LEADERSHIP, ENQUIRY, ASPIRATION AND PERSEVERANCE
WELCOME WE’RE DELIGHTED TO WELCOME YOU TO OUR PROSPECTUS. Our Executive Principal, Rebecca Hickey, has led two London secondary schools to ‘outstanding’ Ofsted ratings. Together with Simon Davies, our Principal, she firmly intends to put Harris Academy Peckham at the heart of our community. Under their leadership, the academy is providing students with the academic and pastoral support they need to thrive. All of us at the academy hope that local families will come and see for themselves everything we have to offer.
Thank you for considering Harris Academy Peckham. We are extremely proud to lead an aspirational and dynamic academy in the heart of Peckham. We are rated ‘good’ by Ofsted and at the core of everything we do here is a desire to transform the lives of the students we work with. There is real warmth within our academy. Staff and students have respect for one another built on genuine relationships. Whatever a child’s ambitions, our dedicated team of teachers and support staff equip them with the confidence, knowledge and skills they need to reach their goals. Education is all about broadening horizons. Our students have access to a huge range of enrichment activities during and after each academy day and we organise numerous trips in London, across the UK and abroad. We are also fortunate to regularly welcome high-profile and inspirational visitors and speakers. Our academy ethos is LEAP (Leadership, Enquiry, Aspiration and Perseverance) and this guides everything we do. As well as leaving our academy academically successful, we want our students to be well-rounded and socially-conscious individuals who are fully prepared to take their next steps once they leave the academy at the end of Year 11. This prospectus is only a snapshot of what our academy has to offer. Please do come and visit us on one of our open days and bring your children along. Yours, Ms Rebecca Hickey, Executive Principal Mr Simon Davies, Principal
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HARRIS ACADEMY PECKHAM Rate of academic progress significantly increasing, with a proven new leadership team now in place
Government ranks us amongst the top of their league table of schools with similar pupils
Motivating teachers and engaging lessons
Free musical instrument lessons for everyone in Year 7 – and if your child decides to take music GCSE we will continue to make sure they can learn an instrument at no cost to you
Huge range of extra-curricular activities
Outstanding pastoral care, with an on-site counsellor and life coach
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“ LEADERS AND STAFF PROMOTE A CULTURE OF ASPIRATION UNDERPINNED BY HIGH EXPECTATIONS OF CONDUCT AND BEHAVIOUR.” OFSTED
OUR CURRICULUM We offer a wide-ranging curriculum which aims to inspire and challenge. It is our hope that each of our students finds something – a subject, sport or vocation – they are truly passionate about. During their time in Years 7 and 8, your son or daughter will have lessons in English, maths, science, history, geography, languages (French, Spanish or German), art and design, music, PE, religious education, music, food technology and drama. They will also have a 30 minute tutorial teach day on a range of Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) topics. Our Accelerated Reader Programme begins in Year 7. It aims to develop the reading skills of our students and instill in them a life-long love of reading. The result is that our students are confident readers with a good knowledge of both the classics and contemporary literature. Early on in their education your son or daughter will receive tailored careers advice so they are able to make well-informed decisions about their futures. In Year 9 our students begin formally working towards their GCSE exams and we offer a wide choice of creative, vocational and traditional subject options so that they are able to choose a course of study that’s just right for them.
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BRINGING LEARNING TO LIFE We do not take our location for granted. We make the most of learning in London by regularly visiting galleries and museums, the Houses of Parliament, the Tower of London and the Royal Opera House. We also offer a number of international trips – our students learn RE in French monasteries, history in the battlefields of Brussels and geography in Naples. We subsidise the majority of our trips and visits so that everyone is able to participate.
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Many of our students love the arts and we encourage our students to embrace their creativity. We have a strong partnership with the renowned South London Gallery and our students regularly collaborate with contemporary artists and exhibit their work there. Throughout the year we also have a number of LEAP days (based on our academy ethos) with innovative learning experiences, ranging from science experiments to poetry workshops based on key local landmarks.
A PROUD PLACE IN OUR COMMUNITY We are proud to be a part of Peckham and our local area is a constant source of inspiration to us. Our students learn about the community and its history; it inspires our art, music and history classes and informs our studies of urban geography.
Many students also take part in fundraising and community service activities. In recent years we have been thrilled to see a large number of students involved in youth-led projects to tackle local issues through our work with Peckham Citizens.
We teach our students to be engaged and outstanding members of both our academy and the wider local community. We’re delighted to share some of our facilities with the community and invite them to join us for workshops and events.
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ACTIVITIES AND CLUBS We offer a large selection of Enrichment and Extension activities and clubs before school, at lunchtime and at the end of the day. These encompass sporting, creative and academic subjects. Clubs and activities include:
Football
Cooking Competitions
Debating Society
Federation Spelling Bee Competition
Swimming
Student Commission
Boxing
Peckham Poets
Academy Choir
Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme
Modern Foreign Languages
Creative Writing
Cinema Club
Academy Orchestra
Tennis
Netball
STEM Club
Art Club
Steel Pan Club
The Great Peckham Bake-Off
Cheerleading
Chamber Choir
Humanities Film Club
Jazz Band
Archery
Basketball
Chess Club
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“THROUGHOUT THE ACADEMY THERE IS AN EXTENSIVE RANGE OF CULTURAL, SPORTING AND PERFORMING ARTS ACTIVITIES.” OFSTED
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GOING FOR GOLD We have a highly skilled and dedicated team of sports teachers and coaches who support our students in their PE lessons and during clubs to achieve their very best. There are plenty of opportunities for our students to represent the academy in both team and individual sports. We encourage all our students to try new sports and have excellent coaches in dance, boxing, rugby and tennis as well as a full-time basketball coach. Our students showcase their athletic abilities in the presence of sporting legends. Recent guests to the academy include gold medalist and GB athlete Adam Gemili, WBO European Super-Featherweight Champion Archie Sharp and former England and Manchester United Captain Rio Ferdinand.
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We look for every opportunity to be involved in innovate sports programmes, such as Netball 4 Change, a project that uses the rules and the game of netball to teach girls about social media and how to stay safe online. We are fortunate to have excellent on-site sports facilities – including a dance studio with sprung flooring, a large sports hall with a viewing gallery, a fully equipped fitness suite and an all-weather pitch.
THE SOUND OF SUCCESS We have thriving music and performing arts departments. Our music department is made up of professional musicians who are graduates of the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music. Our students consistently perform well above the national average in music GCSE. To promote and nurture musical talent and creativity we offer a Music Scholarship program which ensures that all our Year 7 students have free access to high-quality teaching and tuition. If they wish to pursue music GCSE, this tuition will continue throughout their time at the academy.
We have a variety of ensembles at our academy, including an orchestra and jazz band as well as three choirs. We have built inspirational partnerships with a number of organisations including BBC Singers, the Multi-Story Orchestra, Purcell School of Music, Trinity Levan Conservatoire and the Royal Academy of Music. Our students get the opportunity to showcase their talents at prestigious venues such as Westminster Abbey, the Royal Academy of Music, the Southbank Centre and the Royal Albert Hall. Our students love the performing arts and are able to hone their talents by working with professional performers at Mountview Academy of the Theatre Arts and the Old Vic Theatre.
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A PLACE TO BE YOU We know a child’s time at school is about far more than the grades they achieve. We want our students to enjoy their education in a positive and purposeful space where they can form lifelong friendships, discover their talents and become the very best version of themselves. We understand how important it is to have someone to talk to if a student needs extra support or a helping hand. We offer targeted social and emotional support with both an on-site counsellor and experienced life-coach to ensure that every one of our students has someone to turn to for support and guidance. Our pastoral and senior staff play an active role in everyday life at our academy. You’ll notice them on the academy gates at the start and end of every academy day, in corridors and in the playground to make sure that our academy is a calm, safe and positive place to be. We have a firm but fair standard of discipline here. We ask our students to be smartly dressed and display high standards of courtesy. In return we provide an environment where students can feel valued and confident to learn.
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ACHIEVEMENT FOR ALL We understand that our students sometimes need to be either stretched or given more support to achieve their very best. We have a number of initiatives which help our students succeed at every stage of their school career and prepare them for their future careers. The external programmes we participate in include: • The King’s Scholars, a unique initiative run alongside King’s College London for our budding scientists giving them access to a number of specialist trips and visits. • The Head Start programme, in which Year 10 students are supported to create a social action project and develop the skills they need for successful careers. • Barclays Life Skills, a programme that provides advice, guidance and workshops on careers, financial management, CV writing and interview preparation. • Franklin Scholars, which teaches our Year 10 students to become successful mentors to our Year 7s. • The Girls’ Network, which pairs our Year 9 and 10 girls with a network of professional female role models. Our students also have access to Harris Experience, a unique programme that readies our most able students for life at top universities. Many of our students stay on for the Harris Federation Sixth Form. Well before they are sixth form age we provide an insight into university life through visits to top Russell Group universities – giving them a taste of what is to come and an incentive to work hard and apply themselves.
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PART OF THE SUCCESSFUL HARRIS FEDERATION The Harris Federation is a not-for-profit charity with nearly 50 academies in London and Essex. The founder and Chairman of the Harris Federation is Lord Harris of Peckham. His vision of delivering happy and successful education is brought to life by an excellent team of teachers and leaders.
In the most recent national league tables, the Harris Federation was the top performing large academy trust for:
The Federation regularly tops academic studies and national league tables measuring performance. Almost all Harris secondary academies are judged ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted.
• The proportion of students gaining the prestigious English Baccalaureate.
Harris secondary academies are known for combining traditional standards of manners, discipline and uniform with the best of modern teaching and technology. There are around four applications from parents for every place available.
• The academic progress of students; • The progress of disadvantaged students;
At the time this prospectus was sent to press, there were an incredible 51 sixth formers at the Harris Federation holding offers for Oxford and Cambridge. In addition to running schools, the Harris Federation provides high quality training and professional development for teachers throughout this part of England. Follow @HarrisFed on Twitter to stay updated.
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112 Peckham Road, London SE15 5DZ T: 020 7703 4417 F: 020 7703 4305 Email: enquiries@harrispeckham.org.uk www.harrispeckham.org.uk