HARRIS MESSENGER Message from the Principal
Summer 2013
We have now reached the end of our first year as Harris Academy Morden. The year has seen many changes, new system, rules and expectations. Our students and staff have embraced all of the changes and this has transformed the Academy into the wonderful place of learning we now experience on a daily basis.
PSHE Culture Day
Learning is now the main focus of the Academy as behaviour is at least good if not exemplary. Our students are benefiting from having a fully staffed teaching body where only good teaching is accepted. The teaching body spend a huge amount of time developing their practice to ensure lessons are well planned, engaging whilst at the same time, challenging all students to meet their expected target levels. I am exceptionally proud of the progress all staff and students have made this year. The improvements have been achieved in record time and this was confirmed by Ofsted during their inspection in May. This truly is a remarkable journey we have travelled in such a short space of time! The summer holidays will see the next phase of improvements at the Academy. There will be further investment in the ICT facilities with a completely new network and wireless system installed to provide the latest technology and fast internet access. In addition there will be many new laptops purchased to be used over our brand new wireless system so that ICT can also be used in normal classrooms to support learning.
Sports Day 2013
PSHE Day - Art Festival
Inter-Faculty Maths Challenge
This year has seen many highlights, but the one that sticks out in my mind happened at the Parents’ Induction evening for the new year 7 last week. After presentations to a packed assembly hall by the Senior Leadership team, Luke, a year 7 student, followed by Melissa our Head Girl, talked to the parents about the Academy. They told the story of our transformation through the eyes of our youngest and oldest students. The speeches were wonderful and heartfelt and the parents joining our Harris Morden family next year left knowing what a wonderful Academy they had chosen for their sons and daughters. Finally, the summer term ends for students at 12.10pm on Friday, 19th July and the Academy reopens for existing students on Thursday, 5th September 2013. Our new intake of year 7 and year 12 students will start on Wednesday, 4th September to allow registration, enrolment and testing procedures to be completed. I have attached a copy of the Academy Term Dates for 2013-14 so that you do not plan holidays and appointments during term time. I would like to thank all students, staff members, parents and carers for the support and hard work everyone has put into the Academy this year and wish you a safe and enjoyable summer break. Mr Mallin Principal
COURAGE, CHALLENGE, SUCCESS
Physical Education Congratulations to the year 8 rounders team who came 3rd overall in the Merton Rounders Tournament. Outstanding performances came from Tia Ellington throughout the tournament and Tara Ajalaruru made some great catches.
Charmont in Athletics Triumph Charmont was selected to represent Merton at the Surrey Schools Athletics Competition in the 100m which she came 3rd in. As a result, She was selected to compete at the English Schools Athletics Competition where she delivered a great performance in her semi-final but missed out on a place in the final by less than a second. She then went on to compete in the Balfour Beatty London Youth Games which she also came 3rd in. Charmont now has 2 bronze medals which she is hoping to make silver or even gold next year. Well done!!
Well done once again to the year 8 Sports Leaders who have contributed to 2 successful events over the past few weeks. Perseid and Malmesbury Primary School Sports Days went well and our students were praised for their maturity and outstanding leadership skills throughout.
Athletics
Thank you to all the students who came to weekly training in order to practise and improve their techniques in preparation for the Harris Federation Sports Day. You have all been a part of a great team effort and you should be very proud of yourselves.
Visit our website to view the full Sports Day gallery Outstanding Students Year 7 - Chenelle Sparks, Casey Hogan, Kyla Pritchard and Demi Lewis for outstanding commitment to PE lessons and Extra-Curricular Athletics club Year 8 - Hamza Shoble and Takunda Makwara for outstanding effort and attitude in PE lessons and ExtraCurricular clubs Year 9 - Szymon Kwiatowksi for effort and participation in PE and Extra-Curricular clubs Year 10 - Kate Vasiljeva and Sana Majid for effort in BTEC Sport
Sports Leadership Event On Monday 15th July 30 year 8 and 9 students spent the morning being trained up in sports leadership. Students learnt basic leadership skills and were then set the challenging task of creating their own activity which was fun and competitive. After lunch, over 300 year 3 and 4 pupils from Haslemere, Abbotsbury and Benedict primary schools arrived at Harris Academy Morden with very excited and happy faces. Our leaders greeted them and quickly began their activities. All sports leaders were absolutely fantastic with the primary school children and despite the intense heat, they were energetic and friendly throughout. Staff from all schools involved commented on how wonderful the leaders were. All in all, a great day was had by both the primary school pupils and the sports leaders. Well done to everyone involved and thank you to Merton School Sports Partnership (MSSP) for arranging the event.
Sports Leader, Seonaid O’Sullivan, explains a task to a group of students
Maths The final half term was one of the most hectic yet rewarding periods of time in the Mathematics department, mainly geared to the GCSE exams taking place in early June. Revision sessions, after school boosters and Saturday interventions took place with record numbers of year 10s and 11s taking part. They also enjoyed free croissants on exam days too! We welcomed the new Subject Coordinator Mr Otermin to the team. All students now have access to My Maths and can keep up with their learning over the summer. We welcomed the new year 7 students for the first time where some students were able to demonstrate their maths potential. We are all very excited to see if they match up to the high achieving current year 7.
Thank you to all the students who put in that extra graft coming in for extra sessions over the holidays and in their spare time.
Outstanding Students Year 7 - Molly Coates. A magnificent clear-thinking mathematician who makes thoughtful contributions to learning. Year 8 - Donell Coombes. A significant change in achievement and attitude in maths. Year 9 - Hannah Dacey. A mathematician who shows daily dedication to being the best in her group. Year 10 - Mohammed Khan. A student who loves a challenge and can apply higher level knowledge to solve problems. Year 11 - Ivet Angelova. An extremely hardworking and talented student who uses clever thinking to solve a range of problems. Congratulations to the many other students who were nominated by their teachers this term.
Music Year 7 - ‘Our World’
‘In Holland Stood a House’
Year 7 has been exploring ‘Our World’ and specifically the music from India this half term. Excellent performances of raga from Tara Rousselot, Anjeela Thapa and Oliver Brett.
The dramatic performance based upon ‘The Diary of Anne Franks’ has no music, so no greater challenge than set year 10 the task of writing the songs themselves! Exceptional skills from Izzy Mann, Abigail Koranteng and Courtney Avery – very talented ladies with a future in music composition
Year 8 – ‘Music for Occasions’ The happiest of days to the saddest of days. Students have performed ‘The Wedding March’, Mendelssohn and ‘Adagio for Strings’, Barber. Outstanding performances from many young people, notably Romans Kuznecovs , Tracy Masembe and Amy Louise Wraight. Students then composed their own wedding ‘fanfare’ and funeral music! A fantastic project which has resulted in huge musical progress of the young people.
Year 9 – ‘Your Song’ Students have been writing and performing their own popular songs this half term. Exceptional song writing from Natasha Francis, Vinkita Dhaware, Britney Grant and Biraj Joshi - watch out ‘Britain’s Got Talent’, because Harris Academy Morden has got more!
ICT The ICT Department has come to the end of a really pleasing year, the first under the Harris Federation and what a year it has been! We had some great news this half term that 82% of the students who undertook the OCR Nationals First award in ICT achieved that qualification. We are confident we will hear similar news for the Edexcel GCSE which we find about on August 22nd 2013, results day for England and Wales. Year 10 students are well on the way to completing their gaming scenario for GCSE Computing in the programming language of Python. They are now preparing to get stuck into the web application project using client side internet technologies
Outstanding Students Year 7 – Charlene Feak, her enthusiasm for ICT is electrifying Year 8 - Adele Smith for great effort in lessons Year 9 - Mollie Smith-Goodwin for outstanding progress in ICT lessons Year 10 - Michael Collins for outstanding work in lessons for
that make up the coursework for year 11; we know they are going to do well and we, as a department, are making the final preparations to our software list for next year to make sure they have all the facilities they need to make a really good job of it!
Our year 10 business studies students have been completing their controlled assessment this half term of creating business related applications in Microsoft Access, Microsoft Publisher and Adobe Dreamweaver. They have come through that with flying colours and we wish them well for year 11. Years 7, 8 and 9 have been putting the skills they have learned throughout the year to good use in their Theatre projects; This involved them creating ICT systems and applications for use in a business context of a public theatre including an advanced spreadsheet, a DTP publication and web page components.
the AQA GCSE in Computing CA
Science After a long hot few weeks the school year is nearly over and the Science Department is now preparing for what promises to be an exciting new year. In KS3 year 7 and 8 students have completed some of their year 9 topics in preparation for next year. The majority of year 9s embraced the GCSE coursework practice with lots of them achieving a good grade which will provide them with the skills needed for doing well in the real thing in October. In KS4 the year 10 GCSE Science students sat their exams and their results can be collected on 23rd August from the school. KS3 Science Club and G&T Science Club: Letters will be going out at the beginning of next term inviting students to join us and detailing the planned events for the first term.
Science Inter-Faculty Balloon Race
Outstanding Students
The winners of this year’s Balloon Car Racing competition were the Green Faculty. Billy Lucas’ design using a bottle, was inspired, and led him to clinch a narrow victory from the Red Faculty. Well done to all of the students that took part in this spectacular event!
Year 7 - Jade Marney and Louis Wild, both are students who show a real commitment and passion for Science. Year 8 - Amber Macguire, who has worked hard and achieved her 6b target. Year 9 - Lea Ebanks for her A* in the GCSE practice ISA. Year 10 - Herald Menushan, who has had an impressive year resulting in him exceeding his target grade. Congratulations to the many other students who were nominated by their teachers this term.
Art The Art Department has had another busy and productive half term in the run up to the summer holidays. Our Year 7 students have been making and using stencils in their artwork. The tile mural they made earlier in the year looks fantastic and is now ready to go on display.
Year 8 has been working on a project based on movement, and looking at the colourful work of Keith Haring. Year 9 has been working with mixed media, including collage, paint and inks, and creating large pieces of work based on natural forms and textures. Year 10 has been focusing on observational drawing, concentrating mainly on natural forms, which is an important part of their GCSE. We have also held some all day figure drawing and sculpture days, again for our year 10 students, and for AEE week. During these we start with some life drawing, looking at proportion, shape and angles. This leads into sculpture work
using clay, which the students have really enjoyed, and some excellent work has been created. This has been an extremely full year in the department, and we are all very proud of the superb art that the students have worked so hard to create. We hope you all have a fantastic summer break and look forward to the new school year in September.
Outstanding Students Year 7 - Amber Taaffe - for consistently working hard. Year 8 – Christelle Charyn Barrington-Bailey - for excellent effort in class. Year 9 – Patrycia Micek – for the high standard of work produced. Year 10 – Nikita Cooke – Always focused with great homework and classwork.
Modern Foreign Languages Year 7 students have been learning how to tell the time and describe their daily routines and the routines of other young people in different parts of the world.
EXTRA SUPPORT: Parents / Carers could you please ensure your child logs onto the following website once a week to develop their language skills.
In year 8 students have continued to become experts in the world of Sport! This term they focused on football, football commentary and discovering how football supports fair trade and many charities.
www.hellomylo.com Register as a learner and compete against your classmates and other schools in England! Please join the groups I have created using the codes below.
Despite the changeable weather our year 9 students have imagined themselves on holidays abroad! Students have explored a GCSE topic and developed their writing skills. They can now describe where they normally go, where they have been and where they would like to go on holiday this summer 2013. Year 10 students have worked hard this term to produce a grade C and above written Controlled Assessment on new technologies. They have also discussed the world of film and cinema and debated on what is the best film ever produced and why. Our year 11 students completed their final exams in Listening and Reading this term. It was a relief to see many smiles after the exams! Good luck year 11- have a fantastic and successful future!
Year 7 - 8ttY8j Year 8 - Spanish: H7PoS4 Year 9 - Spanish: EoSQXL Year 10 - Spanish: mVy35j Year 10 - French: cMiwFx
Outstanding Students SPANISH Year 7 - Demi Lewis and Luke Lavender for their consistent hard work and participation in lessons. Year 8 - Tierney Lee for consistently working hard and for producing some excellent work this term! Year 9 - Kyra Watkins-Poole for her hard work and determination to improve her level every term! Year 10 - Marcella Silla and Bartosz Smulewicz for achieving an excellent standard in their Controlled Assessment. FRENCH Year 10 - Natasha Colwell and Isabella Mann for outstanding exam results this term!
Student Referral Centre Stem4 MentalWise = MentalCred Student Conference
A group of our year 10 Peer Mentors participated in the Stem4 mental health awareness conference hosted at out sister Academy, Merton. They were joined by seven other local high schools. STEM4 is an excellent new local charity set up to help prevent mental health problems in young people by providing information on recognising early warning signs and symptoms, and giving effective strategies to deal with these conditions. The aim of the conference was to give students the opportunity to learn more about the mental health issues facing young people and then, following discussion, to make suggestions about the best ways to send a message out to other youngsters about the importance of looking after their mental health and what to do if problems arise. Throughout the morning delegates worked with students and staff from other schools on a variety of tasks, reporting back to the entire delegation at periodic intervals and recording ideas electronically. The conference closed at lunch time with final presentations from each group. Our students were at the forefront of this and delivered their presentations with great confidence and aplomb. All participants benefitted from the experience and STEM4 reported that it has learned a great deal about effective ways to deliver the message about mental health issues to young people.
Alive N Kicking Students that attended this after-school healthy lifestyles programme , run for us by the NHS, were able to put into practice the knowledge that they have gained about nutrition during the two final sessions in real life settings. They attended a group shopping experience at the local Co-operative supermarket where they were faced with the challenge of creating a healthy, balanced meal for four people for under ÂŁ5 and, their final session was held at Pizza Express where, under the direction of the resident chef, they made and ate their own pizza which they created using healthy option ingredients. The students have all engaged extremely well throughout the programme and have been given continued free use of the local gym at The Hub during the summer vacation. The course will run again in the Autumn Term.
Re - Track Programme This term’s Re-Track programme culminated in students attending a non-contact boxing session at The Hub, led by a fully accredited boxing coach, as a reward for their excellent participation in the course. The programme aims to assist students manage and modify their behaviour both in and outside of school. . Topics covered include the effects of crime and gang membership, resisting peer pressure, the effects that your actions have on you and others and safeguarding yourself.
Humanities The humanities department has enjoyed a buoyant half term working through topics that have captured pupil’s imagination and sparked interesting debate. In KS3 Year 7 history students have been studying the Peasant’s revolt and the Black Death, two impactful events that changed England forever! Students have been engaged in these topics
Outstanding Students Year 7 - Charlene Feak – An excellent work ethic in lessons which has led to Charlene surpassing her target grade in history. Year 8 - Antoinette Vassel – For a positive attitude in all her humanities subjects towards learning and a desire to help others.
not only by the gory detail but also by discussion around who the winners and losers were after these striking periods in history. Year 8 history students have looked at the Industrial Revolution this half term and therein flexed their “enterprise” muscles by writing and presenting Dragons Den style pitches in the character of an 19th century entrepreneur. In KS3 RP we have looked at different conceptions of God and the diversity of cultural/religious views on the issue. We have also been looking at what is important in life, focusing on areas such as Hindu belief in dharma and the Quiverful Movement within Evangelical Christianity.
Year 9 - Corra Kane – Dedication to her studies and contribution of excellent ideas within class discussion. Year 10 - Katie Mayes – For never giving up in Geography and improving her attainment to a C grade.
In KS4 all students have shown a steely determination to maintain their progress and bolster any gaps in knowledge identified. History Film Club: After school on Wednesday in B205 Mr Dipple has run the film club. Students have had the opportunity to develop their understanding of historical periods studied through the medium of film! Most recently, the “Horrible Histories” series have accompanied the popcorn and led to capacity attendances!
In KS3 Geography we have looked at extreme weather in all its forms, covering topics such as tornadoes, droughts and tropical storms.
Looking ahead we look forward to a successful 2013-14 and to the building of our family history noticeboard that will showcase relatives of pupils who were involved in key historical moments.
English The end of another year, and what a year it has been! Firstly, I would like to welcome back Mrs Watson and Mrs Cotton from maternity leave; it is great to have you both back! We would also like to offer a warm welcome to Ms Catanzaro a fabulous addition to the department. Unfortunately, we are also saying goodbye to Mr Cooper who is leaving us for the delights of the East. We wish him and his wife the best of luck on their new adventure in Shanghai; he will be sorely missed by us and the students! The English Department has witnessed some amazing feats this half term. The Federation Spelling Bee was a ferocious competition and whilst we didn’t win, our representatives: Adele Smith, Reshaun AnthonyCornwall, Ryan Blake, Charmont Webster-Tape, Tara Rousselot and Kyle Sunderland kept on spelling rigorously until the end. We have also had a number of students become published authors in this year’s anthology, produced by the Federation. Congratulations to: Kemarr Angus, Lauren Deutrom, Demi LewisHolder and Natasha Coldwall for becoming part of the ‘Curiosity’ collection of works. An enjoyable trip to Shakespeare’s Globe was had by all last week. Year 7s took part in a drama workshop based around ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ which they have been studying in English this half term. The students were impeccably behaved and performed some amusing pieces in front of their group.
Whilst we’re on the topic of Shakespeare, Ms Cotton and Ms Cantanzaro have held auditions for the Shakespeare School’s Festival production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Students have been allocated parts with Matthew Taylor playing Romeo and Anissa Rosen playing Juliet. Follow us on Twitter!
Outstanding Students Outstanding Students Year 7 - Miss Cantanzaro has nominated Houshang Beigzadeh for ALWAYS giving 100% effort. Libby Meech, Victoria Treacy, Wiktoria Konopka and Charlene Feak have been named by Mrs Watson for their consistently high effort levels along with Aaron Paul for having a great attitude. Ms Dewhirst would also like to celebrate Mia Gilmour for her outstanding performance on AR. Year 8 - Ben Deans, Justyna Michalak and Mohammed Khan have been nominated by Mrs Watson for their tremendous efforts throughout the ‘Macbeth’ unit. Year 9 – Ms Cotton would like to congratulate David Oppong who has worked extremely hard this year alongside Bilguun Binderiya and Francesca Taylor who have shown an excellent attitude. Miss Harrison would like to name Clement Uzokwu for always smiling and being a positive influence on his peers. Akshay Chundunsing, Abshar Ahmed, Lea Ebanks, Lauren Deutrom, Tariq Shoble, Natasha Francis, Navid Rehman, Brandon Wilson and Megan Stephens have all been nominated by Mr Gardner for their excellent verbal contributions in a hard-working year 9 class. Year 10 - Abbas Agha and Shakai Williams have been nominated by Miss Harrison for their comedic and original interpretation of the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. Ms Dewhirst has nominated the following students for their outstanding work and attitude to learning : Shauna Marney, Natasha Coldwell, Rochelle Knowles, Mohammed Khan. Mr Gardner wishes to congratulate his WHOLE class for being absolutely fabulous. You all work really hard and are fun and opinionated too, making you great to work with!
Design and Technology The design and technology department has enjoyed a brilliant Summer term. The students have been working hard in all areas to produce some really pleasing results. Mr Fortt’s year 7, 8 and 9 students have been keen to develop their work and levels in intervention clubs.
Outstanding Students Food / Textiles Year 7 - Karim Berrada for positivity and strong practical skills Year 8 - Billy Lucas for consistent improvement in practical skills and teamwork Year 9 - Louie-Marie Smith - Consistently producing good quality food Year 10 - Jadine Rice -Strong class contribution
Cooking club has been going well with a range of delightful products being taken home.
Resistant Materials / Graphics Year 7- Roberto Da Silva Junior– For his
Year 10 resistant materials and textiles students have been working on their preparation for their GCSE controlled assessment work, in year 11, which is worth 60% of their final mark.
‘can do’ attitude
Year 8 resistant materials students are coming back to work on their personalised signs using a range of materials and vacuum forming, year 9 is re-designing a prototype toothbrush holder and year 7 has been getting to grips with acrylic and adding skills to their bookend.
Year 8 – Claudia Silva Elias – For her
The year 7 groups have been working in teams to develop testing structures which has been preparing them for their AEE day in July.
Anjeela Thapa– For her meticulous attention to detail excellent work ethic in class Qasim Shahzad – For all his hard work and eagerness Year 9 – Abraham Avice – For his strong technical ability Year 10 – Ryan Thomas and Danielle BealeConsistent effort
This term we had fantastic successes in the interfaculty challenge Ready Steady Cook with the blue faculty coming first! Year 10 textiles went on an amazing research based trip for their costume design to Kensington Palace and the Victoria and Albert Museum and saw many of the costumes from Princess Diana’s and Queen Elizabeth’s wardrobes.
COURAGE, CHALLENGE, SUCCESS