Short Story Competition

Stories must be 500 words or less and be their own original idea. Pupils can win House Points just for trying and there will be prizes for best story in each year group and overall best story. We will be sending out weekly tips for our budding authors over the summer holidays, please look out for them and share them with your child. Stories must be handed in by Friday 18th September. This can either be in person, or email to postbox@smestowacademy.co.uk, make sure it has ‘Short Story’ as the subject and is for the attention of ‘Mrs Birtwistle’.

Summer Reading Challenge

We are challenging all our current and incoming pupils to join in our summer of reading.

We have created 5 challenges that any pupil in any year group can easily achieve and start gaining House Points before the school year begins, there are other prizes up for grabs too!

Pick up your challenge sheet from the library today.

A huge well done to our Silver Duke of Edinburgh students, who successfully completed their assessed expedition last week alongside pupils from Wednesfield Academy.

Across the three days, the group demonstrated impressive determination and maturity. Their navigation skills were a real strength, with students confidently following their planned routes through fields, woodland, and unfamiliar terrain. Even when tiredness began to set in, they kept morale high, supported one another, and maintained a steady pace to complete every section of the route on all days.

The expedition wasn’t without its challenges. Changing weather conditions, long distances, and the weight of their full expedition kit tested their resilience, but every student rose to the occasion. They worked brilliantly as a team when setting up camp, preparing meals, and problem‑solving along the way. 

A standout aspect of the expedition was how strongly the group embodied our Smestow value of Success Achieved Together. Whether tackling tough terrain, managing heavy kit, or keeping spirits high in difficult weather, students consistently encouraged one another and shared responsibilities. Their teamwork was evident in every part of the expedition and played a huge role in their overall success.

We are incredibly proud of the attitude, perseverance and teamwork shown by all students throughout the expedition. Their commitment to the Silver Award was clear from start to finish, and they should be extremely proud of what they have achieved.

Our Year 10 young leaders, represented Smestow with great pride to support with the running of a Primary Sports Day.

Throughout the morning, they demonstrated enthusiasm, responsibility, and excellent leadership, helping to organise events, encourage participants, and ensure activities ran smoothly. Their positive attitude and willingness to help created a fun and supportive atmosphere for all the primary pupils to enjoy their sports day

The primary school staff praised our students for their engagement and encouragement to their students throughout the morning. They up held the Smestow value of welcoming and caring environment. 

This afternoon, we were delighted to welcome the Wolves Foundation to Smestow Academy as part of their Health Champions Campaign.

Following our recent wellbeing event, where our Wellbeing Ambassadors pitched their idea for an anti-bullying awareness video, today saw their vision begin to become a reality. Working alongside the Wolves Foundation, students took part in a filming session, with a videographer on site to help create a student-led resource designed to raise awareness of bullying, promote positive mental health, encourage kindness and inclusion, and signpost young people to support.

The project was inspired and led by our Wellbeing Ambassadors, who identified the importance of tackling bullying and its impact on wellbeing and learning. Seeing their ideas develop from an initial pitch into a professionally produced video has been a fantastic experience and a real testament to the power of student voice.

A huge thank you to the Wolves Foundation and the production team for helping our students bring their message to life. We can't wait to see the finished video and share it with our school community.

We will be holding a few open events this year to give all prospective Year 7 parents and pupils the chance to come and visit us. These events will give you a little insight into what it means to be a pupil at Smestow Academy and give you the chance to ask any questions you may have.

Open Evening will take place on Wednesday 30th September 2026 | 4pm – 7pm

Open Mornings are by booking only. These will take place on:

• Thursday 1st October 9am-10am

• Friday 2nd October 9am-10am

• Tuesday 6th October 9am-10am

• Wednesday 7th October 9am-10am

Book your Open Morning: HERE

We are grateful to have been able to host Beckie from "Doing it for Dylan" this morning, who came to speak with our Year 8 pupils about the importance of water safety.

Beckie spoke openly and honestly about a tragic incident that resulted in her son Dylan losing his life in the open water.

Beckie wants change and education for young people regarding water safety. The “Doing it for Dylan” website can be found here: https://doingitfordylan.org.uk/

Thank you to Wolverhampton Grammar School for offering us the opportunity to host Beckie this morning and to Beckie for sharing her story and powerful message.

A fantastic day at Smestow Academy as the Army Cadet Training Team delivered a taster day for students in Years 7–9 ahead of the launch of our new Army section in October.

Students took part in a range of exciting activities including a gun run challenge, laser clay pigeon shooting, hands-on demonstrations of the weapon systems used in cadet competitions, and military radio communications.

The enthusiasm, teamwork and curiosity shown throughout the day was excellent, and we look forward to welcoming our first cadets when the section officially launches in October.

A huge thank you to the Army CTT team for their support in helping bring this opportunity to Smestow Academy.

Dawley re-gain their title! After a year away, Dawley are back with their hands on the Sportsday trophy. They romped to victory last week with a fantastic display by all of their participants leaving Holbeche in 2^nd and Graiseley in 3^rd.

What an excellent day it was out on the field and a fantastic display of our school values. Mass participation was our aim and that is exactly what we got with over 200 pupils taking part in a range of track and field events across the day. The field events started the day off with some brilliant distances on the jumping and throwing, and after break we were treated to some fantastic races on the track. 9 records were broken on Sportsday 2026 with some of these records stretching back across 10 years so what an outstanding achievement it was for these individuals;

Gursimran (YR10) – 200M

Amelia (YR10)– 800M

Ruby (YR8) – Javelin

Zakariya (YR7) – Shot Put

Erica (YR7)  – Shot Put

Khenan (YR7)  – Javelin

Jahnia (YR7)  – 300M

Loica (YR9) – Javelin

Mansirat (YR10) – 100M

The day then finished off with a highly enjoyable and competitive teacher relay races which the pupils really enjoyed seeing some of their teachers put through their paces on the track. This resulted in Graiseley house taking the plaudits.

Another really successful Sports Day which was full of fun, support from peers, mascot costumes and some excellent Athletics.

A big well done to everyone!

Congratulations to Ruby and Patrick in Year 10 who produced some excellent work in their French writing mocks. Ruby scored 44/50 and Patrick 48/50. Impressive scores in the first set of mock exams!

We were also impressed with Freya in Year 7 for an excellent piece of independent writing in French this week. Her work can be seen below:

A reminder to Year 10 French students that the final two study seminars will take place on July 1^st and 8^th in B207. We really hope to have a great number of pupils attending these important sessions as they help greatly with preparation for the speaking exam.

Congratulations to Fiza B in Year 11 who sat the final Spanish writing exam on June 18. Fiza came into school for extra preparation sessions prior to the exam and even recorded a video to promote languages at Smestow Academy. Fiza is hoping to achieve at least a grade 7 in three different languages: French, Spanish and Urdu. We are so impressed with Fiza’s work ethic and really look forward to celebrating with our fabulous Year 11 linguists on Results Day in August!

Finally, the March 2027 Paris visit has been launched by Matrix Academy Trust. Visit details are available on the WEDUC app. Pupils in the new Year 7 and the current Years 7 and 8 are invited to take part. We will be staying at the Chateau de Grande Romaine just 30 minutes from Disneyland. The visit will include a boat cruise on the Seine, a visit to the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe and a day at Disneyland! Pupils are invited from all Matrix secondary schools with 50 places allocated the each school!