To celebrate International women's day our Sixth form students and some of our Year 9 girls took part in the House of Lords International Women's day event online. This event allowed them to explore the current laws around women's rights, and also get an insight into the careers open to women within our government.
During the last two weeks of term, we had a very special guest join us in the Academy. To celebrate our pupils amazing attendance the Easter bunny made a surprise appearance to hand out some Easter goodies to pupils who had 100% attendance. On the last day of term, the Easter bunny upped his game and delivered incredible Kinder chocolate hampers during each lunch sitting to one lucky pupil in each year group. Well done to all of our pupils who showed fantastic commitment to their learning!
World Autism Day takes place on 2nd April and raises awareness of autism, highlighting what can be done to improve the quality of life for autistic people.
Here at Smestow Academy, we will be celebrating World Autism Day on Friday 27th March and invite all members of our school community to wear blue socks to celebrate the event. This is part of our active citizenship offer in school and one of the many meaningful opportunities that encourage our pupils to be responsible, respectful citizens who contribute positively to society.
Please join us in wearing your blue socks tomorrow!
For the most recent Year 8 Assessment, one of the writing tasks was to write a short text about sports. Pupils were expected to write about the sports they do, how often they do it, the one(s) they prefer in each season, the sport(s) they would like to do, as well as the one (s) they did recently.
In these assessments, pupils covered all the bullet points and made a good use of tenses and time phrases. We take pride in the fact that our pupils are upholding one of our School’s values of Striving to Improve and be their Best.
Congratulations to Carter and Paul in 8x1 for their excellent exam pieces!
A reminder to our Year 11 pupils that French Easter classes will run on April 2nd. Pupils made their choices of thematic context for the speaking exam on March 20th and will be able to focus on these for their revision. The day will cover read aloud practice, role plays and describing pictures. We hope as many pupils as possible can attend.
We are delighted to announce that Smestow Academy has been shortlisted for the Outstanding Progress - Secondary School Award at the prestigious Education Business Awards 2026.
The Education Business Awards recognise the achievements of schools, colleges and universities across the UK that go above and beyond to improve education and enhance the lives of the current and future workforce. Since 2009, the awards have celebrated excellence across more than twenty categories, including Outstanding Progress and Leadership, SEN Best Practice and Provision, ICT Innovation, Procurement, Security, Environmental Practice, Building and Catering.
Smestow Academy was selected by the awards’ research team following careful consideration of a range of factors, including recent achievements, Ofsted reports, positive news coverage, and contributions to the education sector.
Being shortlisted for the Outstanding Progress at Secondary Years Award is a fantastic recognition of the continued commitment of our staff, pupils and wider school community in driving improvement and achieving excellent outcomes.
The awards ceremony will take place on 26 March 2026 at Old Billingsgate in London, where schools from across the country will gather to celebrate educational excellence. This year’s awards will be presented by Matthew Burton, inspirational headteacher and star of Channel 4’s multi-award-winning documentary series Educating Yorkshire.
We are incredibly proud of this recognition and look forward to representing Smestow Academy at the awards ceremony.
In the dark and murky hours of Friday morning an excited but slightly sleepy group of twenty Year Seven, Eight and Nine Smestow Academy students boarded the coach for a four-day trip to Paris, the ‘City of Lights’. There wasn’t much ‘light’ at the 1am departure from school but, to the students (and parents’!) credit, they all arrived on-time and we were able to set off on schedule.
After a fourteen-hour(!) coach journey, passport control and a smooth ferry crossing, we arrived at The Chateau Grand Romaine PGL activity centre, just twenty miles from the capital city and thirty minutes away from Disneyland Paris. For some students it was their first trip outside the UK – so it was a fantastic experience for them.
Saturday
It was an early morning get up. Students had a typically French breakfast followed by making their own baguette packed lunch for the day.
Disneyland itself was an incredible experience. Students had an amazing time. It was sometimes a little overwhelming just because of the sheer size of the place, the colours and sounds and the number of people there. It was like visiting another planet! Although queueing times were long, students managed to experience some of the big rides and see many of the Disney characters walking around the streets.
Although it was forecast to rain, the skies thankfully remained dry – right up until the time we left to get back on the coach when the heavens unleashed a terrific hail storm!
Evening activities back at the Activity Centre included; crepe making classes, a disco, movie night, floodlit football and basketball courts and a campfire.
Sunday
Sunday was another early get-up followed by breakfast and baguette lunch making – but today the sun appeared! The weather was terrific as we took a guided coach trip across the city towards the Eiffel Tower.
From the foot of the tower students took a boat ride down the River Seine – seeing the Louvre Museum, The Musee D’Orsay and Notre Dame Cathedral. As our boat passed under the many bridges students enjoyed joining in with the tradition of clapping.
We returned to the Eiffel Tower and most students climbed up the 674 stairs to the second floor to see the spectacular views over the city. A student’s forgotten bag was rescued by our PGL guide – which avoided there having to be an evacuation of thousands of tourists from the tower!
Back on the coach for a drive across the city, along the Champs Elysees to Montmartre, for some souvenir shopping and more sight-seeing. Here, students saw the beautiful Sacre Coeur basilica.
Monday
Having packed their cases the previous evening, students had their last breakfast and made their final baguette lunch for the journey home.
We arrived back at Smestow Academy at 10.30pm Monday evening, exhausted but full of incredible experiences!
Well-done to all the students for working to some very tight time frames(!) and always acting responsibly and respectfully.
We were incredibly proud of our pupils, who demonstrated outstanding commitment and enthusiasm in recent weeks. Alongside their ongoing rehearsals for High School Musical, they showed fantastic dedication, energy, and teamwork as they prepared for what proved to be a brilliant production.
In addition, pupils took part in an exciting two-day intensive workshop with Marcia Edwards, Artistic Director of ME Dance. Marcia was a great inspiration; having trained at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance and worked extensively in the professional industry, our pupils were truly privileged to learn from such an influential figure in the dance world. During the workshop, they worked collaboratively to choreograph an original dance piece exploring the powerful theme of the furnace blast. Their creativity, focus, and willingness to challenge themselves were evident throughout, resulting in a striking and meaningful performance.
We were also delighted that pupils had the opportunity to perform this piece as a curtain-raiser at the premiere of Furnace at the Walsall Arena on Wednesday 18th March. This was a wonderful opportunity for them to showcase their hard work and talent on a professional stage, and we could not have been prouder of their achievements.
The lesson focused on developing overall fitness through a whole-body circuit training. Pupils worked in pairs, allowing them to support, motivate and encourage each other.
During the lesson, pupils rotated through a variety of stations designed to target different muscle groups and improve both cardiovascular endurance and muscular strength.
The circuit included a range of equipment and exercises, ensuring that students experienced a balanced and varied workout. For example, pupils used treadmills to increase their heart rate and build aerobic fitness, while rowing machines helped develop upper-body and core strength as well as endurance.
This morning we were pleased to be able to host an event in school to celebrate both International Women's Day (08/03/26) and Mother's Day (15/03/26). Pupils and their families joined us for refreshments, with a presentation of words written by our young people about their mothers.
It was lovely for our families to be able to spend the quality time together this morning and thank you to everyone who was able to join us.
This week, our Year 7 Personal Development Ambassadors took the donations from Smestow Academy to our House Charity shops.
Our community week activity last half-term asked for donations of goods that could be sold in the charity shops as an alternative to other fundraising events that we have hosted previously. This is a great example of how our pupils demonstrate the Smestow values of "make a difference everyday".
A huge thank you to everyone who donated and we hope that our house charities can benefit from this as a result.
Smestow Academy
Windmill Crescent
Castlecroft, Wolverhampton
West Midlands
WV3 8HU
T: 01902539500
postbox@smestowacademy.co.uk
Monday - Thursday: 8:00 am - 4:00 pm
Friday: 8:00 am - 3:30 pm
