Maths Week England was set up in 2019 with the goal of ensuring that no children miss out on the opportunities that being a confident competent mathematician can give them. Set up by Andrew Jeffrey, Maths Week England aims to show pupils that maths is fun, relevant and, more importantly, available to everyone. This year the theme is "Three is the magic number" and will run throughout the activities from Monday 13^th - Friday 18^th November. Throughout the week there will be a variety of maths activities, problems and competitions to bring a little bit of fun to your lessons. You will be able to work alone and as a group to tackle problems you might not normally see in the classroom. 

Nrich, the specialists in rich mathematics, will be releasing video problems on Monday 13^th November. Details will be shared via the school website and Smestow social media. You may submit solutions to Mrs Butler by the end of Tuesday. Nrich will publish some of the best solutions on their website!

What will we be doing to celebrate?

1. Form time puzzles – Monday

2. Puzzle competition in the maths corridor – see your maths teacher for an entry sheet

3. Puzzles and activities in maths lessons

4. A3 Art competition in Art lessons – Deadline Tuesday 14^th November

5. Nrich video problems available on Smestow social media and the school website

6. MWE23 Date challenge – A tangram puzzle available from your form tutor

At Smestow Academy, we are celebrating Transgender Awareness week, in the week beginning 20^th November.  Pupils are invited to wear their rainbow laces as part of their Dance and PE kit that week.  The rainbow laces are a visual symbol to celebrate, uplift and honour our trans community.

There is no cost to pupils taking part in this event and we would encourage as many of you to get involved in upholding our smestow values of making a difference everyday and providing a welcoming and caring environment.  It is also another way in which we can celebrate our fundamental british value of individual liberty.

17^th November 2023

Fundraising for BBC Children in Need will take place in school on 17^th November.  Pupils are asked to donate what spare change that they can in donation buckets around school.  There will be a cake sale at breaktime, along with a basketball shootout on the tennis courts at break too!  Staff and 6^th Form are invited to take part in Fancy Dress to raise money for this fantastic charity, which supports disadvantaged children and young people in the UK.

Please note - all collection buckets are sealed, so no change will be given at this event.  Please ensure to bring spare change if you wish to take part in activities or donate.  Thank you.

16^th November 2023

Anti-bullying week is taking place week beginning 13^th November 2023.  We are raising awareness of this though house assemblies led by Ms Davey (Head of Dawley House) and our Anti-Bullying Ambassadors.  To show our support, staff and pupils are invited to wear odd socks on 16^th November, a symbol to all to celebrate how unique we all are!

There is no cost to pupils taking part in this event and we would encourage as many of you to get involved in upholding our smestow values of making a difference everyday and providing a welcoming and caring environment.

Following the success of the "restart a heart" campaign and raising awareness in school, we are pleased to share that we have had a new defibrillator installed in school.

The device is in a locked box by Mr Murphy's office. Hopefully, we will never need to use it, but we are lucky to be able to have the resource in school to help save a life should somebody be in danger.

Today, all Year 9 pupils have completed a course in First Aid, led by the Air Ambulance.  

As part of the statutory Health requirements and our personal development curriculum, all pupils should be taught first aid in secondary schools which will cover dealing with common injuries, how to administer CPR and the purpose of defibrillators. 

The feedback from the day was really positive with our pupils now developing their confidence in supporting those who may be in a medical need in a safe way.

Well done to all involved and a huge thank you to the Air Ambulance for delivering our training.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and on 23rd October, our School Health Nurse Barbara Tandi came into school to raise awareness and signpost our pupils to more information.

1 in 7 women in the UK will develop breast cancer in their lifetime.  Symptoms can include a lump, but this isn't the only form of breast cancer.  It is caused by a combination of our genes, environment and our lifestyles.

It is important for everyone to be aware and to encourage each other to go to the GP if there are changes that are new and or unusual.

As part of Barbara's stand, she was also giving out badges to raise awareness in the community  - here are some of our Year 11s proudly wearing theirs!

Find out more information at https://breastcancernow.org/ 

Wednesday 18^th Ocotber is Anti-Slavery Day.  We have discussed this in asemblies this week led by Mr Murphy and rasies awaareness of the need to stand together to stop modern slavery.

We have also shared some signs that are more and less obvious.

Here at Smestow Academy, we are a "telling school" and we encourage all our pupils to report anything that is worrying them, about themselves or about somebody else.

We can all play our part in helping others to escape modern slavery.

Monday 16^th October is "Restart a Heart" day - a day to raise awareness about the importance of early CPR and defibrillation.  More than 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests happen every year in the UK and sadly, less than 1 in 10 people survive.   

This important day is now in its 10^th year and is more important that ever, especially for the people of Wolverhampton, where 29,000 people are living with heart disease in the city and where it is recorded that heart and circulatory disease causes 65 deaths every month.

Our pupils have taken part in an assembly this week, led by Mr Murphy, that signposted what to do in the event of an emergency.

Year 9 pupils will also be taking part in First Aid training delivered by the Air Ambulance team next week - watch this space for more information!!!

As part of our Personal Development curriculum, today pupils in years 8 and 9 had the opportunity to watch a brilliant performance by Saltmine Theatre Company on the dangers of gang violence and knife crime. Following the session, students were then part of a workshop with the actors to discuss the main messages of the performance and to ask questions about the characters. We were really impressed with how engaged the students were with both watching the performance and taking part in the workshop today.