Monday marked the first school council meeting of the academic year. Representatives from each form group have been democratically voted in by their peers and will play an integral part in implementing new ideas, organising whole school events and being the voice of all pupils here at Smestow Academy. 

In their first meeting, pupils met with Mr Patel and received their School Council badges, got an overview of how school council will run this year and were spoken to about the exciting opportunity of becoming a ‘School Executive Council Representative’

#SchoolCouncil #PupilVoice #Democracy #SmestowAcademy

We are welcoming Mademoiselle Robic to the MFL Department at Smestow Academy this week. Mlle. Robic is our new French language assistant, and she will be working with our pupils in both Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4, to improve their speaking and listening skills. She will be here until the end of May 2026 and will be instrumental in helping our Year 11 pupils to succeed in their French speaking exams in the summer. 

Mlle. Robic comes from a small town called Baud in Brittany, France. She is very much looking forward to working with our pupils and helping us to get more fantastic GCSE results next year! Bienvenue, Mlle. Robic! 

Our first disco for Key Stage 3 pupils took place this evening! Raising money for Birmingham Children's Hospital, our Community Champions had organised a disco for our lower school pupils, complete with refreshments and carnival games too! 

DJ Stevo was on the decks, accompanied by a budding protege too! 

Thank you to all our pupils who came and donated money for this very worthwhile cause and to our Prefects who were amazing at running the door, games and refreshments.

Our fundraising continues this week, so if there are any other donations you may wish to make, we would be grateful of your support.

Congratulations to F. Lys (10H1) who competed in the Taekwondo World Championships this summer! F. Lys secured a podium place by finishing in Bronze medal position. Head of Holbeche House, Mr Craig, is incredibly proud of F. Lys' determination and sporting success as this embodies the Smestow value 'strive to improve and be your best'! We look forward to seeing more medals as this glittering career continues to blossom.

Staying connected with our community is a top priority, and we want to make it as easy as possible for you to stay in the loop. While our website continues to be a hub for important news and detailed updates, we also recognize that many parents and families prefer to receive information quickly and conveniently. That’s why we are very active on our social media channels, where we share reminders, highlights, and behind-the-scenes moments from our programs and events. By following us online, you’ll have instant access to announcements, upcoming opportunities, and celebrations of our students’ successes—all in one convenient place. We encourage you to join our growing online community and stay connected with everything happening here by clicking the links below.

• Twitter - https://twitter.com/SmestowAcademy
• Facebook -  https://www.facebook.com/SmestowAcademy
• Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/smestowacademy/

Year 5 pupils from Castlecroft primary school became forensic detectives when they visited Smestow and took part in an exciting science workshop. They used their scientific skills to explore the world of forensics to solve a crime. The pupils were well engaged and very excited as they used sharp observational skills to crack the case. A huge well done to all the future scientists and detectives for their fantastic participation. 

We will be celebrating the European Day of Languages at Smestow next week. Did you know that at our school, our students speak an impressive 34 different languages including German, Persian, Spanish, Arabic, Romanian, Farsi and Italian? Many of our students sit external languages in their home languages with many achieving grades 7-9. We were delighted with our results in languages this year and we celebrate languages each day here at Smestow! 

The theme for the 2025 European Day of Languages is ‘Languages open hearts and minds’. One of the key things that makes Smestow Academy a ‘welcome and caring environment’ is our appreciation of other languages and cultures. Languages open doors and can help pupils move forwards in their future careers. Knowing different languages also helps pupils to communicate meaningfully. 

The European Day of Languages was established in 2001. It is held on September 26^th each year and from September 22^nd pupils will watch an assembly to inform them of the importance of this event. The aim is to promote linguistic diversity and encourage language learning across Europe. All students will have the opportunity to submit a poster promoting the theme of ‘languages open hearts and minds’ with the chance of winning a prize from the European Centre for Modern Languages. The top 25 entries will also have their artwork displayed there and on the official website! The competition is to raise awareness of how languages united us. More information will be given on this in the assembly.                                                                                                                                                                   If your child can speak an additional language, please make sure that we know so we can help them to achieve success at GCSE and A level! 

This week all pupils in school have been set homework on Sparx maths. Homework tasks are due to be completed every Tuesday by 9PM. This is monitored and rewarded by the maths department weekly. Opportunities are available in school for pupils to access homework support and these include use of the library, KS3 homework club and Sparx maths club. Students are expected to complete homework to 100% every week and seek support from their maths teacher if they feel they cannot achieve this.

Last year pupils at Smestow academy answered over 1,000,000 questions on Sparx maths for the second consecutive year and pupils are challenged to achieve this goal again.

Pupils are celebrated weekly on our school website where further information can also be found https://smestowacademy.co.uk/sparx-maths/

We were lucky enough to be asked to perform at Walsall Maker Fest today. A celebration of a variety of arts from across the Midlands including story-telling, arts and crafts, music and dance.  Two performances from our talented performing arts team were cheered by the crowds.

Rain stopped play for the second performance, but our dancers represented Smestow outstandingly as always.

Thanks to Miss Field for giving our pupils yet another fantastic experience of performing in both a community and professional setting.

Watch this space for footage of our first performance!

#SmestowAcademy #SmestowPerformingArts #WalsallMakerFest #dance 

Last term, we were happy to host a number of visitors to our academy who were completing an internship. Our guests spent three weeks at the school, in lessons and departments to gain an insight into working in a secondary school. 

It was fantastic getting to know them and working alongside them at our school. We wish all of the interns the best of luck and hope to see them again soon.

"My time here has been an amazing learning experience and I’ve gained real insight into what makes a great school and calm, focused, and fun classrooms. Big thanks to all of the staff team and lovely students who made it such an enjoyable experience!"

"I really enjoyed my three-week internship at Smestow Academy. I received such a warm welcome from both staff and students and it gave me a great insight into the world of teaching. I got to observe lessons and by amazing teachers as well as being able to see other aspects of teaching and I learned so much during my time there. I was also  accompanied by my assistance dog Gina and everyone was incredibly respectful of her role, which I really appreciated. She seemed to love her time at Smestow too because she was always in a great mood each morning as we headed in!"

#SmestowAcademy #SuccessAchievedTogether