Catholic Social Teaching has always been a part of the Church’s teaching and mission, right from the very beginning of the Church. It was formally written down at the end of the 19th century by Pope Leo XIII in his letter, or encyclical, “Rerum Novarum” (“On New Things”). Today, there are seven key principles or themes to this teaching. Building on the reception of our “Live Simply” award, this year at St Ed’s we will be focusing on the principle of “Care for our Common Home”.

Our three charities this year all work in some way to “Care for our Common Home.” They are:

Father Hudson’s Caritas – Local Charity

Operation Noah – National Charity

CAFOD – International Charity

We encourage all of our extended St Ed’s family to support our students in the endeavours to raise as much money as they can for the vital work undertaken by these charities.

For more information on CST and our charities, please click on the link below:

Catholic Social Teaching and our Charities – 2025-26

St Edmund’s Catholic Academy library readers were delighted to be offered a fantastic opportunity, by the Siobhan Dowd Trust, to go on a bookspree at a local bookstore and choose books for reading for pleasure.

The grant was provided to encourage pupils to develop a love of buying books from book sellers and the joy of browsing. Mrs Sarah Smith, Librarian at St Edmund’s said, “Pupils were delighted to be able to select and purchase reading material for their enjoyment.

St Edmund’s has a wonderful reading community which was highlighted in our recent Ofsted. We are thrilled to be selected from so many applicants. 

The Siobhan Dowd Trust works to give young people the opportunity to read and enjoy literature. It is the money earned through royalties and foreign sales of Siobhan’s books that allows the trust to support deserving projects.

The Siobhan Dowd Trust Exists To Fund Any Person Or Groups That:

• Take stories to children and young people without stories;
• Bring the joy of reading and books to children and young people deprived of access to books and of the opportunity to read;
• Fund and support disadvantaged young readers where there is no funding or support. In accordance with Siobhan’s wishes, our funding process is very open, flexible, and we hope, simple.

Today, our Y9, Y10, and Y11 pupils embarked on a truly immersive French breakfast experience with Miss. Blanchette and Mr. White and what a fantastic morning it was!

From the moment they arrived, students were transported into a fully French-speaking environment. They confidently ordered drinks and breakfast items entirely in French, practised essential restaurant vocabulary, and even tackled realistic role-play scenarios just like in a GCSE exam.

The highlight? Enjoying a delicious French breakfast! Some adventurous pupils even embraced the French tradition of dunking their croissants and pain au chocolat into steaming bowls of hot chocolate—délicieux!

To celebrate their achievements, every pupil received a certificate, marking their success in expanding their language skills and cultural knowledge. A huge bravo to all who took part—you made us proud!

On Thursday, March 13th, students from St Edmund’s took part in a meaningful environmental initiative, joining a Woodland Trust Project to plant 300 tree saplings at Little Kinvaston School. This project is part of a larger effort to expand native woodlands and create tree-rich habitats that will benefit nature, the climate, and local communities. 

Little Kinvaston School, an independent alternative provision school in South Staffordshire, opened in September 2024. It provides support for young people facing Social, Emotional, and Mental Health challenges or those at risk of permanent exclusion from mainstream education. It is a developing ‘Forest’ School and also houses a number of rescue animals. 

By participating in this project, St Edmund’s students not only contributed to a greener future but also had the opportunity to engage in a hands-on, impactful experience that supports both environmental sustainability and the well-being of their peers.

Wednesday 22nd January 2025

Today we were thrilled to welcome the year 5 class, along with their teacher, Mrs Wilcox, to St Edmund’s chapel to celebrate their own Liturgy of the Word.

Last week Rev had gone to St Teresa’s and spent a lovely morning singing, praying and explaining the liturgy to the year 5 class. They spent a week working hard on their liturgy and today we saw the wonderful fruits of that hard work. Their liturgy was beautifully prayerful, and joyful and provided an opportunity to reflect on the Jubilee Year and what it means to be a “Pilgrim of Hope” in our schools and communities.

Thank you to Mrs Wilcox, the staff and especially year 5 for bringing their gifts and talents to the Lord in and through this liturgy.