Alternative Provision with Drive and Ambition
Welcome to Harris Aspire Academy Since opening its doors in 2013, Harris Aspire Academy has been committed in its vision to provide an outstanding education to all of its students overcoming barriers that may have prevented them from engaging fully in mainstream education. The Academy is part of the Harris Federation whose name is synonymous with setting standards of excellence and fulfilling high expectations. I firmly believe that a strong, embedded culture of expectations of behaviour, coupled with a high standard of teaching and support, work to ensure a positive, successful learning environment that keeps all students engaged in the learning process.
The curriculum offer at Harris Aspire Academy is designed to meet the social and educational needs for students at a personalised level, delivered by highly trained and fully committed staff who will not give up on them.
My ambition is to drive the accomplishments of the Academy further, enabling our young learners to develop and achieve the essential skills needed to be happy, confident and successful in order to flourish in adult life.
Thank you for taking the time to go through the prospectus. If you have further questions, do not hesitate to contact us.
Our Lower School students engage in a programme of study designed to enable them to return successfully to their mainstream school at the end of the academic year. Upper School students are focused on achieving educational outcomes which will allow them to move onto level 3 courses, an apprenticeship or a vocational career programme.
Andrew Barr, Principal
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Your questions answered Who can Harris Aspire support and educate? As from September 2015 there will be 90 places available at Harris Aspire Academy. A place may be commissioned at Aspire for Year 11 by any Local Authority or School including Academies and Free Schools. The kinds of students we can support are those for who one or more of the following is true: • Awaiting a place in a mainstream school having moved into the area (this could be a student from abroad where English is a new language) • Those who have not been able to follow a traditional secondary curriculum and need to undertake this as a pathway to further education or training • At risk of being permanently excluded or several fixed term exclusions – persistently poor behaviour • Students who have been out of education for a period of time for a variety of reasons and are finding it a challenge to re-engage with education
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• Students who cannot access the curriculum due to behaviour, illness, SEN, SpLD, personal circumstances etc • Persistently poor attendance, which may be due to medical reasons including physical or mental illness, as part of a re-integration package, where a student would not receive suitable education without this arrangement • Considered to need specialist support of the kind that can be offered at Aspire, for example, behaviour or speech and language interventions Students for Year 11 are required to be referred by their current school in the 2nd half of the summer term prior to starting at Aspire. This will enable us to work with the school, student and parents in preparation for a September start. In year placements are also available.
In order to fully address the student’s needs, detailed information will be needed from the commissioning school for an appropriate support package to be put in place for the student. It is important that this information is accurate and comprehensive. We are a fully inclusive school and welcome students with special educational needs and disabilities, including those with emotional and environmental barriers to learning. We will have the systems, structures and specialists in place to support our students to achieve to the best of their ability. The revised DfE guidance recommends schools consider the commissioning of Alternative Provision as an alternative to permanent exclusion, or where mainstream education is no longer considered appropriate.
Enrolling in the Sixth Form at Aspire Students applying for Sixth Form places should apply using the Harris Sixth Form application, which can be found on the website: www.harrisaspire.org.uk or by contacting the Harris Sixth Form admissions officer at: info@harrissixthform.org.uk The closing date for applications is Thursday 24 March 2016 Students will be invited to a course discussion meeting between January and April 2016. Options can be reviewed and future plans discussed. Taster sessions take place after GCSE exams allowing students an insight to the next stage of their education.
Parents should be consulted positively about the commissioning of a place at Aspire. It is unhelpful for the student and the family to consider the placement as a sanction, rather than an intervention. It should be made clear that where the commissioner is a school, the student will remain on the school role and will be expected to improve their behaviour and/ or attendance, make good academic progress and then successfully move onto Sixth Form or Further Education. The Aspire ethos is that students will be prepared to return to mainstream provision, or a specialist provision secured as appropriate. Aspire will support an outreach package to ensure success. As guidance recommends, commissioning of alternative provision should only be considered when it is the best interests of the pupil concerned.
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11 Harris Secondary Academies have already been rated as ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted, out of 14 so far inspected. 04
High expectations The 90 students awarded places here will know that we have extremely high expectations, both for their day-to-day performance and for their futures. The objectives we have set ourselves to be achieved by 2016 are: • For all students in year 11 or Sixth Form to achieve 5 or more A*– C grades at GCSE or in
equivalent qualifications.
• For all students to make better than expected progress in both English and Mathematics. • Attendance above •
We will achieve these objectives by addressing the individual needs of students; breaking down barriers to learning; personalising their curriculum and teaching styles; providing high quality support for a wide range of different needs from day one of a student’s Harris Aspire education; and putting in place appropriate stretch and challenge for more able students who have fallen behind.
95%.
No student to leave Harris Aspire as a NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training).
• All students to move onto Further Sixth Form studies with the majority attaining the entry criteria for level 3 courses.
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The track record we are building on As a Harris Academy, we will be building on a track record of excellence in London education. All 37 Harris Academies are located in and around London. The vast majority of these replaced schools with major challenges in terms of performance and standards. Now they are outperforming the national average. 11 Harris Secondary Academies have already been rated as ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted, out of 14 so far inspected. This track record is unmatched. Harris Aspire will benefit from the experience and expertise that has been developed within every Harris Academy. In the Harris Federation, we pride ourselves on the fact that children from all ability ranges make the expected progress, as do children with SEN. This is consistent across gender, ethnicity and socio-economic background.
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How children from different backgrounds are being supported successfully to achieve in Harris Academies
Harris Academies
National Average
Harris Academies
65%
Harris Academies
57%
National Average
60%
National Average
41%
5 A*– Cs including Maths and English
5 A*– Cs including English and Maths – Pupil Premium Students
Harris Academies
34%
Harris Academies
65%
National Average
23%
National Average
58%
5 A*– Cs including English and Maths – Students with Special Educational Needs
5 A*– Cs including English and Maths – students with English as an Additional Language
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A student’s journey through Harris Aspire When students arrive at Harris Aspire, we will work with them to assess in detail their unique needs for learning and support. Their curriculum, teaching styles and specialist support will be fully personalised. And once they begin their education with us, we will measure their progress in relation to their needs every six weeks to make sure our approach is working. The key features of their education will be: • Stretching targets and goals – equally demanding as at other Harris Academies – but broken down into shorter targets that are easier to reach. Each success will be celebrated and built on, with students gradually stretched to their full potential
• Opportunities to join classes at other Harris Academies for certain subjects including foreign languages
• Smaller than average class sizes and more regular one-to-one time than in a mainstream school
• Opportunities to gain nationally recognised, industry standard qualifications. These will include access to Microsoft courses, First Aid and LAMDA examinations in oracy (e.g. public speaking)
• Time allocated to Maths and English is maximised – at least 5 hours a week in each, plus development of literacy and numeracy skills in other lessons • A Harris Aspire laptop or tablet to use in lessons – and access to the Harris Cloud so they can store their work online and create a portfolio to take with them for the next stage of their education or career
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• An enrichment programme to encourage participation in sport and other activities
• Traditional standards of dresscode, courtesy and care for others at Harris Aspire and outside • High standards of punctuality and attendance, with the same policies and procedures for encouraging this that have been so successful at other Harris Academies
Specialisms of Oracy and Enterprise will permeate the curriculum at Harris Aspire. We will ensure all students leave with highly developed communication skills alongside an enterprising and “can do” attitude to learning. Together these specialisms will open doors to a wide range of successful pathways. We have chosen Oracy as a specialism because our experience is that many students whose behaviour is challenging have problems with articulating their views and feelings and sustaining a discussion with adults and peers – this can be addressed by giving them language and communication skills (oracy).
Students often lack resilience in their personal lives – events knock them off course easily. By teaching them to be enterprising in their personal lives, giving them strategies for coping with setbacks and the ability to make the most of opportunities, we can help them succeed. This is the basis of our Enterprise specialism.
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Our Learning Ethos Students’ progress in learning will be accelerated and tracked through a unique programme based around the development of an Academy Ethos that builds Resilience, Reflectiveness, Resourcefulness and Reciprocity in all of our students.
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Joining Harris Aspire… …in Year 11
…for Sixth Form
There will be up to 50 placements in Year 11, with all students enrolled on GCSE examination courses in English, Maths and Science, as well as a choice of vocational courses in subjects such as Business, Health & Social Care, Sport and Hair and Beauty.
We will have a Sixth Form of up to 60 students.
The courses will offer them a secure pathway to further education or an apprenticeship. Once a child gets a place in Year 11, we will work with them and their parents and existing teachers to create a Personal Learning Plan. Students and their parents or carers will sign a commitment to this plan.
All students will be enrolled on GCSE examination courses in English, Maths and Science, as well as a choice of vocational courses. Placements therefore need to be for an entire academic year, with students beginning their courses in September. The courses will offer them a secure pathway to further education or an apprenticeship. Students will be expected to be smartly dressed at all times, as they would be if working in a smart professional environment. They are role models for the rest of the Harris Federation and as such should always be smartly presented. Identity cards with lanyards must be visible at all times and students must have their organisers with them every day.
Dress code for all students Male
Female
• Formal Business Suit
• Formal Business Suit (skirts must be at least to the knee, no stretchy lycra skirts allowed, trousers must be full length)
• Formal shirt and tie • Formal shoes (you must be able to polish them)
• Formal Blouse or shirt • Formal shoes (you must be able to polish them) • Girls wishing to wear the Islamic dress should wear a simple silhouette jilbab and a hijab which should not be too colourful. Both garments should not be over embellished. A formal business jacket will need to be worn
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Contact Harris Aspire Academy Lennard Road Beckenham Kent  BR3 1QR Tel: 020 3370 9238 Email: info@harrisaspire.org.uk www.harrisaspire.org.uk