In the middle of Holy Week St Edmundâs Catholic Academy has been blessed with the presence of Margaret and Barry Mizen to share their testimony of how their son Jimmy was killed on the 10 May 2008, the day after his 16th Birthday, and the journey they have been on since, which tells of love, hope, peace and forgiveness.
Their story was an emotional journey for students and staff. Margaret and Barry shared their experience of how anger, resentment and hurt, that takes over after death, can cause destruction to so many people if allowed.
Jimmy Mizen went into a bakery in London with his brother when a fight broke out. The fight was instigated by someone known to the brothers, who they had had disagreements with previously.  Jimmy and his brother did not want to fight. However, a glass dish was thrown at Jimmy during the fight which  smashed and shards of glass severed Jimmyâs carotid artery and jugular vein.  He died in the arms of one of his brothers.
Barry Mizen tells of how they have forgiven Jimmyâs killer because being resentful and angry doesnât help anyone and doesnât do anyone any good personally. Â They know the killer had difficulties and events in his life that resulted in his anger. They asked why interventions hadnât been put into place earlier in his life to help him.
Barry and Margaret have set up the Jimmy Foundation, which is now called âJust Jimmyâ.  They travel around the country, visiting schools/prisons etc. to spread the message of love, of being valued and of forgiveness. They hope that, by their actions, this will prevent other families becoming involved in similar circumstances.
Jimmy belonged to a normal family. He was one of nine children, who lived in London, was an Alter Server and a kind, generous and happy boy. Â He went out one Saturday to buy his first Lottery Ticket and never returned home.
Margaret told us how Mary, Mother of Jesus,  is a great comfort to her and asked us to think of Mary on Good Friday. Mary watched her son die on the cross and still cared and helped others.
Here is a prayer one of our students wrote after the Mizens visit:
Dear God,
Thank you for blessing us with the opportunity of hearing Jimmyâs story and enlightening us with forgiveness, peace and hope.  I havenât been touched like this in a long time. Mr and Mrs Mizen are incredibly strong and it was an honour to listen to their story.
I am very sorry for their loss and their willpower to continue is desirable. Their encounter is so incredible and for them to share their story is heart-warming. Their power to continue and to forgive is something Iâd never have and could never do.
Every day I ask you to give them strength and to make sure they keep spreading their story.
Give everyone the strength to make the world a better place.
Thank You
Amen.
Remembering Jimmy Mizen 1992 – 2008
Grace Leo 8KJ, Faith Katanga 8HN and Brientony Jeyarajan 8HN pictured with Mr and Mrs Mizen
On Monday 26th March Singer/Songwriter Jo Boyce inspired our school by undertaking singing workshops with Y7, 8, 9, 10 and Y13 during Personnel Development Day.
Jo has featured on the BBC programme Songs of Praise a few times and kindly agreed to come along to join us in a Lent celebrations.
Her captivatingly sweet vocals not only engaged all pupils but inspired them to sing and learn songs written by her, Matt Redman and Stormzy (who was a particular hit with most students).
Jo also joined us for our Lenten Liturgy and her musical talents and vocals made the service very special service.
Jo Boyce and our Lay Chaplain Debbie Ferris
Monsignor Mark Crisp, Jo Boyce, Mr Bard (Curricular Leader Performing Arts) and students in the Lenten Liturgy
We now have 86% of St Edmundsâ parents registered for Parent Pay which allows payments to be made online and over the phone for school meals and trips.
Letters containing log on details were sent out to parents earlier this month. Please register your account as soon as possible to allow payments to be made straight away.
If you have any queries or would like to pay over the phone please call the Finance Office on 01902 558888
On Monday 19 March twenty-five students competed in the City Schools Gymnastics held here at St. Edmundâs. There were a great number of gymnasts, both boys and girls, from eleven schools across the City and the standard of the performance were impressive.
St. Edmundâs gymnasts performed very well indeed, all their commitment and hard work training after school certainly paid off. We received numerous medals throughout the different sections of the competition and came a very respectable 3rd position overall, only 0.9 off first place! This has enabled us to represent Wolverhampton in the Black Country Gymnastics Championships in June.
Medal winners were:-
Beginners section
Martha Cooke â 3rd place on vault and 4th overall
Ben Wilkinson â 2nd on vault and 2nd overall
Ben Jones â 1st on vault, 1st on floor and overall CITY CHAMPION
Aaron Dodd-Matthews â 5th overall
Novice Section
Lysia Bayley â 2nd on vault, 2nd on floor and overall CITY CHAMPION
Amelia Beet â 1st on floor, and second overall
Natalie Bott â 3rd on vault
Maja Ura â 3rd floor
3rd position team – Lysia Bayley, Amelia Beet, Josh Dodd-Matthews, Maja Ura & Natalie Bott
On Thursday 8 March students from St. Edmundâs PE group attended an A Level PE conference at Cheltenhamâs Music School in Manchester. Â Sara Van-Wely opened the day with some excellent exam tips and tactics in particular about how to approach the three exam papers. Â Karen Foans and Russell Tomlin followed with specialist areas of Anatomy & Physiology, Exercise Physiology, Skill Acquisition, Sports Psychology, and Biomechanics. A great day to consolidate knowledge in preparation for their final exam.
Will Tudor describes his experience.
After an early start and a power nap on the way to Manchester I was ready to see what the day had to offer. The conference went over key topics and looked at the common mistakes that are made by students in the exams. There was also a focus on exam technique which I definitely benefited from as the timings and structure for particular questions were shown in a clear way. Revision techniques were explained by establishing links that can be made between topics to make revision more efficient. Overall I took a lot from the day and feel more confident in the final few weeks leading up to my exams.
By Will Tudor
Congratulations to St. Edmundâs gymnasts who performed in the British Schools Gymnastics Championships over the weekend of 17 and 18 March. They had already performed exceptionally well in order to qualify for this prestigious event, and were so proud just to be there. All gymnasts performed exceptionally well on both floor and vault and then as a group in a trio routine. The U13âs team were placed 10th overall and the U19 team were 6th overall, an amazing outcome for St Edmundâs first National debut.
The U19 team actually exceeded all expectations and the West Midlands team (St. Edmundâs and Arden School) became silver medal winners in the Regional competition behind the South East. St Edmundâs were delighted to actually qualify for this National competition so to come home with a medal made it a fantastic Friday!  The U13âs team narrowly missed a medal as a region however 4th place in the country was an exceptional achievement, especially when for some, it was their first competition for the school.
The gymnasts have worked so hard over the last few months for this and all did St. Edmundâs proud. The hard work, determination to improve and numerous hours training after school contributed to this successful outcome. Well done!
U19 team – Christina Clifton, Josh Dodd-Matthews, Lysia Bayley and Corrin Smith.
U13 team – Brientony Jeyjaran, Maja Ura and Mia Davis
And many thanks from the team to Mrs Cartlidge and Mrs Swindells for making this possible.
On Monday 19 March the Y9 Indoor Athletics Team represented St Edmundâs at the Black Country School Games. This is a prestigious competition and the standard is very high.
The Team had earned their place from their fine performance in the Wolverhampton Schools Section where they finished in the top three. This earned them the right to compete again against other schools from Wolverhampton, and schools from Walsall and Sandwell.
Favour Enoghama, Jamal Morris, Pharrell Thelwell, George Oginga, James Edobor and Dammian Chigovanyika joined Mr Selvey at Aldersley Leisure Village and took part in the running, jumping and throwing events.
As always they represented the academy very well and showed how good and competitive we are. They earned sixth place at the event, which means they are the sixth best Indoor Athletics Team in the Black Country. Around 40 teams across the Black Country would have entered their sections competitions so to finish sixth overall is fantastic.
Well done.
Mr Selvey (Head of Year 9/Teacher of PE)
Reconciliation Liturgy and Confessions
The common definition of reconciliation as it relates to relationships is âThe restoration of friendly relationsâ. The Lord our God is your friend so it makes sense to have the opportunity to confess our sins and have our relationship made anew.
Last Thursday, Year 8 had the opportunity to do this and attend confession if they wished. We were blessed with the presence of our Chaplin Fr. Mark, Fr Janek, Fr Pawel and also Fr. Paul Whielden, who took confession and listened to any thoughts and prayers. The students were given the opportunity to say sorry, make cards, write a letter of forgiveness, offer prayers to our Lady and wash away their sins.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is one of the most unique and beautiful aspects of Catholicism. Jesus Christ, in His abundant love and mercy, established the Sacrament of Confession, so that we as sinners can obtain forgiveness for our sins and reconcile with God and the Church. The sacrament âwashes us cleanâ and renews us in Christ. We are in the last two weeks of Lent; maybe God is calling us to go to Confession before Holy Week so that we can be forgiven and given a fresh start at Easter.
âJesus said to them again, âPeace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.â And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, âReceive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.ââ (John 20:21-23)
Do you want to make a difference?
WEâD LIKE YOU TO BECOME INVOLVED!
Have a say in:-
Reviewing our Mission
The Curriculum Plan
Ensuring a healthy environment for our students
Maximising the potential of the site
Admissions
Helping to move St Edmundâs forward
AND MUCH, MUCH MORE!
Become a Foundation Representative of our Academy Committee here at St Edmundâs and join like-minded people who WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE and move forward!
WE CURRENTLY HAVE TWO POSITIONS AVAILABLE
You will need to be a practising Catholic and should approach your
Parish Priest in the first instance.
Please contact Mrs Gallagher [email protected] or Mrs Knowles [email protected] 01902 558888 Extension 120 in the first instance
Application forms are available from [email protected]
Â
YOUâLL BE GLAD YOU DID!
