As part of the Duke of Edinburgh Award students need to take up a volunteering activity. This activity is of their own choosing, some students have done football coaching to younger children, others have worked in charity shops, others have done fundraising events for various charities and others have helped with animal welfare.
All of this hardwork has a social cost of £180.18 and has made a massive difference to the local community and charities.
Well done to all students involved.
Richard Morris, Assistant Principal: Director of Mathematics, is a long-standing member of staff here at St Edmund’s.
He is an enthusiastic cyclist who enjoys fairly long regular weekend rides with friends, however, he is about to embark on his biggest challenge so far by taking part in the Annual Aberdovey Bike Ride on 17th June.
Richard hopes, with your generous and kind support, to raise funds for Compton Care, The Good Shepherd, Cancer Research and CAFOD.
Visit Richard’s JustGiving page: https://justgiving.com/fundraising/richard-morris52
Follow his journey here: https://www.stedmundscloud.co.uk/charity-bike-ride/
This year St Edmund’s Catholic Academy and the Compton Park community have been blessed with beautiful Christmas lights on our 27m tree.
It is with gratitude and thanks to our wonderful neighbours Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (@Wolves) who so kindly donated the lights and appointed CKW Contracts Ltd (@CkwLtd) to provide the crane and resources to decorate the tree. We look forward to lighting the sky each Christmas bringing cheer to our Compton Park family.
Holy Creator of Trees, Bless with your abundant grace this our Christmas tree as a symbol of joy. May its evergreen branches be a sign of your never-fading promises. May its colourful lights and ornaments call us to decorate with love our home and our world. May the gifts that surround this tree be symbols of the gifts that we have received from the Tree of Christ’s Cross. Holy Christmas tree within our home, may Joy and Peace come and nest in your branches and in our hearts. Amen
Photo: Maggie Hazeldine (Principal) with Edie, our wellbeing dog.
Recently five St Edmund’s students from St Michael’s parish celebrated their Confirmation led by Monsignor Mark. This is the sacrament in the Catholic faith where we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide and protect us through life. We proclaim our belief in the Catholic faith as young adults and take a special extra name (Catholics have two names they are given at Baptism and then a third name at Confirmation that you can choose yourself. The first two names are chosen for you by your parents!)
The children were joined by family and friends and Mrs Hazeldine was delighted to be there to join in the celebration and award each student a STAR award for their commitment to their Catholic faith.
Photo: Left to right – Monsignor Mark, Erin Phillips, Lyla Trubshaw, Anna Chesters, Tizzy Pugh and Mrs Hazeldine.
Once again, St Edmund’s is delighted to present the fantastic achievements of their year 13 students. Despite the challenges of COVID and lockdown , students have exceeded their targets with many more achieving the coveted A*, A and B grades than ever before.
Amongst the many higher achievers:
Principal, Maggie Hazeldine said, “I am thrilled that our young people have achieved such outstanding grades this year. Their success has ensured entrance to the country’s top universities including Oxford, Exeter, Manchester and Bristol and Warwick.
What is also striking about this year is the amazing range of highly competitive careers that our vocational students have succeeded in accessing:Â
They have made their school and their families very proud indeed”.Â
Photo: Mbere Umoh and Mrs Hazeldine (Principal)
Photo: Emma Esedebe and Mrs Hazeldine (Principal)
Congratulations to AMELIA BEET who has been elected as the new Youth Commissioner for the West Midlands Police on behalf of the Wolverhampton constituency.
Amelia said,” I just wanted to say thank you to every who kindly voted for me, shared my campaign further afield, and expressed such confidence in my capabilities. I am excited by the prospect of the next 2 years and I very much look forward to working alongside yourselves and the young people in our community and across the West Midlands. I wouldn’t have been granted this opportunity to make a genuine and constructive difference to our city if it wasn’t for your votes, so a huge thank you once again”.
Photo: Amelia Beet
Mary appears when and where she is needed and speaks our language
In 1858, 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous told her friends that a beautiful young lady was appearing to her in a rock formation on the outskirts of her small town of Lourdes. A friend asked Bernadette to do her a favour—to take her rosary along the next time she knelt before the beautiful young lady. Bernadette obliged. Later, Bernadette told her friend how the lady had reacted: the lady had noticed that Bernadette was not holding her own rosary, said that she was not there to make relics, and told Bernadette to return next time with her own rosary, not someone else’s.
Bernadette’s unvarnished recounting of the lady’s reaction was blunt, but reasonable and, more importantly, authentic. This plain speaking fits a pattern. Over and over again, whenever little, uneducated Bernadette was asked about the beautiful young lady she saw in the grotto, her answers never changed and also included startling but authentic details. Bernadette reported that when she and the lady prayed the rosary together, the lady only said the Our Father and the Glory Be. Mary didn’t pray the Hail Mary. How could she pray to herself? Would she say “Hail Me?” Bernadette reported that the lady spoke to her in the Lourdes’ dialect which Bernadette herself grew up with, slightly different from standard French. Bernadette stated that a golden rose rested on each of the lady’s feet. Of course! And when Bernadette respectfully asked the lady her name, she didn’t understand the big words in the response: “I am the Immaculate Conception.”
In addition to the miraculous cures associated with the healing waters of Lourdes, the very character of Bernadette, as well as the tone and content of her accounts, removed all doubt that the beautiful young lady she saw was indeed the Virgin Mary. Our Lady of Lourdes is perhaps the most powerful and prolific physical healer in the history of the Church after Christ himself. Through her intercession, and through the waters that flow in her magnificent shrine, many thousands have been cured of their infirmities, as medical records prove beyond any doubt. Holy Mary has appeared at various times and in various places, but mostly to the simple and mostly in the country. She loves the faith of the simple, and speaks to them in simple language. In this, Mary reflects the words of her Son Jesus. He speaks plainly. His message is clear. And Mary’s simple words always point to the simple words of her own Son.
God is like the sun whose fiery brilliance scorches the eyes of all who look right at Him. Get too close and you’ll be burned. Like the sun, the Creator of the world can be distant, mysterious, and intimidating. But Mary is like the moon, bathed in a soft, pleasant glow. She’s close to us, and easy on the eyes. The sun’s heat and light may make life possible, but the sun itself is dangerous and remote. But Mary can be approached by man. And like the moon, she doesn’t produce her own light, but just reflects in a softer tone the powerful rays of the enormous star whose light generates life itself.
Our Lady of Lourdes, give physical healing to all who invoke your intercession. The saving waters at your shrine have healed thousands of pilgrims. May all the prayers and supplications directed to you be immersed in the waters of your holy baths, so that what is asked may be granted through your intercession and according to God’s will.
‘Perplexed’ by the Truth
Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and kept him in custody. When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to listen to him. Mark 6:20
Ideally, when the Gospel is preached and received by another, the effect is that the receiver is filled with joy, consolation and a desire to change. The Gospel is transforming for those who truly listen and respond with generosity. But what about those who do not respond with generosity? What effect does the Gospel have upon them? Our Gospel today gives us that answer.
The line above comes from the story of the beheading of Saint John the Baptist. The bad actors in this story are Herod, Herod’s illegitimate wife Herodias, and Herodias’ daughter (traditionally named Salome). John had been imprisoned by Herod because John told Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” But what’s most interesting about this story is that, even in prison, Herod would listen to John preach. But instead of leading Herod to conversion, he was left “perplexed” by what John preached.
Being “perplexed” was not the only reaction to John’s preaching. Herodias’ reaction was one of hatred. She appeared to be stung to the heart by John’s condemnation of her “marriage” to Herod, and it was she who then orchestrated John’s beheading.
This Gospel, then, teaches us of two other common reactions to the Truth of the holy Gospel when it is preached. One is hatred and another is confusion (being perplexed). Obviously, hatred is far worse than simply being perplexed. But neither is the right reaction to the words of Truth.
What is your reaction to the full Gospel when it is preached? Are there aspects of the Gospel that leave you uneasy? Are there teachings of our Lord that confuse you or lead you to anger? First look within your own heart to determine if you struggle with having a similar reaction as did Herod and Herodias. And then consider how the world reacts to the Truth of the Gospel. We should not be surprised at all that we find many Herods and Herodiases alive today.
Reflect, today, upon any ways that you see the Gospel being rejected on one level or another. If you sense this within your own heart, then repent with all your might. If you see it elsewhere, do not allow the hostility to shake you or concern you. Keep your mind and heart upon the Truth and remain steadfast no matter the reaction you encounter.
My Lord of all Truth, Your Word and Your Word alone brings grace and salvation. Please give me the grace I need to always listen to Your Word and to respond generously with all my heart. May I repent when I am convicted by Your Word and may I wholeheartedly return to You. Give me courage when others reject Your Truth and wisdom to know how to share that Word with love. Amen
Dear Parents, Carers, Staff, Students and Friends of St Edmund’s,
In the recent parent survey a few parents have asked me for a regular blog/update on life at the academy, particularly as, during these days of lockdown, we cannot meet in person. So – this is my first attempt! I have decided to call the blog “Mrs Hazeldine’s word of the week” because, well, I am an English teacher and I LOVE words, and also because I find words are my best friend when trying to bring order to a chaotic world.
So, this week’s word:Â
“UNPRECEDENTED”Â
I think we have all heard this word more in the last year, than we may have done in our lives! Unprecedented means “never done or known before”. If I reflect on what this means for St Edmund’s, there are lots of examples.Â
Just some of the things we’ve “never done” before….
Unprecedented also means things that have never “been known” before. What have I “never known” ?Â
I have never known such support, such resilience in a group of people I have worked with. I have never known such joy in everyday things -crunching across the snow, learning to use a crockpot! Â I have never known just how important my faith is to me, keeping me grounded, giving me hope, holding my balance.Â
The road does seem long at the moment. We don’t know when our school will reopen – after half-term? after Easter? As a human who likes to be in control, it is very difficult for me to say to you all “I just don’t know”.Â
What I do know is that we should all feel secure that learning is taking place every day. St Edmund’s isn’t a building. It is what is happening right now in your homes. With the right technology, the best lessons, a pastoral team determined to support every student’s well being and our commitment to prayer, we are prepared, we will not let you down.
Stay safe, God Bless
Maggie Hazeldine
(News just in! Gavin Williamson says that we will (“hopefully”) reopen on 8th March. )Â
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