Harris Federation Newsletter

Page 1

Newsletter • Issue 9 • Summer 2010

In this issue Harris Federation achieves the best student progress of any large Academy chain idiscover Educational Voucher Project

Newly Qualified Teachers Update

Diary of a Student Commissioner in New York Federation Network Group Reports Demolition begins at Harris Academy Falconwood

Upcoming Enterprise Events Harris Boys’ Academy, East Dulwich “Tour de Herne Hill” Cycling! 5 ‘sporty’ students per Academy Tuesday 11th May 2010, Year 7

Harris Academy Falconwood “Parliamentary Election”– Humanities Harris Academy Falconwood Tuesday 6th July 2010, Year 9

Harris Federation is the only Academy multiple to be designated as an ‘Accredited Schools Group’ by DCSF The Government has introduced a new quality standard for schools and federations wishing to open more academies. For existing federations this designation is as an “Accredited Schools Group” and gaining the status requires passing a tough quality assurance process. Harris Federation recently applied for and was accepted as the first academy federation to be designated as such an Accredited Group. This is a tribute to the quality of work carried out by teaching and support staff across our Federation in improving the life chances of young people. It means that at present, Harris is the only academy group accredited to take on new academies.

Another Outstanding Harris Academy Meanwhile, the Federation is celebrating its latest ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted inspection with Harris Academy South Norwood being designated outstanding just two and a half years after opening on the site of a very challenging predecessor school.

www.harrisfederation.org.uk

This is an incredible achievement and a tribute to all of the staff and students at Harris South Norwood. Who would have thought this possible just three years ago?

More outstanding schools than any academy chain and more than most Local Authorities Harris Federation amazingly has four ‘Outstanding’ Academies in its group with a number of other Harris Academies quickly closing in on the outstanding category. No other academy chain has such a high percentage of outstanding schools. In fact, no Local Authority in London has as high a percentage of schools inspected judged to be outstanding. Again, a tribute to the professionalism of all of our students and staff. Dr Dan Moynihan Chief Executive Officer Harris Federation


www.harrisfederation.org.uk

Harris Federation achieves the best student progress of any large academy chain Every year the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) publishes a set of tables produced by Professor David Jesson which measures the Value Added for each specialist school and academy. The table below shows the percentage by which each Harris Academy has beaten the estimate set for its results by Professor Jesson. In every single case the score is positive and Harris is the only large academy multiple chain to achieve this. Furthermore, the table below shows the rank of each of our Academies out of the 122 academies and CTCs. A tremendous achievement by all at Harris.

Rank out of 122 Academies

2009 Actual % 5+ A*–C EM

2009 Jesson est. % 5+ A*–C EM

Value Added with English & Maths Compared Prediction

2009 Actual % 5+ A*–C

2009 Jesson est. % 5+ A*–C

5 A*–C Value Added Compared to Prediction

Harris Academies, ranked by their JVA EM position amongst all 122 academies based on % 5+ A*– C GCSE including English and Maths 2009

Harris City Academy Crystal Palace

2

82

57

+25

99

76

23

Harris Academy Bermondsey

6

50

33

+17

78

59

19

Harris Academy South Norwood

13

43

32

+11

93

54

39

Harris Academy Merton

15

48

38

+10

95

60

35

Harris Academy Falconwood

25

42

36

+6

92

61

31

Harris Academy at Peckham

38

26

24

+2

60

48

12

Harris Girls’ Academy, East Dulwich

39

38

36

+2

69

62

7

Jesson Value Added is the difference between ‘predicted’ and ‘actual’ %5+ A*– C and %5+ A*– C

Page 2


idiscover Educational Voucher Project An innovative approach to the way that education could be provided in schools of the future has been launched by Harris Federation with NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) this term. This sponsorship of Harris Federation is worth up to £75,000. The scheme, idiscover, gives students real choice over how their learning is delivered in order to equip them with the skills for a future high-tech and creative economy. The first term has seen a successful launch with 210 Year 9 students at Harris Academy South Norwood and 75 gifted and talented students from Years 7, 8 and 9 at Harris Academy Merton. Next term the pilot will expand further and be offered to all Year 8 students at Harris Girls’ Academy, East Dulwich.

The two-year experiment builds upon research carried out with pupils from the Harris Student Learning Commission where students said that they would be more responsive to learning if they had greater choice over what they learnt. It is also a response to the skills gap which is emerging in many of the subjects required for the future economy including science, technology, engineering and maths. Students will be able to choose from a range of activities including learning about aerodynamics to building rockets, using simulated touch technology and applying it to veterinary procedures, creating a theatre production and learning about enterprise. Using an online system they will be able to decide which learning experiences would be of value to them, what career opportunities may emerge in the future, and the wider attributes that they will gain from the experience.

Students have responded well to the experiences. One Year 9 student at Harris Academy South Norwood who attended a ‘Murder in the Monastery’ experience was enthralled by the new way of learning: “The day as a whole was very good, we learnt a lot about what detectives did in the days before forensics and had loads of fun solving the mystery!” Shabnam Gofur, a student at Harris Academy Merton, was the only girl to sign up for the Gravity Racing experience, working in a team to design, build and race a fuel-free gravity-powered racing car from scratch: “idiscover has so far been an extremely fun experience. It has made me think outside the box and be innovative. It has opened new doors and now I view my career options in a new perspective”. NESTA is evaluating the programme to see how effectively it leads young people to understanding the needs of the future economy. If successful, the programme will be rolled out to other schools, and could be used as a way of delivering many more educational experiences empowering young people over their learning.

Students are able to spend credits worth up to £200 a term on a range of learning activities provided by organisations including The Royal Institute of British Architects, the Science Museum and the National Theatre. This will give students insights into science, technology, engineering and the creative industries as well as leadership, decisionmaking and effective teamwork skills.

Page 3


www.harrisfederation.org.uk

Career aspirations of Harris Federation Post 16

In March 2010 almost 400 visitors attended the Federation Post 16 Next Steps evening held at Harris Academy South Norwood. The event was aimed at Year 11, 12 and 13 students and their parents/carers from our four Academies in Croydon and Merton, giving them the chance to link up with a wide range of Next Steps organisations. Exhibitors at the careers fair included employers such as Channel 4; PricewaterhouseCoopers; Mansell; Her Majesty’s armed forces and 25 Universities from around the country including Oxford and Cambridge; Queen Mary; Birmingham and St George’s. Careers advice and support was provided by the Connexions Service. Throughout the evening a programme of career development sessions and talks took place, providing visitors with the chance to explore career opportunities and the various elements of graduate study in more detail. Talks included ‘writing a personal statement’, ‘student finance’, ‘what to do on a gap year’, insights into ‘careers at EDF Energy’, ‘careers within the Ministry of Justice’, ‘a day in the life of a management Page 4

consultant’, ‘apprentice and training opportunities’ and so on. A parent who expressed her satisfaction commented on the evening: “I just wanted to thank you for inviting us. My daughter came away with a great deal of information and said she was totally inspired by her one to one discussions with firms and Universities”. At Harris we are constantly encouraging students to be thoughtful and proactive about planning their future career and events like the Next Steps evening help them to start thinking carefully about their skills and interests and how they can build on these for a successful future. This is the first year we have done something quite so ambitious, but based on the success of the event; we look forward to next year being even bigger and better. Sandra Miles Principal Harris Federation Post 16


Calling all outstanding and aspiring outstanding teachers... A new “Outstanding and Excellent Teacher” network has recently been formed. The remit of the group is to harness, develop and share strategies that will boost the overall quality of teaching and learning across our Academies. The vision of the group is to work collaboratively to stimulate and encourage all colleagues in becoming an outstanding teacher. We will work to provide teachers with first class professional development – we are looking to: • develop a video catalogue of teaching episodes across subjects to inspire and encourage professional development of subject teachers; • develop a video catalogue showcasing teaching skills in areas such as starters, plenaries, assessment and so on; • provide a supportive yet challenging professional framework upon which to develop the skills and mind set needed to become an outstanding teacher; • showcase the teaching talent and expertise that already exists within our Academies; • produce first class resources that will encourage teachers to think about progressing to outstanding and the implications for teaching and learning. The group has already convened two meetings and we have already spent two days filming lessons at one Academy, the summary of which has been shown to Principals who have agreed to commission work within their own Academies. This will enable us to begin the process of developing our video catalogue and link to the bullet points shown above. This is an exciting time as we plan how to encourage colleagues to work with us on the projects and initiatives that come from the group. We will be looking for a team of colleagues to work with us on our first Federation projects – please do get involved, there is so much best practice to share across our Academies!! Sam Hainey and Caron Clifford Co-leaders, Outstanding and Excellent Teachers Project Harris Academy South Norwood and Harris Academy Bermondsey Page 5


www.harrisfederation.org.uk

NQT Update On Wednesday 17th March, Harris Academy Peckham hosted the termly Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT) Federation training event. Nearly 80 NQTs attended from across all of the Academies within the Federation. At the last training session in the Autumn 2009 term, NQTs were asked what training they would find beneficial. We therefore offered sessions that NQTs had requested.

Harris goes to

San

NQTs opted to take part in one of the following sessions: • Personal Learning and Thinking Skills – led by Fatima Rodrigues, Harris Academy Peckham • Differentiation – led by Maria Papachristodoulou, Harris Academy South Norwood • Monsters or Students (Behaviour) – led by Andy Milford, Harris Academy Falconwood • Drama for Non-Specialists – led by Sam Smith, Harris Boys’ Academy, East Dulwich NQTs enjoyed the opportunity to meet up again, take part in the sessions and to share their strategies and experiences with each other. Some of the feedback from the sessions included: • ‘A good chance to reflect and discuss what I do and what I could do better; an opportunity to see how others deal with certain issues and to reflect on what is key to preventing problems arising.’ • ‘It was useful to reflect on the past six months of being an NQT.’ • ‘Methods were given that were clear to apply and there were great handouts.’ • ‘Fantastic session, loads of good ideas and an extensive resource pack to take away.’ • ‘Excellent variety and use of ideas to engage students. Excellent delivery of session, relevant and interesting.’ A big thank you to Harris Academy Peckham for hosting, to the workshop leaders for preparing such great sessions, the NQT working group for their hard work behind the scenes, but especially to all of the NQTs for their enthusiasm and fantastic contributions to each session. We look forward to seeing all of the NQTs again for the last Federation NQT training session of this academic year, at Harris Girls’ Academy, East Dulwich on Wednesday 5th May at 4.30pm. Sam Hainey / Paula Ledger Co-leaders, NQT working group

Date for the diary! Induction for all Harris Federation NQTs starting in September 2010 will be held at Harris Academy South Norwood on 14th July from 12 – 6pm. Please let your new NQTs know of this key date. We look forward to meeting them and welcoming them to Harris Federation. Page 6

We all felt so lucky to get the amazing opportunity to visit the High Tech High Schools in San Diego at half term. Our mission was to witness some of the outstanding teaching and learning and try to bring some of the best ideas back home to the Federation. High Tech High had been reported in the papers in the UK as being one of the best schools in the world and we wanted to find out what was so good. We kept in touch with everyone through the Harris Voice website and posted our updates every evening. Whilst visiting the schools we split into pairs and tried to focus our research in each of the four key areas of the twelve ideas. We thought that this would be a good way of keeping evidence. We also took lots of photographs and had smaller projects for our own Academies. Most of us spoke to our teachers beforehand to see if there was anything special we could find out for them.


Diego “Clearly the students are at the centre of everything that happens here. From the design of the projects they are working on, the appraisal of their work, peer feedback and support to changes that may happen within the school, students are consulted and actively involved in every stage of the process. This clearly has the effect of making the students very proud of their school and extremely focused and engaged with their learning. Students seem to feel their education is relevant and worthwhile and they value the efforts teachers make to ensure that the products they create are real and have worth to their lives.” Sara Goddard, Harris Academy Merton and Nadia Osumanu, Harris Girls’ Academy, East Dulwich “The lessons here at High Tech High International are structured and do have a purpose, but at the same time the class room is immensely relaxed. I'd say that teachers like to guide and coach rather than instruct and a definite aspect of High Tech High (that hits you as soon as you enter) is the fact that almost everything can be applied to everyday life!” Beck Bruneel Harris City Academy Crystal Palace “One of the lessons I observed was an 11th grade biology lesson, taught by John Santos, it was an excellent example of the brilliant teaching we witnessed. I could hardly write any notes because I was so interested in the lesson. He started out with a rather trivial Question of the Day. This involved asking most of the students the questions “Have you ever been stung by a bee? Have you ever broken a bone? And have you ever needed stitches?” As trivial as it may seem, this got all the students listening

and engaged in the lesson. It also gave the teacher the chance to teach students about something interesting, but not relevant to the lesson, in this case, the anatomy of bees. The lesson was about diffusion, arguably a boring topic; but John explained it using very odd but effective techniques. He used bizarre analogies to explain the reasoning behind something, I will always remember what hydrophobic is through his odd butter explanation because it was so bizarre it was memorable.” Matt Gavin Harris Academy Merton

Page 7


www.harrisfederation.org.uk

Diary of a Student

Commissioner in New York

Nine Student Commissioners and six teachers were chosen to travel to New York. The aim of the visit was to see how we can enhance teaching and learning across Harris Federation. We left early on Saturday 6th February. We were on a very long 7 hour Virgin Atlantic flight to JFK airport in New York. We got there in the afternoon and it was cold! But, we were all too excited to care about our numbing hands and red noses and we soon got in a familiar looking New York yellow cab to make our way to the Holiday Inn Hotel, Manhattan. After settling down, it was time for dinner and we made our way to Lombardi’s Pizza, which was America’s first pizzeria, and is still regarded as one of the best. Since it was the weekend, we had a lot of free time on our hands before we visited schools, so on Sunday we went sight-seeing. From visiting the Statue of Liberty, to Ground Zero and up to the top of The Empire State Building. Now that the weekend was over, it was Page 8

time to learn more about learning as we went to the New York City – Department of Education office. We left early Monday morning to head to the Tweed Building where the Department of Education offices are based – there are even two schools there! We had a meeting with five members of the DOE, including the Deputy Chancellor who gave us an insight into what education is like in New York; which is different from every school! Everything they told us raised more questions than answers because it was so innovative! I bet you've never heard of a school called the 'Quest to Learn' where everything you need to know is taught through adventure games on the computer. Or the Cinema School, in which everything is taught through film making!


On Tuesday, we visited the iSchool, which is based on using technology for everything. I shadowed two students during my time there and saw a range of lessons. I remember being in an ICT lesson, in which each student worked on their personalised virtual learning environment called ‘moodle’. The school day soon came to an end, but the work didn’t stop there, as back at the hotel we had to write a blog. Wednesday was a snow day, so all schools were closed. When it snows in New York, it really snows. This affected our timetable because we were not able to visit the Global Learning Collaborative School, which is a school that focuses on real life learning and tries to combat global issues. One thing that I really wanted to see was the solar panels the students built on their school’s roof to combat global warming. But it did give us extra time to prepare for our presentation on Friday. We also got to go to visit the Guggenheim Museum and Times Square. Thursday was a very long day for us as we had to visit the first two schools – the first, Harlem’s Children Zone, and the second, KIPP: Infinity (Knowledge Is Power Programme). What I liked and what was common about both schools is that they celebrated achievement a lot. For example, at KIPP: Infinity, you could not see a blank space on the wall because it was filled up with the work and pictures of so many different students. And at Harlem’s Children Zone, some students were rewarded with trips to Paris, the Galapagos Islands, and get this, the Bahamas. Back at the hotel it was a very rigorous session of rehearsing for our presentation for the Department of Education. Money was up for grabs for the team that did the best presentation. Friday morning came in a flash, and the nerves that started at the hotel followed us all the way to the Department of Education Building. But the nerves did not get the better of us as everybody presented very well on the ‘Learning About Learning – The 12 Ideas Of Learning’ publication by the Commission. The presentation was about what we saw in America that linked to the 12 ideas of learning. All of a sudden it was over. What we came over to America to achieve had been done. And we were back in boring old London on the morning of Saturday 13th February after a week in New York.

The wonder of wireless and laptops!

Harris Academy Purley is extremely proud to announce that we have provided 160 new HP laptops to support student learning and have become a fully wireless Academy. The Federation ICT team installed a new infrastructure in October with cabling to ensure a ‘reliable, robust and sustainable network for a totally wireless environment.’ Principal Carol-Anne Alcock is delighted with the impact this will have on impact student achievement. “The laptops ensure that our visions of personal learning for all our students is being achieved.” There are now 22 laptop trolleys with 360 available laptops which can be booked around the Academy. Staff and students are really benefitting from the extra resources. Vice Principal Geoff Walls commented “Making sure that students have effortless access to digital content and learning resources is a key part of the Academy’s wider ICT strategy which sees staff working in partnership with students to deliver world class 21st century learning.” Being wireless has enabled flexibility in all teaching areas creating more advantages for teaching and learning. Year 11 student Taylor Ali has already noted the increased opportunities for learning “It’s made a real improvement. I can use my ICT skills in every lesson. I can touch type in science!” The Music Department has also received 20 iMacs with 21 inch screens which will support student learning and composition. The software includes Garage Band which is excellent for composition and Logic which is used throughout the Music Industry. Head of Music Nathalie Van der Weide is thrilled with the new equipment “This brings the Music Department up to industry standard and allows all students from Year 7 to BTEC to maximise their potential in Music.” Dawn Steele Harris Academy Purley

But now it is our responsibility, both students and staff, to make sure what was successful in the schools that improved teaching and learning is carried here at Harris Academy Bermondsey, and of course, across the Harris Federation. Mayowa Sofekun Harris Academy Bermondsey

Page 9


www.harrisfederation.org.uk

Federation Network Group Reports Federation English Network Group Report

Federation Science Network Group Report

As with English Departments across the land, Harris English staff have been working extremely hard to prepare their students for the demands of GCSE exams. I have no doubt that Coordinators and their teams will be relieved when all coursework is finally submitted and moderated! As well as GCSE English and English Literature, Media Studies, Film Studies, ALAN and Functional Skills contribute to the extensive and innovative curriculum offered across the Federation, ensuring that all students gain as wide a range of English based qualifications as possible. We welcome the new specifications which are replacing coursework with alternative assessment methodology, and our teams are starting to plan for the new curriculum. Wherever possible, collaborative planning across the Federation will be organised to guarantee the highest quality of lesson and resource design and to share excellent practice.

The Harris Federation Science team are now working closely with Dr Ann Bartlett and Professor Phil Whitfield alongside Dr Jill Sales, Curator to “breathe life” into the new Museum of Life Sciences (part of the Gordan Museum). The Harris Federation currently has exclusive use of this new museum. We had our Spring Term first Science Subject Leaders meeting in the museum and brainstormed how the fascinating and varied displays in the museum could link directly into the KS3, KS4 and KS5 science curriculums.

In light of the demands of exam revision to support staff, our last Federation Network meeting, held at Harris Academy Peckham, involved collaborative planning by all Academies represented. We focused on designing lessons to improve students’ approach to unseen media, writing to persuade and comparison of poems from different cultures. The team produced some excellent plans and resources and these will be circulated to all of the Academies. In addition, we are collating the best of our materials to produce a Guide to English Revision which again will be circulated to all Academies. Student based events this term included a podcast event at Harris City Academy Crystal Palace in celebration of World Book Day and on March 24th, Merton hosted a creative writing day in celebration of National Storytelling Month. Students across the Federation are currently being asked to enter a piece of creative writing based on the theme ‘Into the Unknown’, the theme of the second English Creative Writing Anthology. Students are being encouraged to use a variety of written forms: poetry, letters, diary entries, reports etc to showcase their skills. We hope that all nine of the Academies will be represented in the Anthology as the response from our first edition was very positive. Our second trip to Harris Manchester, Oxford University is confirmed for May 22nd and will focus on the Modern Novel. Again we are hoping to spend the day with delegates from all Academies as last year’s trip was a resounding success. Rebecca Hickey Vice Principal Harris Academy South Norwood

Page 10

Harris Academy South Norwood Year 10 triple Scientists are the first group to make use of this incredible resource. The students said “Many of us would like to donate to the museum to physically show appreciation for what was an excellent museum. We will most likely try to arrange fundraisers, and also try and get Lord Harris involved to back your wonderful museum. Many things you described have stuck with me and the other students – personally, the feathers amazed me as they could determine what pattern to form based on nearby patterns on cells – but I know many other things have stuck with other students!” National Science and Engineering Week 12–21st March was a huge success throughout Harris Federation. From an Astronaut at Harris Academy Purley to Jonathan’s Jungle at South Norwood to the Science behind Curry at Peckham! This doesn’t even begin to touch on the CSI Falconwood activities, the live webcasts from the Energy mc, the Science open evenings and lectures at Crystal Palace, visits to the Cabinet rooms from Merton... Our next edition will explain all of this (and a lot more!) from our students’ perspective – watch this space for exciting articles and photos. Shona Findlay Consultant Leader for Science Harris Federation

Federation Maths Network Group Report March was a busy month for Mathematics. We started the month celebrating “World Maths Day”. In its second year, Maths Month sees students engaging in Maths in different ways across each Academy. There are competitions, posters, presentations, assemblies, cross curricular events, challenges and games organised throughout the month, using ideas and resources shared by Maths Departments across the Federation. The final event is a Year 8 team competition, held at the home of the current trophy holder, Harris City Academy Crystal Palace. The poems and pictures here are just a cross-Federation slice of Pi day and other events.


A Maths Love Poem from We visited Year 11 lessons at Harris Academy Purley to see a variety of effective strategies for delivering revision lessons, discussing plans for a new collaborative Federation Scheme of Work, looking at assessment changes and opportunities for Key Stage 3 and effective use of modular exam data at Key Stage 4. We also want to look this year at how Maths can support cohesion in local communities, so if you are reading this article and have any ideas about this or any other ideas about Maths across the Federation feel free to send me an email. Jacquelyn Lomas Consultant Leader for Mathematics Harris Federation Email: jacqui.lomas@harrisfederation.org.uk

Harris Academy Merton The addition of you in my life was no random event. My love goes on like an unending number line. I love you more than the infinity sign, which I love an awful lot! You are greater than or equal to the best thing in my life. The subtraction of you would cause my heart to be divided. You fit with me like a right angle, so stay close to me because you will always be the prime number of my heart! Anonymous

Wonderful memories of Harris Academy Bermondsey This summer will mark an important landmark in my life at Harris Academy Bermondsey because, although I am hoping to get a place in the Sixth Form, I can now look back on the five very happy and productive years I have spent here. There are some wonderful memories that stick out in my mind. I shall long remember being encouraged by Lord Harris to cheer louder at the Sports Day at Crystal Palace Sports Stadium when we competed against students from other Harris Academies. We were in an Olympic Stadium – unforgettable.

y, East cadem Boys’ A t Harris a d u Pi pro

Circles in art

at Harr is

h Dulwic

City Aca demy C rystal P alace

rd ent reco sey, curr at 287 ermond d B te s ci ri re ar H igits of Pi ations at Investig the number of d of holders

My trip, along with other Harris Academy Bermondsey students to Sri Lanka was another memorable event. The idea was to provide aid to school children after the tsunami. There was a competitive application. Can you imagine my surprise at being a winner? Sri Lanka was really beautiful. Our hotel had a beach located at the front of it. In the morning when we would open the curtains, the first thing we would see was the beautiful glowing sun sparkling onto the sea and sand. The local people, in spite of their suffering were so friendly. The trip was to provide aid, but for me, it was the experience of a lifetime. During my time in the Academy, I have appeared on stage at the Unicorn Theatre. We worked with university students in a play about common problems experienced by youths, such as peer pressure and family dilemmas. I am a shy person but this is something I wanted to do to increase my confidence. It was one of my goals and I am pleased to have achieved this. Even work experience at Harris was memorable. I worked in the Houses of Parliament in the Dali Universe Art Gallery. My task was with media promotions which was really appropriate because our Academy has a specialism in Media and Enterprise. My GCSE examinations are approaching. I believe my teachers have prepared me well and I believe I shall be successful. My time at Harris Academy Bermondsey and as part of the Harris family of Academies has been so helpful in preparing me for the future. It has given me many wonderful memories and lots of confidence for the future. Elma Ibrahimi Year 11

207 students ma ke a human circ le and diameter their break time during at Harris Girls’ Aca demy, East Dulwi ch

Page 11


www.harrisfederation.org.uk

Demolition begins

at Harris Academy Falconwood Following a decant of furniture and equipment during the February half term from a variety of old buildings, Willmott Dixon has now commenced demolition to begin a £25 million project. The plans for the new build are really exciting and Harris Academy Falconwood look forward to eventually moving into the new buildings in September 2011. At that point, the buildings currently occupied by the Academy will be demolished to enable an all weather pitch, car park and car maintenance workshop to be constructed. To mark the start of this exciting project there was a Ground Breaking Ceremony at the Academy on 22nd March. There was much excitement about dressing up in hard hats and hi-vis jackets before students, staff, members of the construction team and Governors went into the construction area to wield the ceremonial shovel.

SSAT Academies Coach tour at HASN Ninety delegates from all over the country toured the Academy and were treated to a presentation from Rebecca Hickey and the Student Learning Commission. The Commissioners confidence and understanding of what makes good learning was as always, stunning, delegates were very impressed. The Harris Outstanding Teacher programme was showcased by Sam Hainey, generating a lot of interest given the significant and positive impact it has had at Harris Academy South Norwood. Carolyn English, Principal and Dan Moynihan, Chief Executive presented briefly on the outstanding successes at Harris Academy South Norwood, and all other Harris Academies.

Harris Academy South Norwood host the SSAT Academies Coach tour, 17th March 2010.

Daniel Moynihan – Chief Executive The William Stanley Building, 14 South Norwood Hill, London, SE25 6AB Tel: 020 8405 5200  Fax: 020 8405 5201 Email: info@harrisfederation.org.uk  Website: www.harrisfederation.org.uk

Given that there were several other sponsors amongst the delegates, this event went down very well and prompted a lot of interesting questions.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.