The Year 7 residential retreat takes place at Alton Castle and has always been a special opportunity for students to take time away from their everyday lives to explore and deepen their faith.
During their stay, students will take part in a variety of team-building activities. As well as this, a big focus of the visit is on personal and spiritual development, and students will participate in a variety of workshops; they will also be able to celebrate Mass together.
Some of our Year 7 students
You can follow the journey of our new Year 7 students on retreat here:
Friday 10th July
The coach is expected to return to St Edmund’s around 3.30 pm today.
Survival Activities
Thursday 9th July
A beautiful end to day two.
Hard at work on the Taskmaster quiz and letting off steam with some water tasks.

Low ropes – teamwork and problem solving
More highlights from day 2
Crate Stacking and Low Ropes
Morning Prayer – How am I called to be a saint?
Wednesday 8th July
Students have arrived safely.

Huge congratulations to Karis Benaiah (Year 11) on being selected to trial for the England Under 16 Women’s Basketball Team! 🇬🇧
Karis successfully progressed through the first round of trials and attended the second round on Saturday. We wish her the very best of luck as she continues this incredible journey.
Karis has also enjoyed an outstanding season with Wolverhampton Slam Basketball Club, representing the Central region in the Under 15 3×3 All-Star Game and Super Region Tournament, as well as being invited to the England Under 15 Women’s National Team selection process.
To top it all off, her Wolverhampton Slam Under 18 Women’s team reached the Final Fours this season – a fantastic achievement!
We are incredibly proud of everything Karis has accomplished and can’t wait to see what the future holds. Keep reaching for the stars! 🌟
👏 Well done, Karis!
On Thursday, 18th June, nine of our Lower School pupils took part in a Social Action Project at Molineux Stadium, hosted by the community and education team at Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club.
Working together in teams, the pupils developed an innovative social action idea before presenting it to a judging panel, which included the captain of the Wolverhampton Wanderers Women’s Team.
We are incredibly proud to announce that St Edmund’s was chosen as the overall winner of the project, with our pupils’ creativity, teamwork, and presentation skills impressing the judges.
Huge congratulations to our fantastic representatives:
Year 7
⭐ Ava Beech
⭐ George Lucas
⭐ Yusuf Khan
⭐ McKenzie Morriarte
⭐ Megan Winwood
Year 8
⭐ Anthony Crawford
⭐ Christina Gallen
⭐ Anish Jassal
⭐ Ruben Marratt
A fantastic achievement by all involved. You represented St Edmund’s with pride—well done! 👏💙💛
On Thursday 18th June, our Lower School football team proudly represented St Edmund’s at a football tournament hosted by Aston Villa Football Club.
The team performed brilliantly throughout the group stage, winning the vast majority of their matches to secure a place in the final. In a fantastic display of determination and resilience, they overcame the team that had defeated them earlier in the day to be crowned tournament champions! 🥇
Congratulations to our outstanding squad:
⭐ Cayden Ray
⭐ Freddie Passmore
⭐ Ellis Stewart
⭐ Boris Szczechowski
⭐ Javaughny Harris
⭐ Mia Jarosz Green
⭐ Jorgie Grosvenor
⭐ Will Tomlinson
⭐ Oliver Buckle
⭐ Izaius Simpson
A huge well done to every player for representing the Academy with such pride, teamwork, and sportsmanship. Congratulations also to Mr Selvey for guiding the team to a fantastic victory! 👏💙💛
Mrs Letheren, Vice Principal, and a group of ten students have started their journey to Tanzania to take part in an expedition, where they will contribute to a variety of projects aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, helping to create meaningful, long-term solutions to some of the region’s most pressing challenges.
The group will fly from Heathrow this evening and land at Kigali, Rwanda, at 07.00 on Wednesday, 8th July. From there, they will take another flight to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, arriving at 16.25 local time.
Photo Gallery – CLICK HERE
https://www.instagram.com/tanzaniacampsint/
26th July – 1st August Camp Msaranga
Msaranga Village is a peaceful village located on the outskirts of Moshi town, at the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro. The area is known for its scenic landscapes, cool climate, and rich Chagga culture. Msaranga offers a mix of rural charm and easy access to Moshi town. Team Simba accommodation here will be in tents. On the final night in Tanzania, there will be a chance to have a final team meal, to reflect on all they have accomplished.
19th – 25th July Camp Kiboroloni
Camp Kiboroloni is one of the larger camps, and due to the space, there is plenty of room for activities in the evenings. During the stay here, Team Simba will practice Swahili, learn some cultural activities, including cooking of Chaga food, and visit Moshi town. The team will be working at Kiboroloni & Mnazi Primary Schools to improve their school facilities and play games with the local children.
Team Simba will spend the next four days completing building work in the local primary school, building a path to keep the children clean during the rainy seasons. Hard work but really enjoyable. The school children spent some time with the team too.
Thursday 16th July
Team Simba enjoyed a nature walk this morning, where they were greeted by a giraffe happily munching leaves from a nearby tree.
The team then got to work building a dam around a watering hole, creating a valuable water source for the wildlife within the game reserve. Their efforts will help ensure animals have access to water as the area continues to develop, making a lasting contribution to the local environment.
Team Simba will be meeting a Masai tribe this afternoon. How exciting.
Monday 13th July
Team Simba spent this morning making traditional Mandazi and chapati with local women from the village then enjoyed playing beach volleyball during the afternoon.
The team have a 6 am start tomorrow and an 11 hour coach transfer to camp Ndarakwai located within a game reserve area.
Sunday 12th July
Team Simba’s last day in Camp Tanga. The next group will continue with their work. The team spent the afternoon learning Swahili cultures at the village, including learning how to weave with women from the village before playing some football with the locals. Team Simba are looking forward to moving on to Camp Ndarakwai wildlife camp located within a game reserve area.
Saturday 11th July
Team Simba have been painting the village school building today.
Friday 10th July
Mrs Letheren said, “We walked to the village we will be working in today and met the children. This afternoon we learnt how to make plastic key rings from plastic waste from the ocean.

Thursday 9th July
This is the view of the Indian Ocean from the dining room area at camp.
Burning off some energy before dinner.
Morning views from Andre Letheren and the team, who have safely arrived in Tanzania and are now making their way to the remote community where they’ll be serving and doing God’s work.
Thank you to everyone for your prayers – please continue to keep the team in your thoughts as they begin this incredible mission.
20:36 Tuesday 7th July
Team Simba all boarded, ready for the first flight.
Congratulations to Ginevra on making her England debut at the Home Nations tournament!
Representing your country is a remarkable achievement, and everyone at our school is incredibly proud to see Ginevra wearing the England jersey for the first time.
England got their campaign off to the perfect start with a convincing victory over Scotland, making Ginevra’s debut even more memorable. Her hard work, dedication, and commitment to basketball have been rewarded on the national stage, and she is an inspiration to our school community.
Well done, Ginevra – what an incredible achievement! 🇬🇧🏀
This May saw two wonderful events in the Catholic Life of our academy.
On Friday 22nd of May 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” – which consists of one Our Father, ten Hail Marys, and one Glory Be) 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 May we once again prayed in 20 different languages, concluding our prayers in Portuguese (the fourth Glorious Mystery – The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven) and then the final mystery, the Crowning of Mary as Queen of Heaven, 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,Italian, Polish, Igbo, Irish,Lithuanian, Flemish, Malayalam, Tamil, Moldovan, Swedish, German, Romanian, Greek, Yoruba, 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.
We were then doubly blessed by once more being part of the beautiful Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes. Three of our sixth form students, accompanied by St Edmund’s staff, joined up with students from St Thomas More Catholic school in Stoke, to form one of the many work teams who give up their half term to work in the Accuiel, helping our assisted pilgrims in many different ways. We could not have been prouder of our students as they showed a depth and level of love, compassion and service to all the pilgrims they assisted. Even before we had left for Lourdes, they had all shown great commitment to the fund raising, which has continued on our return so that next year’s year 12 students who go to Lourdes have something to start with. This in itself speaks volumes to the integrity and spirituality of our wonderful students. Thank you for making this such a special occasion!

May the Lord Jesus bless you, and His Blessed Mother keep you always in her love and prayers.
Year 7 Loyola students have successfully completed the BT Group Work Ready Virtual Bootcamp! This intensive, 2-hour interactive workshop revealed elements of the tech industry, giving our students a taste of what it is really like to work for an innovative global employer. During the bootcamp, our classroom was virtually transformed into a BT workspace, treating the students as if they had just been hired for a “day in the life” experience. Here is what they accomplished:
- Explored Essential Skills: Students learned the difference between technical digital skills and vital “human-centric” workplace skills (like teamwork and communication).
- Met Industry Professionals: We watched career pathway videos and met BT Ambassadors live, giving students a firsthand look at the massive variety of roles available in technology.
- Went Behind the Scenes: Students went on a virtual video tour of ‘Aurora’, BT’s flagship Customer Experience Centre, to see cutting-edge technology in action.
- Launched an Innovation Challenge: To finish the session, a virtual BT manager tasked our students with an exciting innovation challenge creating a product to stop procrastination within the workplace.

