The auditorium at Millennium Point was once again filled with excitement and pride as the third annual Matrix Pupil Awards Ceremony took place. Now a firmly established tradition, the event recognised outstanding academic achievements across all our schools while celebrating the unique talents and character of each of our pupils.

The evening was opened by CEO Lynsey Draycott, with Headteachers from across the trust taking to the stage to present awards to their proud pupils. Among the honours were five standout titles: Most Creative, Most Resilient, Most Selfless, Continuous Improver, and Most Enthusiastic — each highlighting the remarkable qualities shown by pupils throughout the year.

The ceremony also featured captivating performances from pupils who triumphed in our trust-wide talent competition. Their musical skills added an unforgettable touch to the evening and demonstrated the breadth of talent within our schools.

Special recognition was also given to pupils involved in our Combined Cadet Force and those who successfully completed their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, celebrating their commitment, resilience, and leadership beyond the classroom.

The awards were presented by our Chair of Trustees, Sir Mark Aspinall. A big thank you to our special guest Beth who gave some very inspiring words.

A heartfelt thank you and congratulations to all of our award winners, performers, dedicated staff, trustees, parents and carers who made the evening such a success. A highlight video will be posted shortly.

9X1, 9X2 and 9X3 classes sat their Unit 8 assessments last week on ‘Home and dream home’. The groups have really demonstrated our Smestow Value of ‘Strive to improve to be your best’. Here are some examples of their essays written under exam conditions. Pupils had to show their knowledge of the present tense, the imperfect tense and the conditional tense. Congratulations to the class for their excellent revision materials which were produced for homework. The knowledge and skills needed in this unit will be needed later on in Year 10 when we begin the unit on ‘My Neighbourhood’.

This afternoon, we are grateful to have received this fantastic donation of hundreds of books from the Rotary Club of the City of Wolverhampton's Books4Home scheme.

Mike and Lynn Hardacre delivered books to our school Librarian Mrs Birtwistle.  Some of the books will go on our library shelves but most will be given away to pupils and to keep them reading over the summer.

Thank you to Rotary Club of the City of Wolverhampton for this wonderful donation.

#SmestowAcademy #SuccessAchievedTogether #books4home #rotaryclubofwolverhampton #smestowacademylibrary #loveofreading

There are lots of opportunities with the Kings Trust, including free courses to support young people between 16-30 years old to build their confidence, find a job or start their own business. Take a look at their newsletter to find out more information about upcoming courses or becoming a mentor.

#SmestowAcademy #SuccessAchievedTogether #KingsTrust #Careers

This week, we have celebrated Mental Health Awareness Week with "time to talk" at lunchtime and mindful colouring being led by Ms Buparai and Miss Mahli who are part of our mental health team in school.  Our assemblies will take place with Mr Dyke next week where we will find out more about the theme this year which is "community".  As a community, if we follow our mental health top tips to promote positive wellbeing, we can support each other to improve our mental health.

Our top tips are:

• Be active
• Connect
• Give
• Keep learning
• Take notice

#SmestowAcademy #SuccessAchievedTogether #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek #MentalHealthMatters

Smestow Academy are proud to work alongside Reflexions who are our Mental Health Support Team in Wolverhampton.  They have invited students from Smestow Academy to take part in their creative event which is happening during half-term at the Merry Hill shopping centre.  Take a look at the flyer and sign-up to take part!

#SmestowAcademy #SuccessAchievedTogether #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek #MentalHealthMatters

Smestow Academy are proud to work alongside Reflexions, the Mental Health Support Team in Wolverhampton.  Mental Health Awareness Week is taking place this week and Reflexions have invited parents and carers of our school to attend a series of webinars to support their child.  These are taking place on MS Teams over the half-term break.  If you are interested, please email the Reflexions team to register.

#SmestowAcademy #SuccessAchievedTogether #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek #MentalHealthMatters

During science club this term pupils from year 7 to 10 have to planned, built, and test wooden model houses designed to withstand a simulated tsunami. The planning phase involved researching tsunami impacts and applying basic principles of structural engineering. Teams sketched designs that considered stability, strong foundations, and how water would flow around or under the structure.

Once built, each model was tested against a wave of water designed to simulate a tsunami’s force. Students observed how their structures responded, identifying points of failure and success. This hands-on testing helped them understand the real-world challenges of designing buildings in disaster-prone areas. The pupils also tested the structures by adding masses to test the strength. Ultimately D. Mobolaji, E. Salami, S. Singh, T. Blundell and L. Morton built strong structures to withstand the rigorous testing.  Afterward, teams reflected on their results and collaborated with each other to discussed improvements they would make in future designs, reinforcing the importance of planning, collaboration, and testing in engineering. 

Our Headteacher, Mr Chamberlain led an assembly with our Year 11s this morning with some key reminders for them to "get it right" on examination days. This included how to prepare for the day ahead, remembering to read the command words in a question fully and looking after our mental health and wellbeing during this time.

Good luck to all our pupils in years 11 and 13 who are now entering the examination period. We commend you for all your hard work and wish you all the best!

Today, we have commemorated the 80th anniversary of VE Day in school with a presentation during form time, door displays in History, the national 2-minute silence at 12pm and a themed menu in our canteen.

We are grateful to all those before us who fought so that we could have the freedom and liberty we have today.

#SmestowAcademy #SuccessAchievedTogether #VEDay #activecitizenship