Well done to the Year 10 students who have been preparing for their GCSE mock exams which begin next week. Pupils have been revising the three themes covered so far and have been practicing the role plays at a doctor’s surgery, a cinema, in a restaurant and at a leisure centre. Pupils have also been describing photographs and recycling the key phrases that will be the most useful. 

Year 10 French students, please see the link below and check your email for more revision support. 

Merci et bonne chance !                                                

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/examspecs/zhkvkhv 

https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-gcses/french-2024.html

Year 5 pupils from Bhylls acre Primary School came on Monday to Smestow academy to experience what it is like to be a forensic scientist investigating a crime that was committed. Pupils took part in the following activities; 

• Chromatography to match inks
• Flame tests 
• Using hand lens to observe hair and clothing fibres

All pupils were well engaged and demonstrated excellent investigative skills to conclude who had done the crime. 

Smestow staff were really impressed with the impeccable behaviour shown by pupils. 

Our budding chefs have been busy preparing, creating, and baking their own delicious pizzas and they did not disappoint! From practising kneading and perfecting their dough, to choosing the perfect toppings, they’ve mastered every step with creativity and care.

Swipe to see some seriously tasty results. 

#FoodTechFun #PizzaMasters #Year7Chefs #HomemadePizza #TastyLearning 

The Maths department are launching a Maths at work poster competition.  This is a national competition being run by www.mathscareers.org.uk with a £100 amazon gift card for the overall winner and further prizes of a £30 amazon gift card.

Here is the brief:

• Choose ONE career to focus your poster on.

• On your poster explain how maths is used in your chosen workplace.
• Choose A4 size – you can use a computer, draw it by hand or use a mixture of methods.
• Make sure your poster looks attractive; it is meant to inspire Young People!
• Make sure it is all your own work – no copy and pasting text.
• If you use any digital images, make sure they aren’t copyrighted. Look for images that have a ‘Creative Commons Licence’ and provide a credit/link. (Or you may want to include your own drawings.)

The deadline for entries is 13^th June and please hand in or email to Mrs Oakley.  Good luck and I look forward to seeing your creative and informative designs.

UPDATE:

SCHOOL OPEN TO ALL YEAR GROUPS

Smestow Academy will be open to all year groups as of Thursday 22nd May.  The water issue has been fixed.

Thank you for your support and understanding today whilst we rectified this problem.

We look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow!

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UPDATE:

SCHOOL OPEN TO YEARS 11 and 13 ONLY

Whilst significant areas of school remain closed, we are able to open to Years 11 and 13 to allow exams to take place on site and prep sessions to run in support of exams this afternoon and tomorrow.

School will re-open to students in Years 11 and 13 at 11.10am this morning.  All students are expected to attend as if they do not have exams, they will have prep sessions that it is imperative that they take part in.

Thank you for your support this morning.

Please do continue to monitor WeDuc and socials for further updates.

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Due to a major water leak overnight and having to close parts of the school, Smestow Academy will be closed today.

Provision is still available for Year 11 and Year 13 exams due to take place today, so those sitting GCSE French (Listening & Reading), A-Level Psychology and GCSE Religious Studies are still expected in school.

There will be a contingency plan in place for exams from tomorrow onwards if we are not able to remedy this issue quickly.

We are hoping to issue a notice for Year 11 and Year 13 students to come in later today for prep sessions once we know the extent of issue.

Please can we ask parents and carers to keep an eye on the WeDuc messaging service and our socials for updates.

They have been introduced to a range of techniques inspired by Frantic Assembly, focusing on how movement can communicate emotion and narrative. This week, pupils worked on creating chair duets to represent themes of friendship.

Year 8 have shown fantastic creativity and collaboration, making great progress in this area and devising some truly impressive chair duets that reflect strong emotional connections and storytelling through movement.

This term, Year 8 pupils are focusing on the concept of trust as a foundation for their practical work in dance. Developing trust is essential as they begin to explore Swansong by Christopher Bruce—a professional repertoire piece that powerfully explores relationships through contact work and lifts.

Through a series of carefully structured tasks, including counter balances and trust falls, pupils have made impressive progress in building and demonstrating trust with their peers. This focus not only supports their physical development and safety but also enhances their understanding of interpersonal dynamics within performance.

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’.