 6:30am for a very busy day. This would be the first time St Edmund’s has qualified for 2 teams to be at Nationals.

 

Upon arrival it all happened very fast. The Under 16’s warmed up their individuals at 7:45am to perform at 8:45am. There was lots of anticipation as St Edmunds were to open the competition with their floor routines. They performed incredibly well and did so with huge smiles on their faces. They then moved over to vault where some outstanding vaults were performed and deservedly awarded some impressive scores. For them it’s back to warm up for their trio whilst the under 13’s anxiously waited for their time to perform. 

 

At 10:00am the Under 13’s took to the stage for their individuals and they too lived up to the prestige of performing at Nationals. They performed some very good routines and performed some amazing vaults which were credited with some very marvellous results. Then they too headed back to warm up for their trio whilst the Under 16’s performed once again. 

 

For the Under 16’s their trio is their best routine, something they are very proud of. They once again opened the routines for this part of the competition and definitely set a benchmark with their incredible timing and choreography. They could do no more. 

 

Then the Under 13’s went and performed one of the best trio’s they’ve ever performed and their many hours of practice and commitment clearly paid off. They performed a solid routine that was well timed and together they pulled off a successful routine. They could do no more. 

 

Finally it was time for the awards; firstly the awards for the Under 13 Mixed team, who were in a tough category with many of the schools full of club gymnasts from outside school. They narrowly missed out on a team medal. Their regional partner for the West Midlands failed to show up and therefore they lost their chances to medal as a part of the West Midlands. Either way a huge congratulations to the team, you should be proud of yourselves and you made the school very proud. Congratulations Karyce Johnson, Ellie Marandola, Pax Katanga and Ewan Cox. 

 

Meanwhile the Under 16’s Mixed team thought their chances of medalling were slim, in a category of advanced gymnasts most of whom attend a club regularly, their expectations weren’t high. Despite this, something incredible happened as they were crowned National Champions! Having Arden as part of their regional team, who placed second overall, ensured the team also took away the regional champion title too. A massive congratulations to this team, you too should be very proud of yourselves and you made the school very proud. Congratulations Lysia Bayley, Brientony Jeyarajan, Amelia Beet and Rachel Clifton. 

 

Finally a huge thank you to Mrs Cartlidge and Mrs Swindels for the time and effort you give up for the difficulty of organising, the hours of rehearsal and the days of competitions. The teams could definitely not achieve this without either of you. So, a massive thank you from all the gymnasts.