Smestow Academy are delighted that Castlecroft Primary School, our neighbours, are now utilising access to our state of the art swimming pool. The Year 6 class come down every Tuesday afternoon to take part in their PE lesson at Smestow in the pool. Both Mr Webb and Miss Perfit who have been involved in these sessions have been hugely impressed by both the talent and the attitude of the students who have already shown some fantastic progress with the stroke technique, we even a group of students moving onto breaststroke which is brilliant. This is a fantastic opportunity for these students and we are excited to be a part of their PE journey by offering our services with the pool and staff.

In other news, as our team building activities come to an end for KS3 with half term drawing on us …. Students have took part in a Football Mini Golf challenge with Miss Perfit in her lessons. Students have been working in small groups to set a course up and then challenge another group within the class. The main focus being leadership and communication skills in order to first of all explain the challenge but then being able to navigate themselves and their team-mates around the course with as limited touches on the ball as possible. Some fantastic feedback from the students shows not only their enjoyment of the activity but their willingness to work as a team and be successful.

Meanwhile, 8X2 have been in our multi-purpose Fitness Suite completing a circuit session with Mr Craig. The pupils have explored BORG's Rate of Perceived Exertion and applied this during their fitness circuit. Pupils demonstrated a mature approach and put in great energy throughout all stations!

This week our year 8 pupils have been working hard finalising their choreography ready for assessments to beign. During this project they have learnt how to respond to a stimulus and the choreographic process that follows. All pupils have been working extremely hard portraying our Smestow Value 'Success achieved Together' to create interesting unique dances.

As part of our celebrations of world mental health day in school, our Year 7 pupils have been completing mindful colouring at lunchtime, highlighting our key top tips for positive mental health.  They are:

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

Our staff have also participated in wellbeing week, with a variety of activities provided after-school to promote positive wellbeing in our workplace - which is also the theme for this year's world mental health day as set by the World Federation of Mental Health.  Staff have been invited to take part in swimming and yoga (to be active), still life drawing and crocheting (to keep learning) and a walk in our local area (to take notice).  We have connected in school by giving staff time to talk, and we practised "give" in school with a Macmillan Cake Sale two weeks ago too.

This morning, our newly appointed wellbeing ambassadors attended their first training session with Mrs Oshodi.  The group discussed what mental health is, identified some statistics regarding mental health in secondary age pupils and developed techniques to support pupils in our school.  This training is also part of the many activities taking place this week as part of our celebrations for World Mental Health Day on Thursday 10th October.  Here at Smestow Academy, we are committed to providing a welcoming and caring environment and to be able to promote positive mental health support in our school will help us to achieve this.

Our Smestow Six Mental Health Ambassador Sophie Phelps, had this to say about our session this morning: "The Mental Health Ambassador training meeting created an inclusive and welcoming environment in which all students involved felt comfortable contributing to. The meeting clearly outlined the duties and purpose of the role, as well as using interactive activities to understand serious topics in greater depth. As a member of year 13, I believe that the training created positive engagement, establishing connections from key stage 3 to sixth form. As the sixth form mental health ambassador, I will not only be taking on duties such as being the voice for those who choose to come to me for advice or suggestions and promoting mental health tips, but also I will oversee the younger students that have also chosen to be a mental health ambassador, giving them advice and being a role model. This role will be beneficial experience for my chosen career of clinical psychology and will allow me to apply my studies of psychology to real life, expanding my transitional skills at the same time, which will prepare me for the start of my University journey."

Our talented Key Stage 3 students have been hard at work designing and making their very own cushion covers! From selecting fabrics to mastering stitching techniques, they've shown amazing creativity and craftsmanship. Their unique designs reflect their personality and style, and we couldn't be more proud of their hard work! Stay tuned for more updates as we showcase their incredible creations!

#CreativeMinds #KS3Design #CraftingSkills #ProudMoment #StudentWork

We have reached over 200 different students attending extra-curricular clubs which is a fantastic effort and is great to see so many different students attending the offer of clubs we have on as a department.

Our main focus in lessons this week has been working together as a team and solving problems especially in Key Stage 3 who have taken part in fitness challenges to escape within their practical PE lesson. This involved pupils to work as a team to decode physical activity exercise they then completed as a group.

A race between teams to be the first to escape and once they had finished they had 5 sports related questions to answer to reveal the room code to escape.

Pupils were very competitive and massive well done to 8X/PE3 (Manahil, Inioluwa, Emanuella, Fiza, Yara and Sarrayah) for being the quickest group to escape.

It has been a fantastic effort by Miss Perfit to get this set up for the students who have loved working together as a team, solving challenges along with the competitive side to it. Well done to all students involved and we looking forward to next weeks lessons and clubs with more participation, teamwork and success.

On Friday 27^th September, 24 of our pupils had the amazing opportunity to be part of the community cast for the Autin Dance Theatre's professional piece 'Parade'. The pupils have been working hard preparing for this performance, they attended a full day intensive workshop with the professional dancers from Autin Dance Theatre and then attended break and after school rehearsals to refine the piece for performance.  The performance was held at the Walsall Arboretum where the pupils performed the piece twice throughout the day parading through the park. All 24 pupils delivered exceptional performances, demonstrating our Smestow Value 'Success Achieved Together'. 

🎬 Watch Now

At the start of each term as a school, we look back and celebrate all of the effort, hard-work and achievements our wonderful pupils are making in their studies. Our rewards assemblies are a key part of our rewards programme and annual calendar, having three opportunities each year to celebrate together. These assemblies are a perfect example of 'success achieved together' as well as 'strive to improve and be your best'. 

Awards for most improved pupil as well as top performing pupil are awarded from class teachers in all subjects and classes. Being top of the class is a real achievement, but most improved pupil is a real testament to the effort, resilience and perseverance of many of our pupils. We also acknowledge our 'Smestow superstars' who get it right every single day and epitomise all of our Smestow values in all they do in lessons. 

Success achieved together is just that, with our dedicated staff working incredibly hard with our pupils, which is fostering a climate of positive relationships, high engagement and productive learning. All of these are the hallmarks of a successful school which was perfectly demonstrated in our excellent GCSE results in summer 2024, and our national success in improving our pupil progress. 

Well done to the many pupils that received awards, and for those who did not this time around, make sure you are doing all you can to show yourself positively and achieve the success you deserve in the future. 

Attention all Year 12 students! Widening Participation Programmes help students from disadvantaged backgrounds to progress onto University and Apprenticeships after Sixth Form. All the programmes listed below are FREE. There are sometimes small costs for travel but in most cases, all expenses are covered. Should any funding issues arise, please speak to the Sixth Form team. Any of these programmes can be completed alongside your A levels/BTECs without too much impact on your spare time. If you require any more information speak to the Sixth Form team who will be happy to help.

Programmes

In Geography, our Year 10 GSCE pupils have been completing 2D models of the Global Atmospheric Circulation. This enables them to see how air circulates around the Earth and why we have differences in climate. 

Our Year 9 pupils recently played the Indian Game of Life where they were able to understand the life of an Indian migrant, experiencing many opportunities and challenges along the way as they moved from square to square. The game helped pupils to understand the process of rural to urban migration and pupils really enjoyed playing the game!