Starting on June 11th, 41 pupils from Year s7,8 and 9 departed for North Wales to spend five days at Towers, the outdoor education centre. All pupils experienced a number of activities such as gorge walking, orienteering, kayaking, canoeing, rock climbing, mountain walking, abseiling and zip-wiring. Everyone had an amazing time and many were able to go out of their comfort zone.

Thanks to the assistance of Miss Buckle (PE Teacher) and to Mr Harris (Head of Year) everything went splendidly well.

Everybody who went experienced a lot more than expected and students were able to learn more about themselves. Many even tried activities that they were unsure about doing and were surprised that they were capable of handling the situation without any trouble.

It was nice to also see many students socialising with people that they normally don’t talk to and to see many people enjoying going outdoors no matter what the weather.

Amelia said, “I would recommend anyone to go to Towers Outdoor Recreation Centre as it’s a good experience and there are many activities to try out.”

After undergoing a lot of challenges and after facing many unforgettable moments, it was sad to say a farewell to Towers as it was a great experience for students at St. Edmund’s.

On July 12th, the Academy have been participating in a Personal Development Day. Students have been learning about things such as rights and responsibilities, how to handle bills and many more life skills.

After listening to what people said about PD Day, it seems as if many people have learnt more about adulthood.

There were quite a few positives about PD Day. Navin and Amran (8KJ) commented, “i think PD day is good because we can learn more about how to handle ourselves.”

Gjovani and Sharefa (8RC) said, “PD Day helps us to socialise more with people in our tutor and whatever we learnt about will most likely help us in the future.”

Stefano (8KJ) and Aarabhi (8JG) also said, “We think that PD day will be better if the lessons were a lot shorter and there was less writing and more physical entertainment.”

Congratulations to St Edmund’s Gymnastics Team yet again after the swooping a Silver medal in the Black Country Games in Walsall recently.  We have certainly had a fantastic year and it is through the hard work of our gymnasts that we have been so successful. The five gymnasts had a set floor routine to perform which tested strength, balance and agility, and two vaults over a high box. As always they stepped up to the occasion and all performed superbly. Performers were: Christina Clifton, Corrin Smith, Lysia Bayley, Josh Dodd-Matthews and Maja Ura. Well done!

The Final Fling is a concert performed by the gymnasts, musicians and the Performing Arts group. It is named the Final Fling because it is the last performance of the year that everyone has been working hard towards.

This year the theme was The Greatest Showman. The performance took place on the 10th July at 6:00pm. The show was organised to showcase student talents and, because it is so close to the end of the year, it feels like a big celebration of everything that has been achieved.

Mr Garrity said, “The students will gain many skills from performing, like team work. Your confidence will also have an incredible boost from performing and you can use that confidence in the future.”

Miss Buzzing said, “I really enjoyed it; it was my first and last Final Fling. I thought everybody did really well and it was nice to see some people who had only just started playing instruments performing on stage. There was a great sense of community.”

The teachers feel the Final Fling is really beneficial because of everything that it teaches about performance. Some of the students said that they would like to perform in the next Final Fling because it was interesting and they enjoyed watching the many different acts. Students from Year 7 right through to Sixth Form participated in the event.

The evening was a great success and everyone left feeling happy.

Friday 13th July, unlucky for some, but not for these students! Our prestigious Year 11 students ended their time here at St Edmund’s with a night to truly remember – Prom night!

Our students had an amazing time at The Mount Hotel in Tettenhall, dancing and entertaining themselves after the stress of GCSE examinations (which they had just completed and will get results for in August). The party had a professional photographer, a photo booth fitted with props, a pick & mix stand, an instagram selfie frame, a DJ and food for the occasion. The party lasted from 6:30 to 11:30.

Mr McArdle, our amazing Geography teacher, set up this year’s prom. When asked why, he responded,

“I think prom is an excellent celebration of the achievements across not just Year 11, but five years of school. I think it’s like a natural progression as you move towards Year 11.  It’s what you look forward to and obviously a celebration, now that they’ve finished their exams, to come together one last time before they part ways.  It’s a chance to celebrate as a year group all that they have achieved.”

This year’s prom went off without a hitch. We can only hope next year’s will be just as perfect!

Students from all year groups were led by staff and Sixth Form to attend a mass at St. Michael’s Church. It took motivation and hard work from Mr Katumba to organise this trip, which took place on the 29th June. The mass celebrated the solemnity of St Peter and St Paul as it was a Holy day of obligation. St Peter and St Paul were two great Christian Martyrs who were prepared to stand by their faith in spite of persecution, or threats of death.

St. Peter was a humble fisherman who occasionally rebuked Jesus. He recognised the true nature of Jesus but also denied him when his life was being threatened. However, he is an example today of faith because he repented for his sins and was forgiven by Jesus.

St. Paul was a Jewish leader at first who saw Christianity as a threat. He persecuted the followers of Jesus before converting to Christianity on the road to Damascus. He had an apparition from the risen Lord to preach but he suffered for his newfound belief. He had several stints in prison and suffered a gruesome martyrdom in Rome AD 62.

On Friday 25th May 2018, the staff turned the school purple by wearing purple clothes to raise funds for Pancreatic Cancer. ‘Wear it Purple’ day is normally in November but St Edmund’s Catholic Academy decided to have theirs near to the anniversary of the passing of their beloved colleague Mandy Whittaker who sadly died of Pancreatic Cancer a year ago.

The staff also purchased lapel pins and pens and the students held a cake sale during break and lunchtimes. Sam Hamilton one of our catering staff made many cakes with purple icing on and other members of staff donated cakes.

Thank you to all involved including the new appointed six form Chaplaincy team, who gave up their time or donated in any way. We raised £101.25 from the sale of the lapel pins and £98.75 from the sale of the cakes and from donations.