Smestow Academy is proud to announce that we have been awarded a Certificate of Achievement for The Award for Making a Difference – Secondary School of the Year as part of the 2026 Pearson National Teaching Awards.

Issued by The Teaching Awards Trust, the charity behind the Pearson National Teaching Awards, this recognition celebrates the transformational impact schools and educators make every day across the UK.

This certificate recognises our school community and is a moment of pride for the entire Smestow family.

The announcement coincided with National Thank a Teacher Day, celebrated across the country on Tuesday 17 June, which recognises the dedication, care and commitment shown by school staff every day.

At Smestow, we know that making a difference goes beyond the classroom. It is reflected in the relationships we build, the opportunities we create and the support our staff provide to help every young person succeed.

To mark this recognition, we are sharing a special video featuring comments from our pupils, who explain in their own words why Smestow makes a difference to them each day. Their reflections highlight what matters most - the positive experiences, encouragement and sense of belonging that shape life at our school.

We would like to thank every member of staff for the contribution they make to our community and congratulate everyone involved in achieving this recognition.

Watch the video below and hear directly from our pupils about what makes Smestow special.

Our Year 7–9 Wellbeing Ambassadors had a fantastic opportunity this morning at the Emotional Health & Wellbeing (EHWB) Event held at Molineux Stadium.

Delivered by Public Health Children & Young People in partnership with the Wolves Foundation and Barnardo’s, the event gave students the chance to learn about the wide range of support available to young people, meet local wellbeing organisations, and explore ways to make a positive difference in their communities.

The students also took part in a creative workshop where they developed their own Social Action Project ideas before presenting them to a Dragons’ Den-style panel.

We are incredibly proud of the enthusiasm, creativity and confidence shown by our Wellbeing Ambassadors throughout the event. Well done all!

Our year 8 pupils had an amazing time exploring the world of science, technology, engineering and maths at the big bang fair at the NEC. 

Pupils had the opportunity to interact with AI powered Robots, Drone technology and experienced VR headset. Allowing pupils the opportunity to have cutting edge conversations with universities and employers about the focus on STEM. These exciting activities sparked curiosity, encouraged creative thinking and gave pupils a glimpse into the variety of careers and technology shaping the future.

Our Breakfast Club is open from 8:00am until the start of the school day, giving pupils a great opportunity to enjoy a healthy breakfast and settle in before lessons begin.

🥣 Free breakfast options available, including:
• A choice of cereals
• Selected fresh fruits

🍞 Additional breakfast treats available to purchase:
• Toast
• Pancakes
• Other breakfast favourites

💳 Free School Meals: Pupils who receive Free School Meals can use up to 80p of their daily allowance towards Breakfast Club purchases.

A nutritious breakfast helps pupils feel energised, focused, and ready to learn. We look forward to welcoming everyone each morning!

A huge well done to our Silver DofE students who successfully completed their practice expedition this week alongside students from Wednesfield!

Over the course of the expedition, students demonstrated resilience, teamwork and determination as they developed their map reading and navigation skills, pitched and packed away their tents, and battled some challenging weather conditions, including heavy rain on day one.

The trip finished on a high with a friendly football match between the two schools, providing a fantastic opportunity to build new friendships and celebrate everyone’s achievements.

We are incredibly proud of the attitude, perseverance and teamwork shown by all students throughout the expedition. Well done everyone! 🥾🗺️⛺⚽

#DofE #SilverDofE #Teamwork #Resilience #Adventure

Year 10 students have been working on the theme, Lifestyle and Wellbeing. The Writing tasks in their End-of-Topic Assessment include a picture description and writing a blog on the theme. To ensure they succeed, bullet points have been given for each task for them to follow. 

Congratulations to Sukmandeep and Riley in 10B, who have done themselves proud. The attached pictures show their work; Sukmandeep’s photo description and Riley’s blog post.  

The work they have done is a replica of what they might expect at GCSE, and we are confident that they will do well in the exams.  

We would also like to thank the Year 11 pupils who attended the final Study Seminar on Friday June 5^th. It was heartwarming to see pupils giving 100% after another intense week of exams. This work ethic will take pupils far in life! Pupils also worked extremely hard in the preparation sessions prior to the final exams and were seen revising and testing each other at lunch time. We would like to thank the pupils in 11A and 11B for all their efforts during their time at Smestow. They have been an absolute joy to teach and will be greatly missed. 

We were also very impressed with the 19 Year 10 pupils who attended the additional French study seminar on June 10^th. Our pupils are keen to perform well in their speaking mock exams which begin on June 23^rd. Bravo! Please continue to attend the other sessions! 

At Smestow Academy, we keep ‘making a difference every day!’ 

National Thank a Teacher Day is celebrated will be celebrated in the UK on Wednesday 17^th June.  As part of our celebrations, we are inviting parents and carers to send their messages to our staff too!

If you would like to pass on a message of thanks to a member of our team, please complete this information on this link by 3pm on Monday 15th June:  Thank a Teacher Day - 17 June 2026 – Fill in form

Thank you for taking the time to thank our staff

The Year 7 girls took part in their rugby tournament this week and showed fantastic determination, enthusiasm, and teamwork throughout the event. For many of the girls, rugby was a completely new sport, but they embraced the challenge brilliantly and gave their all in every match.

There were some excellent moments on the pitch, with tries scored by Freya, Aurora and Poppy. A special mention also goes to Erica, who was deservedly named Lady of the Match for her outstanding effort and attitude.

The girls demonstrated brilliant sportsmanship, positivity, and energy all day long, supporting one another from start to finish. Although the team did not come away with the overall win, Miss Lowbridge was incredibly proud of every single player for their courage, commitment, and willingness to step outside their comfort zones. A wonderful team effort and a great experience for all involved!

My name is Troy and I am a student at Smestow Academy and I have been asked to write about an achievement recently attained. Some may recognise the name but for those who do not I ran for something called Youth MP and it is as it sounds, I am a Youth Member of Parliament. The whole thing started before Christmas when we put our names forward.  We wrote applications and filmed ourselves being interviewed.  We were able to promote ourselves inside and outside of schools across the City. I found out in April during our induction meeting for Youth Council. It was amazing, I was elected with Nana who is another young person in Wolverhampton and our second youth MP. We took our photos with the Mayor and sat back down, it may sound underwhelming but in all honesty I couldn't comprehend I won. The competition was against 7 candidates including myself and all schools across Wolverhampton were allowed to vote. Hearing my name being called, I froze, I didn't know how to react and then it hit me. I won. I WON.  

My role as Youth MP hasn't been anything to talk about yet. I am currently sitting my GCSE’s but will be having a meeting about it soon. As a Youth MP I am expected represent the youth voices of Wolverhampton, but what I need to do is be a voice for the youth, my role before as a youth councillor was to deal with problems in our local area but now we can go more large scale, whilst nothing has happened to boast about, I can promise one thing. You all made the right choice. 

Also, being a member of Youth Council before I was a Youth MP was actually how I got into Youth Parliament. It isn't as large scale as Youth MP but it does help your local area so if anyone is interested, talk to your schools that's how I got into Youth Council.  Secondary schools and some colleges will be able to help you get into Youth Council, all that we ask is that if you join you actually participate don't just come onto the board because you think it'll be easy or you think it looks good on a CV, being a Youth Councillor genuinely has effects on our local communities so please join because you want to help others not yourself. 

On Saturday 16th May, Smestow pupils took part in their very first Parkrun after working incredibly hard throughout the last term in the Couch to 5K club.

Every pupil showed outstanding effort, determination, and perseverance on the day. With encouragement from staff and one another, they kept going all the way to the finish line. Completing a full 5km was a huge achievement, especially as it was the furthest distance many of them had ever run.

131	Carter (YR8)	25.12
153	Mitchell (YR7)	26.05
293	Oluwademilade (YR7)	30.04
305	Amelia (YR10)	30.25
314	Manraj (YR9)	30.52
356	Paramveer (YR9)	32.24
460	Paul (YR9)	37.16

We at Smestow Academy are extremely proud of their commitment, resilience, and the positive attitude they showed throughout the event. They represented Smestow brilliantly and truly showcased our “Be Your Best” values! 👏🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️

Thank you to staff that also ran the race and helped pupils across the finish line, Miss Perfit, Mr Bryan and Mr Famuyiwa. In addition to those staff that volunteered their time to come and support Ms Heilbronn and Miss Lowbridge.