Science Monkey’s Taking Off!
Communications Faculty News World Book Day
Sports News All the news from our Sports Days
Newsletter • Issue 8 • Autumn 2009
Excellent Start to our New Academic Year The news of our remarkable GCSE results this summer was an excellent start to the new academic year. The results of 95% 5+ A*– C GCSEs and 48% 5+ A*– C including Mathematics and English confirm the Ofsted Inspectors’ judgement that this is an ‘Outstanding’ Academy and demonstrates the hard work and effort of our students and staff. The return to school was quickly followed by our Open Evening for prospective parents for September 2010 when approximately 1200 people toured the Academy during the evening. Many comments were received praising the attitude and helpfulness of our student representatives. We are now busily planning our Post 16 Opening Evening on 22nd October. We shall shortly be appointing our newly-elected Parent Governor and I will let you have further details regarding the Governing Body in the next Newsletter. I hope to see many of you at events organised to support our EPRA (Engaging Parents in Raising Achievement) work. If you are interested in joining this group please contact Mr. Ridge, Faculty Director, via the Academy switchboard number of 020 8623 1000. I trust you will enjoy reading this edition of our newsletter which highlights some of the activities which took place during the summer term and we look forward to many new and exciting events happening in this year. Best wishes.
Mr A Halpin, Principal
www.harrismerton.org.uk
Cashless Catering The easiest way for parents/ carers to add credit directly to student accounts is by cheque. These can be sent by post, for the attention of Mrs Shayle, Administration Manager – or brought to Student Reception. Please make cheques payable to ‘Sodexo’ – NOT Harris Academy Merton. Cash can also be added directly by the students when they use the cash loader, but if you would prefer your child not to have cash on them, please send them in with a cheque. The daily limit for students to be able to spend in the dining area is £4. If you would like this amount increased or decreased for your child, please write to Mrs Shayle. A report detailing your child’s purchases in the dining facility will be sent home termly with the student profiles.
Student Referral Centre
Enterprise & Sport Faculty News Communications Faculty News Science & Maths Faculty News Humanities Faculty News
Enterprise & Sport Faculty News
The ‘TOPS’ Conference The Tops Conference event held at Harris Academy Merton was a way to try and encourage younger students to run sporting events at their own schools and give them the knowledge they need to begin planning and running their events. For us sixth formers, the process started a week before the event, where we did a whole day’s training, including a briefing in the morning and a run through of our main practical event in the afternoon. As part of our training, each group taught a Year 8 PE class to prepare for the practical section of the Tops event. On the day of the conference, the sixth formers were in early to prepare for the day. The conference opened with a talk by Mr Halpin and then we began our sessions. We spent the first forty-five minutes doing sportsrelated activities and quizzes to get them talking to one another and prepared for the afternoon sports. After the break, we worked through a practical session that focussed on getting the students to teach their own sporting sessions. Between the sixth formers, we’d split into pairs and we each taught one game to our half of the group and ran through it with the students. Then we gave both halves a card with the
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rules, procedures and tips on a different game, adapted from a different sport (e.g. Table Tennis – King of the Court). It was then up to the students to learn how to play among themselves. They split into two groups again, one half matched with half of my partner’s team, where they then had to teach each other their sports. The day ended with a relay session to get the students thinking about what they learned and then a meeting with their teachers to discuss how they could use what they’d learned in their own schools, for their own events. The day was a big success and the feedback from students taking part was extremely positive. Ricky Compton, Year 13
The Student Referral Centre (SRC) opened in February 2009. The centre has a dual purpose and provides both an alternative sanction to fixedterm exclusion and behaviour support for all Academy students. The centre is run by Julie Anne Harris, Behaviour Support Manager, assisted by Emma Windess, Behaviour Support Assistant. Students referred to the SRC for isolation purposes attend the Academy between the hours of 9.00am – 3.15pm, with an alternative lunch break to the main school. Upon arrival at the SRC they are allocated an individual study booth where they work in silence for the duration of their stay. Students initially complete a workbook relevant to the incident for which they have been referred, to enable them to think through their behaviour prior to completing purposeful work supplied by their subject teachers. During their stay all students receive an individual 1:1 support and advice session which highlights any issues for which ongoing support is required. Following this students are placed on a suitable support programme which may include weekly 1:1 support sessions, participation on a behaviour course or attendance on a mentoring programme.
At the start of September the centre extended the behaviour support services that it offers, with the introduction of three in-house behaviour courses (Anger Management, Self-Esteem and Communication & Team Work) facilitated by Miss Harris. In addition to these there is a Boxing Mentoring Programme managed by Miss Harris and delivered by two WBA coaches, focussing on supporting students with anger management, self-esteem or fitness issues. Other services provided include mediation and group support sessions. In November peer mentoring will be introduced and January 2010 will see the introduction of peer mediation and group support sessions with peer mentors. HAM is proud to be the only school in the London Borough of Merton to provide this type of provision and level of support for all of its students. Miss J A Harris, Behaviour Support Manager
Since opening, the SRC has been received very well by students and staff and has proved to be very successful, with the vast majority of students that have spent time in the centre showing an improvement in their behaviour. Negative incidents involving these students have fallen by 57%, and positive events have risen by 25%.
National Schools Sport Week: 29th June – 3rd July
HAM Sports Day All students from Years 7 to 10 participated in the Harris Academy InterFaculty Sports day on the 30th June 2009; where students came to school in their Harris sports kit ready to compete or cheer their Faculty to success. During the previous week the Field event competitions had taken place, events included the shot putt, javelin, discus, long jump and high jump. The results of the field events found the yellow Faculty going into the track competition with a clear lead. On the afternoon of the 30th June all staff and students assembled on the field for the track competition. Races included 100m hurdles, 100m, 200m, 300m, 400m, 800m and relay races which included an elite level staff relay race which was enjoyed by all and won by the yellow Faculty. The afternoon was full of some truly fantastic performances that resulted in many new Harris Academy records being broken. Students from the four Faculties supported their athletes with banners and Faculty chants and family members of the competitors enjoyed the exhilarating atmosphere of friendly competition. The competition ended with a very professional performance from the Harris Angels Cheerleading squad. The final results were as follows: Position
Girls points
Boys points
Total points
1st – Blue
116
108
224
2nd – Yellow
100
115
215
3rd – Green
105
106
211
4th – Red
85
92
177
National Schools Sport Week celebrates the sporting achievements of students and leaders. It took place from 29th June to 3rd July 2009. During this week the whole Academy took part in various activities in all lessons which had a sporting theme. In P.E. lessons students ran a mile for the charity ‘Get Kids Going’, which is a charity organised to help disabled young children participate in sports. Each year group took part in sporting activities which were held each afternoon of that week. Coaches were organised to deliver, boxing, golf, American football, street dance, martial arts and cricket. The students had a very positive experience of these new activities and it was a very successful week. Ms R Evans, Head of PE
www.harrismerton.org.uk
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Enterprise & Sport Faculty News
Harris Federation Sports Day July 9th 2009
The second annual Harris Federation Sports Day was held on Thursday 9th July at Crystal Palace National Sports Stadium. The event was a big success, with over 200 athletes from Years 7–10 competing in track and field events, watched by a crowd of over 4000 staff and students from the seven Academies. Also present were Lord Harris, and the governors from the Federation’s Academies. The standard of competition was excellent, and all events were fiercely competitive. Few of the athletes competing would have performed before in such an impressive stadium, with such a vocal crowd behind them. The support the athletes received from the enterprising spectators was excellent, and helped make the day a great Federation event.
‘Harris Angels’ cheer-leading group
All athletes coming 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, in their events were awarded gold, silver, and bronze medals respectively, with some students proudly wearing 3 medals by the end of the day! In addition to the individual events, the following Academies also received trophies: Winning Boys Team
Crystal Palace
Winning Girls Team
Crystal Palace
Best Year 7 Athlete
Donneli Davids (Merton)
Best Year 8 Athlete
Vincent Niemo (Crystal Palace)
Best Year 9 Athlete
Aley Collins (Peckham)
Winning staff relay team
Girls East Dulwich
There were several outstanding performances on the day in many different events, with several students showing they have a bright sporting career ahead of them. Also watching and presenting medals was Mark Richardson, former Great Britain Olympic-Medal Winning 400m runner. The enthusiastic crowd were delighted to see him and he was quick to compliment the students on their achievements. The day achieved its aims of show-casing the sporting talent we have across the Federation, whilst bringing together the young people and staff from the seven Harris Academies. A special mention must go to Donneli Davids, who won both the ‘Best Year 7 Athlete’ and ‘Outstanding Harris Athlete’ awards, for his excellent performance in winning all three of his events: 100m, long jump, and 4 x 100m relay. A superb achievement – well done Donneli! Many thanks must go to the fantastic P.E. department for organising such an excellent, enjoyable event. Mr G Morrison, Faculty Director, Enterprise & Sport
Outstanding Harris Athlete Donnel Davids (Merton) Donneli Davids – ‘Best Year 7 Athlete’ & ‘Harris Outstanding Athlete’ receives his shield from Lady Harris and Mark Richardson, former Olympic Athlete.
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Student Aspirations Event In May, four students attended a student aspirations residential trip, run by the Youth Sports Trust, in Lincolnshire.
new faces to accomplish our goals because achievement is success.’ Monique Reid Year 11 ‘When we returned home from the trip, we immediately tried to pass on the skills that we had learnt to our friends and other students, which under closer inspection , we realised were very similar to those at the Academy as we learnt to do the best we can in order to achieve success. The trip showed us not to sit in the corner but to show off our ideas and not to be afraid to speak up.’ Joseph Lindsay, Year 11
‘Before we went on the trip we thought that all we would be doing is work and we wouldn’t get along with other people. When we got there, however, all of us were very excited when we found out what was in store. The activities that we took part in included high ropes, raft building and Jacob’s ladder. All of the activities allowed us to work with students from other schools and improve our teamwork skills. Athlete mentors were assigned to each group to help inspire and encourage us to succeed.’ Alhassan Fofannah, Year 11 ‘Inspire to Aspire was the aim of our 3 day trip. During the time we spent there we used many leadership and enterprising skills. The key skills, however, were communication, courage and compassion. By using these skills we took risks and communicated with
The following poem summarises our experiences:
‘In the future, we aim to inspire other young people to do the same as us and become more interested in sport and leadership. We want to inspire them to achieve and fulfil their full potential. This may be by becoming young sports leaders as well. Following the trip, we helped organise a Year 3 multi skills festival. Our job was to make sure the event ran smoothly, and motivate the young children. We had to apply the skills we learnt on the trip and lead our peers and encourage young children to take part and get involved.’ Cecilia Tran, Year 11
‘Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates other.’
‘We believe that if we can show other people in our Academy the leadership skills we learnt then we as an Academy can show other schools in the borough and as a borough we could and should be able to show the whole of South London.’ Joseph Lindsay, Year 11
Borough Sports 2009 On Tuesday 5th May, Harris Academy Merton took part in the Merton Borough Athletics Competition. Throughout the day students, ranging from Years 7 to 11, participated in various athletic events competing against all the schools in the borough. There were some excellent performances, in particular from Melissa Mendez (100m), Donnell Davids (100m/200m), Cavell Poleon (800m), Jiffa Hawkins (Long Jump) and Omar Clarke (100m/200m). The U15 girls (Years 8/9) team also did very well finishing in 1st place in the relay event.
It was a successful day for Harris Academy Merton. The overall results were as follows: • Year 7 Boys – 2nd • Year 7 Girls – 3rd • Junior Team Boys (Year 8/9) – 3rd • Junior Team Girls (Year 8/9) – 3rd • Intermediate Team Boys (Year 10/11) – 3rd • Intermediate Team Girls (Year 10/11) – 3rd With such excellent results we went on to win the Mixed School Trophy.
event the opportunity to represent the Merton Borough team at the Surrey Athletics Competition on 13th June 2009. We were successful enough to have 8 students selected for this event. The students behaved and performed extremely well and were a credit to themselves and the Academy. Ms R Evans, Head of PE
This also gave those students who performed particularly well (either 1st or 2nd) in their
www.harrismerton.org.uk
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Enterprise & Sport Faculty News
Business Enterprise Day On Monday 16th March at Selhurst Park Football Stadium, we had our annual Year 12 Enterprise Day. The day began at 8.30am and the main focus of the day was to develop ideas that could be used to potentially promote awareness of the Harris Federation, Post-16. The day involved 350 students from across the three Harris Academy sites – Crystal Palace, South Norwood and Merton. The 350 students were divided into seven groups of 50 which were then again split into 10 groups of 5. These groups were all mixed up so students didn’t find themselves with friends and people they already knew. Within these small groups, each individual was assigned a specific role chosen by the team leaders. As a group they had to create the most enterprising ideas about how to raise awareness of the Federation and how they can help the community. Only the most enterprising team could succeed and be put forward in front of the student CEO panel. It was then the decision of the judges to decide the top three finalists out of the entire 350 students that participated, competing for top spot! The student CEOs were chosen because they participated in the previous Business Dynamics Day earlier in the year and were very successful. The guest speakers were from ‘Young-biz’, an organisation that joined the Federation on this eventful day; they helped by sharing their knowledge and teaching students about business and giving them a greater understanding of how it works. Young-biz helped to develop the skills of the Federation students and also gave them fun exercises to
boost their motivation and the ability to work as part of a team, essentially providing them with enterprising skills that they may get a chance to use during their education and their future careers. Each group had to produce a presentation on A3, it had to include a team name, team logo, slogan and an over-view of their idea, this required good team work skills as they didn’t necessarily know who they were working with and could have perhaps met them for the first time. The Student CEOs spent the morning moving between the groups getting a feel for some of the ideas and group attitudes. They were unable to help but could answer any queries about the day. The presentations had to be finalised by 2.00pm where the best seven were put in front of the judges. In deciding the final three, the panel of six judges were given 10 minutes to choose the most enterprising ideas that would help raise the awareness of the Federation and help them to become one with the community. The panel noted down their own personal best three and then compared them with the other five judges. A verdict was reached when all six judges agreed on a particular three. These three groups went forward on Monday 23rd March to present in front of the Principals from Harris Crystal Palace, Harris South Norwood and Harris Merton to decide the best group. The Federation are going to turn some of the most enterprising ideas into reality. Mr K Penney, Post 16 Co-ordinator
Leading the Way – Young Sports Leaders Harris Academy Merton students and the Merton School Sport Partnership (SSP) have put a lot of effort into developing young sports leaders over the last year. Merton SSP has developed a number of links with local primary schools and used our young leaders to support their lunchtime and after school sporting provision. Two of the Post 16 students from Harris have been working with the SSP as part of their BTEC work placements since October 2008. Schmarrah and Jack from, Year 13, spend the morning at Gorringe Park Primary School supporting the coaches and then make their way to The Sherwood Primary School for a lunchtime session. The basketball activities that they deliver have been so well received by the school that as a direct result the behaviour
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in the playground is much improved. Not only are the boys developing valuable skills that will be of great benefit to them in future employment but they are brilliant role models for all the young students they work with. Vishal is another Post 16 student at Harris Academy and a level one cricket coach. His recent offer to help select a team for primary cluster competitions has turned into regular coaching at an after school club. The staff and students really enjoyed the sessions that Vishal delivered and as a result got through to the borough finals of the Kwik Cricket competition. Merton SSP is really looking forward to working with the new Post 16 students this year. Schmarrah Boothe, Year 12
Schmarrah
Holiday Sports Programme Over the summer holidays Harris Academy Merton ran a 5 week multi-sports programme for children aged 5–14 years. The camp, run by Harris staff, was extremely successful with many children from various schools attending the camp. It gave them the opportunity to play a variety of different sports everyday, including: tennis, hockey, basketball, football, cricket, dodgeball, table tennis, badminton, golf and many more.
October Half Term During the October half term, we will be running another multi-sports camp, for all children aged 5–14 years. For more information on this camp please visit www.harrismerton.org.uk or alternatively call 020 8623 1031. Ms Dent, Sports Development Officer
Federation Softball
Harris Academy Merton hosted the first ever Harris Federation Softball Tournament on 17th June in which representatives from all Harris Federation South London Schools attended. Students from the Academies were mixed up into various teams, affording students from all Harris Academies the chance to get to know other students in the Federation. Each team played two pool games and a final game, during which some great skills and sportsmanship were on display. Thanks to all staff and students who attended and made the day such a success.
On the Move The first cohort of Harris Academy Merton students applying for university places is now in full flow. As part of this process the students attended a Higher Education Convention at Surrey University bringing back many prospectuses and ideas of what and where to study. They attended a Federation “Moving On” Evening at Harris South Norwood where they attended talks with their parents on Applying to University, Finance, Taking a Gap year. During the Summer term the students have researched the UCAS Website for courses and institutions and many have attended University Open Days to get a feel of university life. Finally they are now busy using the UCAS Apply website filling in their online application forms before submitting them to their chosen institutions. Following this we hope they will get the offer of places at university for course starting in September 2010. The Academy wishes them well in this process. Mr K Penney, Post 16 Co-ordinator
Mr K Duffy, Teacher i/c Softball
www.harrismerton.org.uk
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Communications Faculty News
Summer PEA & English Area
News
BTEC Media BBC & IMAX trip Year 10 BTEC Media students got to grips with the Media Industry in the spring term as they submerged themselves in the latest 3D technology, along with checking out the inner-working of an International Media Institute. A group of 40 students had the chance to nose around the BBC, with an impressive tour of the White City facilities. After a general talk and some gossip exchanged, (did you know Mariah Carey demanded puppies when she visited!?) and a tour around the different studios and areas, students took on the roles of presenters and contestants for some quick-fire quiz questions.
BTEC Romeo and Juliet Theatre Trip PAGE 8
Shermine Grigorius volunteered her services as a fantastic news anchor, “I liked going around the BBC studios as it was somewhere I hadn’t had the opportunity to visit before. I was able to play the role of a news presenter, which was great fun”. Staff at both HAM and the BBC commented on the excellent behaviour of all students and their mature attitude outside the Academy – well done to all involved! Ms C Robson, Teacher of English and Media
During the Spring term we were invited to take some students to see a production of Romeo and Juliet at Wimbledon Theatre, which was created and performed by students from the BRITs school. The students were sixth form students and not much older than the Year 10 and 11 students who we took to watch the production. Year 10s were studying the play for part of their GCSE coursework and found it very helpful to see the play in action with a modern take on it. Year 11 students were using themes from Shakespeare plays in Performing Arts to
create their own piece of theatre in Drama and it was interesting for them to see how the performers had modernised the play without losing the language. The trip was a great success and the students really enjoyed seeing performers who were so close to their own ages; it really gave them something to aspire to! Ms V Bradley, Teacher of Drama
Dance Empowerment Day
Little Shop of Horrors On Thursday 27th February 30 lucky Key Stage 3 students were given the opportunity to go to Wimbledon Theatre. The Theatre’s Education Officer gave us free tickets to encourage more under 16 year olds to experience the performing arts. For many of them it was the first time that they had been to a musical. The show was enjoyed thoroughly by all and this is what the students had to say about it: “I thought it was enjoyable, interesting and it made me laugh! I think that we should have more trips to musicals in the future.” Taiyba Mehmood (B7B) “It was funny when the flower started singing because flowers don’t usually sing. My favourite part was when the dentist couldn’t get the mask off of his face!” Delayne Pryce (Y7A)
‘On the 12th February, myself and other girls from Years 8, 9, 10 took part in an empowerment day. It was very exciting; we did lots of fun things and had a great experience. During the day, we took part in a variety of hip hop dance workshops and learnt how to pop and lock. Firstly, we learnt lots of different moves including the Romeo twists, robot arms and bobbing. Then, we all had a dance off. We divided into two teams and watched each other dance.
Ms H Wilson, Co-ordinator of Performing & Expressive Arts
After a short break, a woman called Michelle Brown spoke to us. She told us about her life and how she became a fantastic basketball player. She also told us about growing up with her son and the difficulties she faced as well as the benefits and all her accomplishments. We also had the chance to meet a professional Thai boxer. Once again she told us about herself, showed a video of her fighting and then we had a question and answer session with her. After the talking we all tried a bit of Thai boxing ourselves. It was really good. She showed us some of the moves and the dodges and everyone had fun. We then got into teams and had a jabbing match which was great too. During our lunch break, the teachers brought out some dance mats and we all had plenty of fun using them including the teachers. We all had a really good day and learned a lot about women in sport. We would love to do it again if we had the chance.’ Sam Jeffreys, R1
Hip Hop Dance Trip
On the 5th March, students who are studying or are interested in dance were given the opportunity to go to the theatre to see a hip hop production by Boy Blue Entertainment called ‘The Pied Piper’. For many of them it was the first time they had seen a piece of professional dance and for those students undertaking the BTEC Performing Arts course it gave them the chance to observe performance skills which they could then transfer to their own work. Here is what the students had to say about it:
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‘It was a great experience, we learnt a lot of new moves and it allowed us to compare it to our own dances and adapt to the dance style. We noticed what made their dance so perfect and we are now using those techniques to improve our own pieces.’ Nikita Thain and Giovanna Machado (R1) ‘The cast were wonderful and I felt like I was up there on stage. The whole performance just made my day.’ Erin Goddard, Year 11 Miss R Goodman, Teacher of Dance
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Communications Faculty News
World Book Day Author Signing with Emmanuel Jal, ‘War Child’
Bookmark Competition
As a child in war-torn Sudan, Emmanuel Jal was ripped from his family and given a gun. The AK47 was taller than him. For years he was a child soldier, denied education and family, with no means of escape. His saviour came, when he was 13, in the form of an aid worker who rescued him from his life of violence and terror. He was then able to enrol in school. Since then, Jal has gone on to become a renowned hip hop artist, performing with the likes of U2, Coldplay and Wyclef Jean. ‘War Child’ is his story and his attempt to let the world know of the dire suffering of a forgotten country.
World Book Day is celebrated every year on 5th March. It is an international event to promote reading and for young people to share their love of books. To link in with our trips for World Book Day, we chose the theme of war and conflict this year. During tutor periods, students learned about key books that have been written over the years that have war and conflict at their centre. These varied from ‘A Long Walk to Freedom’ by Nelson Mandela to the 8th century epic poem Beowulf.
On World Book Day, 5th March, 20 Year 9 students were lucky enough to go to Ursuline High School to see Emmanuel Jal talk about his experiences and read from his book. A rare treat indeed as Jal is now used to wowing audiences as massive as the crowd at Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday party.
• Runners up: Casey Kusella-Gussin and Taylor Devenport
In addition, students were invited to enter a competition to create their own bookmark on the theme of war and conflict. I’m pleased to announce that the winners were: • 1st place: Shaquille Henry
Each received a prize and certificate in assembly. Here is the winning design:
Jal was charismatic and down to earth as he talked about his story. The Year 9s were inspired and awe-struck, particularly when he invited some keen musicians in the audience onto the stage. Unfortunately time ran out before Jal himself could perform. Nevertheless, he left the students both stunned and impressed. Ms K Smith, Head of English
Ms K Smith, Head of English
Boy in the Striped Pyjamas Cinema Trip In March to commemorate International Holocaust Day, Key Stage 3 students who are gifted and talented in History and English, were invited to a private viewing of a new film. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is an adaptation of the novel by John Boyne. Set during World War II, the story is seen through the innocent eyes of Bruno, the eight-year-old son of the commandant at a concentration camp, whose forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence has startling and unexpected consequences. The film is thought-provoking and hard hitting which led to an interesting debate with the film production team after the screening. If you would like to read the book, see Ms Walker or Ms Weir in the Learning Resource Centre. Ms H Wilson, Co-ordinator Performing & Expressive Arts
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Globe Theatre Players Visit As the actors and actresses stormed in, the students’ imaginations were captured, leaving them with an enriching and fulfilling experience. On March 11th, as has become an annual event, the Globe Theatre Players honoured us with two memorable and indeed stimulating performances. The first performance was dedicated to our extremely well behaved and ever enthusiastic Year 7 students who have been studying Shakespeare and his times. They were also able to see a ‘tiny slice of authenticity’ through a selection of scenes of the most important and precious plays of all times. From Macbeth’s tragic but ‘heroic actions’ to Romeo and Juliet’s tragic but spell-binding love story to Richard III, the insane King of England…the list is endless. It was a step back in time; a journey where Year 7 students had a chance to understand why Shakespeare still remains our greatest entertainer and perhaps our most profound thinker, a man who had a remarkable knowledge of human behaviour which he was able to communicate through his portrayal of a wide variety of characters. In contrast, the Year 9 performance was all about their studied text The Tempest; this was also a compelling production which examined the play’s main themes through the enactment of the key scenes. The actors brought to life the setting, the language, the characters and their motivation. A shipwreck awoke the stage and introduced us to Prospero the sometimes evil, sometimes kind Duke, Miranda, his naive and innocent daughter, Ferdinand the young lad who steals Miranda’s heart, then last but definitely not least, the monster, Sycorax’s son Caliban. The production gave the students the opportunity to step back in time, gain knowledge about Shakespeare, his use of language, his theatre, his history, but most of all, about themselves as individuals who love and hate sometimes, just like Shakespeare’s generation did. Ms K Gresz, Teacher of English
BTEC Singing Workshop In the morning, the students worked as one group and sang songs with harmonies from a number of cultures and in different languages. They enjoyed learning about the meaning behind some of these songs, and all the students subsequently performed Si Njay, Njay, Njay, which is a traditional Zulu greeting song, at the recent Showcase. In the afternoon, Soo worked with the students individually to discuss the songs they would be singing for their assessments and how best to improve their vocal interpretation of these songs. The students were extremely grateful for Soo’s help, which made a real difference when they performed in front of an audience during their assessments. “Soo gave me tips on making eye contact with my singing partner and making sure we were supporting each other on stage. It made the audience focus on us when we were performing and made our song energetic and vibrant.” On 12th March the Year 10 Performing Arts students attended a singing workshop run by Soo Bishop from Merton Music Foundation. The workshop was designed to help the students improve their vocal ability and improve their performances ready for their assessments.
Tavisen Chetty, Year 10. Mr R Elkington, Teacher in Charge of Music and Performing Arts
www.harrismerton.org.uk
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Communications Faculty News
BBC News Report 2009 – Harris Academy Merton makes the news with help from the professionals Last March, 20 students from Harris Academy Merton joined up with around 500 schools across the UK making the news. The students took part in BBC News School Report, a BBC project to engage 11-14 year olds in the news. Ex-teacher and BBC News presenter, Huw Edwards, lent his support to the project. He said: “I’m involved because I want to give young people the chance to make the news themselves, and I want to share the principles of good journalism.” The students in Year 9 English and Year 12 Media had been working hard, training to be top journalists, carrying out interviews and producing reports. Christina Robson, Teacher of English and Media said at the time: “The students have been learning about the way in which news is put together and presented, they’ve dedicated time outside of school to train in journalism and are really geared up for the day.” On the day at 2.00pm the students broadcast their news, covering the stories of the day as well as their special report on the Academy’s specialisms in Sports and Enterprise.
Gregg Morrison, Director of Specialisms: “The students have developed their leadership, and team-work skills which are important in Media, Enterprise & Sport. They have shown a great ‘can-do’ attitude and have been a credit to the Academy”. Harry Gunn, Year 9 student commented during the build-up: ‘It’s been great fun so far. I am looking forward to missing lessons for a day and learning how to film and be a camera man instead. Our report is on sports and we will be interviewing Mr Barnett, the Co-ordinator of PE about our Year 7 rugby team winning a regional tournament.’ Chris Wright, Year 12 student also said at the time: “I applied to be a 6th form mentor for this project because it will be a challenge which I am willing to overcome. It will also look good on my CV. Plus I am a natural!” You can find more reports from School Reporters on the BBC website: www.bbc.co.uk/schoolreport Ms C Robson, Teacher of English and Media
BTEC Performing Arts Showcase On March 31st the Year 10 & 11 BTEC Performing Arts students produced an evening performance showcasing their work in the disciplines of dance, drama and singing developed this year on their course. Performing on the main stage the students had a large audience of friends and family who attended to support them. For a first nerve-racking performance to a live, formal audience, the students did very well. The performing arts department would like to thank all of the students for their enthusiasm and commitment in preparing for the event and look forward to future performances. The cast would like to say a big thank you to the staff that supported the event by giving up their time on the night. “It was an experience that I enjoyed because it gave me the confidence to do better in my performances on the course. It gave us a goal to work towards and achieve. If I do the Level 3 BTEC course next year I will be more prepared”. Terry Paul, Year 11. Ms H Wilson, Co-ordinator Performing & Expressive Arts
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Jack Petchey ‘Speak Out’ Challenge Circus Skills Workshop and Le Grand Cirque trip Congratulations to Asha Nuur and Courtney Howard in Year 10, who recently took part in the regional finals of the Jack Petchey ‘Speak Out’ Challenge. After successfully showing off their skills at a Year 10 HAM workshop, they were invited to the event at Rutlish School, Wimbledon. They proved that Harris students are made of ‘strong stuff’, by delivering excellent speeches on a topic of their choice to a huge crowd, including the Mayor of Merton, journalists and students from 6 different schools. The nationwide competition encourages students to speak out on issues affecting their lives and topics they are passionate about. The girls handled their nerves really well and were commended on their efforts by the organisers. They were each awarded a framed certificate for their participation, and will get the chance to help next year’s finalists, when HAM will compete again for the £5000 prize money! For more information on the scheme, or to see the winning speeches, go to: www.speakoutchallenge.com. Ms C Robson, Teacher of English and Media
In light of the Year 9 students studying Performing Arts in September, we decided to give them the opportunity to put their skills into practice in a circus skills workshop. The workshop, lead by a member of the international company ‘Le Grand Cirque’, gave them an insight into the world of clowning allowing students to spend the morning literally ‘clowning around’. The workshop started with the battle of the brave where selected students were asked to act out their affection for one another in front of the rest of the group. Those that took on the challenge did themselves proud and proved themselves as worthy performing artists. Students were then asked to create their own scenario to perform to the rest of the group, at the end of the workshop. All students thought it was a worthwhile experience as it gave them an insight into the Performing Arts course they will be studying next academic year. Following the workshop, the same cohort was invited to Wimbledon Theatre to see ‘Le Grand Cirque’. Seen by millions of people around the world, ‘Le Grand Cirque’ is a visual feast of acrobatics, contortionists and soaring aerial performers. The show opens with a man in a top hat, white tie and tails who links all the acts together and dabbles in audience participation which had the students in fits of laughter. Everyone was impressed by the Chinese artist’s talents and an enjoyable evening was had by all. Miss R Goodman, Teacher of Dance
Film Production Workshop This summer we were approached by an aspiring film script writer to be involved in audience research for a new UK film, ‘Shank’. Paul Carter and some of his production team came in to work with Chris Wright, Patrick Miller, Tavisen Chetty, Aamir Nadeem and Rheanne Murray who all study either BTEC Performing Arts and/or Media. The film, to be distributed by Revolver Productions, who also financed the popular ‘Kidulthood’ will explore the issues affecting students growing up on the streets of London. The three hour session was highly productive and provided a rich discussion about social issues. The students advised Paul on the characterisation, setting and language of
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the film and impressed him so much that they have now been invited to be auditioned by the casting agent with the possibility of being extras in the film. This is what Chris Wright, a Post 16 student had to say: “The session was really enjoyable as I am an AS Drama student and BTEC Level 3 Media student, it gave me the opportunity to give my opinions across to make the film a success. It was a privilege to be approached and be asked by Paul Carter to help with the scripting and also to be an extra in the film, which I have accepted – you can see me in action next year, so look out!” Ms H Wilson, Co-ordinator Performing and Expressive Arts
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Communications Faculty News
Federation Enterprise Technology Day On Tuesday 12th May 2009, 15 Year 9 students took part in a Harris Federation Event, ‘Enterprise through Technology Day’. The 15 enterprising minds from Harris Academy Merton were to meet up with Year 9 students from Harris Academy South Norwood and Harris Academy Falconwood. The focus of the day was for students to produce and present business plans for their own electronic waste recycling companies. To the students’ very own surprise the teams were mixed so that the Year 9s from Merton worked in small teams with students from other schools. This was a really good idea as the students had to get to know each other and find out each other’s strengths in a short amount of time. Students had to call upon their teamwork, communication and presentation skills. The winning team were ‘Kettle Katchers’ which included Sophie Conway and Samuel Soetan-Williams from Harris Academy Merton. The team won with their creative presentation based around the adventures of ‘Kettle Man!’ They created a concept for recycling kettles, a slogan, a logo, an advertising strategy, a budget and a song! A special mention should also go to Samantha Jefferys who got individual recognition for her speaking and acting skills during her teams presentation, and Simone Smith and James McLean-Benjamin for their sketching and graphic ideas. Well done to all students involved. Miss L O’Connell, Teacher of Design & Technology and Art
Wimbledon Theatre
Showcase On June 8th two groups of students from the Academy were invited to perform on stage at the New Wimbledon Theatre. The event was a showcase of the performing arts from local Merton schools; we performed alongside students from: Bishopsford, Ursuline, Raynes Park, St Ann’s, St Mark’s and Ricards Lodge. The two drama performances were Key Stage 3 Drama Club’s devised piece called ‘Crash’, which they have put together for the Merton TFL Drama Competition later this month, and the Year 10 BTEC Performing Arts students’ devised piece called ‘Mysterious Ghetto’. Our performances were supported by parents of the performers and students who have opted to study BTEC Performing Arts next year. Both pieces were well received by the audience. Drama Club combated their nerves as this was their first public performance, whilst the BTEC students worked the crowd and entertained everyone with their witty one-liners! Congratulations to all of the students who represented the Academy for their professional and committed approach to the event. A massive thank you also goes to Miss Bradley for the time she has put in preparing students. Ms H Wilson, Co-ordinator Performing and Expressive Arts
Media Industry Interviews In the summer term, 6th Form media students focused on life and careers in the TV industry. Whilst working in production teams to plan, script, film and edit their own chat shows they had the chance to meet and interview two media professionals. Sarah Boyce is a Production Manager on the National Lottery and Matt Ellis was Shooting Assistant Producer on Crime Watch UK. This is what Kadeem Mendez Jones, a Post 16 student had to say: “Meeting these people helped us to get a bigger understanding on what the actual media world is like. They told us about their career highs and about their lows, sharing their experiences with us which I felt gave us insight into what it is really like. When sharing their experiences with us they let us know how they got to where they are and that it will take a lot of hard work and dedication to be successful in the media”. Ms H Wilson, Co-ordinator Performing and Expressive Arts
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HAM’s Got Talent! ‘09 This year’s Academy talent show was held in June. The inter-faculty format was dropped in favour of open entry which encouraged more students to enter with their friends. Following a heavy audition process with nearly 30 acts entering, 13 variety groups were selected to perform at the semi finals. Acts ranged from street dance to beat-boxing, musical theatre to cheer dancing, performance poetry to samba drums.
Cross Federation
Talent Tour Our winner and 2 runners up represented Harris Academy Merton in the inter-academy competition on the evening of July 11th. Competing against another 18 first class acts the competition was strong. The audience voted Gabriella through to the second round where she performed her second song choice. To the joy and the pride of the Merton students, parents and staff who had come to support the acts, she was then crowned the winner!
This year’s judges were the Principal, Mr Halpin, the Communications Faculty Governor, Ms Saunders and ex-head girl, Maria Kolandawel who currently attends the Brit School as a performing arts student. The competition overall was tight with impressive and professional performances from all of the competitors – the audience and the staff supporting the event were split over their own favourites.
It is official! HAM has got talent and Gabi has got it in abundance! Here’s to another strong competition for next year… Ms H Wilson, Co-ordinator Performing and Expressive Arts
These are the overall results:
Runners Up
The Winner
The Harris Angels: Chloe Walker, Sophie Conway, Leonie Stringer, Michele Sebele, Rhiann Campbell, Shandeyce Eubank-Mitchell, Paige Crone, Jiffa Hawkins, Rachel Koranteng, Demisha Donkor, Amber Scott-Mills, Bana Hamed, Cecilia Tran, Jade Shaw
This year’s winner of the HAM’s Got Talent shield and £100 cheque was Gabriella Santacroce. Her solo performance of Beyonce’s version of ‘Ave Maria’ was a clear favourite for the judges and the audience. As part of her prize she also received a one hour singing workshop with Kelle Bryan, formerly of Eternal. Kelle was very impressed with Gabi’s maturity, commitment and clear talent and said she would be excited to see her “auditioning for national competitions in the next few years!”. Gabi found the session very “helpful” and enjoyed working with, and getting tips from, a seasoned professional.
The Samba band: Shemar Stephenson, Duquarne Edwards, Omar Gofur, Adam Bernardo, Mohamed Ahmed, Elijah Bowen, Terry Dadzie, Adrian Scantlebury (& Mr Wilmot!)
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Communications Faculty News
National Schools
Sports Week
The Performing and Expressive Arts department was very pleased to help out with the National School Sports Week and we had a number of different activities running throughout the week. In Drama, the students spent the lesson discussing which sports and enterprise skills they used while they were performing, for example using creativity, working as a team and using movement when performing. The students enjoyed this as they hadn’t really been aware of the important links between Sport, Enterprise and Performing Arts. In Media, a group of Year 10 students worked with Ms Robson to put together a radio show covering all the events during Sports Day. The students had different roles, for example some were researchers, while other students were presenters and producers. They conducted interviews with staff members and the athletes who competed in and won their races at Sports Day. At the end of the day, the students then spent time editing all their interviews and reports, and finally finished an exhausting day having created their very own radio show!
In Dance, a group of cheerleaders choreographed a routine, with the help of Ms Goodman, which was performed to the audience at Sports Day. The cheerleaders were so popular that they then performed for the staff at their morning briefing and also made it to the final of the Federation Talent Show. In Music, the Year 8 students were put in groups with the task of composing and recording their own sports song. They listened to some existing sports songs for ideas and then spent four weeks during their music lessons writing lyrics and performing their songs. The eventual winner was Matthew Gavin, who composed a song to support the Yellow Faculty at Sports Day. Mr R Elkington, Teacher in Charge of Music Performing Arts
Synergy Radio Workshop Twenty-five top set Year 10 students were rewarded for their fantastic results this year in a summer Radio Workshop provided by Synergy Radio. Using professional, industrystandard equipment they were challenged to devise and record a short radio show based on the events during National School Sports Week.
Enterprise and Performing Arts Workshop at Harris Peckham
“Working on the radio programme was very intriguing and different, as well as informative. I think this would be a great experience for more students at our Academy to try.” – Cheyenne Li-A-Sing, Year 10
In the summer term, Year 9 students who have opted for BTEC Performing Arts next year (Hadine Hibbert, Jade Shaw, Rachel Agyekum, Lili Russell and Andrea Magbutu Safi) spent a day working with other creative students from across the federation. The workshop was launched through presentations from members of the BBC who discussed working for the organisation, before the students were split into mixed groups – their brief was to create and act out a news report based on a particular story. They each had a different role to play including presenter and producer. Once they had researched their story and devised a script, their news report was performed in front of an audience and filmed.
Several students showed a real talent on the microphone, whilst others found a new confidence in interviewing people. Despite a few debates over the choice of music (Michael Jackson tributes aside) the students worked really well together to create an 11 minute show featuring music, news and information. The Academy hopes that the success of the radio workshop can be replicated in other subjects – watch this space!
All of the girls thoroughly enjoyed the experience of meeting students from different academies and sharing creative ideas. Each of them took an active role in the news presentation and received a well-deserved certificate at the end of the session. Hopefully we will see the girls using their new found skills in the course next year!
Ms C Robson, Teacher of English and Media
Miss R Goodman, Teacher of Dance
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TFL Drama Competition On June 10th the Drama club took part in a performance competition for Transport for London. The requirements for the competition were to devise a 15 minute piece of Drama about road safety, using the theme: “Don’t die before you’ve lived” from the TFL adverts.
Sodexho Healthy Dessert Competition
The group had three sessions with professional drama practitioner, Kelly Wilkinson, to come up with ideas for their performance, which ended up being about getting into a car with someone who is driving dangerously. The students put in a lot of hard work and effort to get their performance ready and spent many nights in rehearsals after school. After a warm up performance at the Wimbledon showcase, the girls were ready to present their performance in the competition.
As apart of GCSE Food Technology we were asked to design a healthy dessert suitable to serve in the Academy dining room.
We competed against Bishopsford, Wimbledon High and Ricards Lodge for the prize, which was judged by a panel of experts. The girls put on a great show and pulled off their best performance to date. Ricards Lodge managed to grab the winning slot, but the girls still came away with a huge sense of achievement for the great performance that they all put in. Well done to the Drama group for all your hard work and effort, I’m sure next year we’ll be even better and get that elusive first place. A big thanks to Kelly Wilkinson for all of her help on the project and to Dilys Martin for organising the event.
Following that, over six weeks in our lessons we completed a project designing a healthy product to be sold in the dining room. We tested out ideas and developed them. Then the dietician, the catering manager at HAM, the Principal Mr Halpin and Mr Morrison came to judge the final products.
Ms V Bradley, Teacher of Drama
Media and Sports Workshop at Harris Bermondsey
The dietician from Sodexho came in and gave the class an insight about the process they have to go through to produce a suitable dessert for school dining rooms. After that, we had a demonstration from two chefs that work for Sodexho and they showed us how to create a healthy product in a limited time of 40 minutes and they created a large variety of products for us to sample.
There was hard competition, but my product stood out from the rest of the desserts. As a result, I was awarded the winner of the competition and my product will now be sold in the Academy’s dining room and if it is a success it will be sold nationwide. Look out for my ‘Healthy Strawberry Cheesecake’. I enjoyed the task and it gave me an insight to the real world in the Food Industry and improved my enterprising skills. I am looking forward to listening to my new iPod which was the prize of the competition. Alison Macaulay, Year 11
In July several high-achieving Year 8 students showed some fantastic enterprising skills over at Harris Bermondsey. Sixteen students with a range of different skills were selected to represent the Academy in a cross-federation Media and Sports workshop. Each student entered a mixed team, with other students from across the federation and worked together to create a DVD promoting aerobic exercise. The students worked with experts to hone their presentation, filming and performing skills, before performing their pitches and sequences before the judges. All of the routines will be made part of a Federation DVD so watch this space for your own copy! A fantastic effort from all participants and an especially big well done to Leah Kempadoo in B8B who was part of the winning team. Ms C Robson, Teacher of English and Media
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Science & Maths Faculty News
Mathematics and National School Sports week During the hot summer weeks of July, to follow the specialism of the Academy and to join in with the National School Sports Week, the Mathematics department at Harris Academy Merton put on an impressive mix of Sport and Maths lessons throughout the timetable. Staff spent several lessons with Years 7 to 10 working with students outside, playing a variety of sports and getting them to understand the use of Maths. The sports included football with Year 7, basketball with Year 8, tennis with Year 9 and field and track events with Year 10. Over the week, the football project involved measuring a football pitch to get an understanding of size and layout. There was also a penalty shootout to look at scoring successes as a percentage and we also played a game of chance in the Probability World Cup game. The basketball project was based around looking at statistics of professional players in the NBA and comparing them to their own scoring percentages in a shootout similar to the football project. Mr Williams even used video technology to calculate the equation for the trajectory of the ball as it goes through the air.
The tennis project involved a multitude of activities including measuring and scale drawing the court and speed distance time measurements of top player’s serves, to calculate reaction times. There were even a collection of calculations run to workout the required angle of serve to be able to keep the ball in, by using trigonometric ratios. Last but not least, Year 10s were taken out to the field to record some lengths and times for a variety of field and track events. This data was then statistically analysed to find relationships between various scores. All in all, the week was very successful in bringing maths into the real world. The students enjoyed the week and teaching and learning was achieved on a whole new level. It’s no wonder the Maths department was awarded the prize for best department for involvement in sports week. Mr C Glover, Head of Mathematics
Enterprise in Science A small group of Year 7 students were taken to Harris Academy Falconwood for a day of enterprise activities in the Science Department, at the end of the summer term. The Merton students were joined by students from Harris Falconwood and Harris Crystal Palace. In the first part of the day students used two different methods to produce essences of flowers and herbs for perfumes. Some were more successful and smellier than others! Ms Anderson of Falconwood was on hand to explain all the science behind the formation of perfumes and fragrances. The method is quite simple and you could try this at home: • Grind up some rosemary leaves (or other smelly leaves) using a pestle and mortar • Add a small amount of alcohol (this dissolves the essential smelly oils) • Filter out the plant material • Pour the now smelly alcohol into a nice shaped bottle The other method required some specialised equipment to steam distil the plant material over water. The steam produced ‘picks up’ the fragrance and on cooling produces a more pungent perfume.
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Year 7 students can use this method first hand at the Science Club later in the year. Once the students had made their perfumes (smelly liquid) and selected the nicest, the enterprise component of the day kicked in. Packaging, and promotional materials had to be designed and developed. Next, time was spent pitching the products to a panel of experts, just like Dragons Den. The teams of students had to discuss and justify their profit projections, marketing strategies and promotional ideas. Michelle Sebele (of HAM) was chosen as the most successful student of the day by combining her excellent science knowledge with some outstanding enterprising skills. Congratulations to her. Thank you to the following Year 7 Merton students who made the day so successful and were a credit to the Academy and Science Department; Michelle Sebele, Georgia Agrippa, Chowdhury Latif, Jake Kirby, Iain Souttar, Melainine Sayad, Kayleigh Bonnell and Hannah Gray. Mr A Griffin, Co-ordinator of Science
Science Club The Science Club at Harris Academy Merton had another successful year, with plenty of bangs, pops, and space monkeys. With our crack team of Year 7 scientists we started the year with a close look at rocket science, with the team creating their own recipe for rocket fuel. At the launch pad we had some successful test flights, and some quite spectacular explosions! After some careful recalculation it was time for the Science Club mascot ‘Stunt Monkey’ to take the controls of the rocket, and the team managed to fire the rocket, and him, over 250m in the air! We continued the year with a look at the chemistry behind slime, the physics behind aeronautics using bottle rockets and, with improving weather in the summer, we studied the ecology of the Science Pond, looking at tiny organisms with the microscopes and exploring the habitat of the trees around the school site. Mr S West, Teacher of Science
Faraday Engineering Challenge February 2009 An exciting programme of resources, activities, competitions and events designed to inspire young people about Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths was compiled for an event at our Academy. The event was called ‘The FARADAY ENGINEERING CHALLENGE’. We were invited, alongside two teams from Year 8, as well as 3 teams from other Merton schools. We used many of our ENTERPRISE skills through learning about the programme during the day. The event was in the hall and we had a brief given for us to solve. Our team was asked to create a ‘Ping Pong Launcher’ which needed to be built to fit on the edge of a table tennis table and which would automatically fire a ping pong across and over the net of the table. It was a real life challenge that involved using our knowledge of Science, Maths and Design and Technology. We also had to prioritise buying of resources to make the launcher from a given budget. After an exciting day we all demonstrated our ping pong machines and they were judged by the programme designers. Ursuline School won first place and even though we did not win we enjoyed taking part. We learnt different skills during the day including working as a team on a specific project. A very enjoyable day! Gemma Cullen, Year 9
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Humanities Faculty News
History Field Trip to the Tower of London As part of their GCSE coursework the Year 11 History students set off to investigate the power and majesty of the Tower of London. Students were guided by an expert historian who led them through the narrow winding corridors into magnificent halls and rooms which have entertained its royal hosts since the 11th Century. From the walls and towers they were able to take in the panoramic vista of the city of London; a tapestry of modern skyscrapers and architecture from across the ages. Standing on a moving floor, student’s eyes gazed at the priceless cabinets housing the Crown Jewels. There were even opportunities to take their photos with the Beefeaters. These Yeoman Warders are responsible for looking after any prisoners at the Tower and safeguarding the British Crown Jewels, but in practice they act as tour guides and are a tourist attraction in their own right.
Harris Academy Teachers Go Green PC Dougie Cole, the Safer Schools Partnership Officer, has encouraged 10 staff to change their daily travel arrangements to and from the Academy by supplying them with brand new bikes. The top of the range bicycles have been supplied by Halfords as part of the “Bikes for teachers” scheme and has been fully supported by Transport For London (TFL) and funded by the London Borough of Merton. Dougie says he first saw the scheme advertised at a recent TFL conference and decided to follow it up with a quick survey at the Academy, he said, “Teachers were very enthusiastic at the idea of changing their mode of transport and getting fitter. It has helped cut down our carbon footprint by 9 cars and 1 motorcycle. Other teachers have already put their names on a reserve list for the next batch. It is hoped that students seeing teachers doing their bit for the environment will be encouraged to use their bikes and further reduce our carbon footprint”. PC Dougie Cole, Safer Schools Partnership Officer Harris Academy Merton
Harris Academy Merton Wide Way Mitcham Surrey, CR4 1BP
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By the end of the day, students not only took with them the knowledge required for their GCSE History coursework, but a treasure chest of memories and experiences. Mr M Masoliver, Co-ordinator of Humanities