Harris Academy Riverside Prospectus

confidence, compassion, community

#inspireyourcommunity

#inspireyourcommunity

Our Vision Harris Academy Riverside seeks to develop students who are successful, confident and happy, who inspire their community and who act with kindness and compassion towards others.

Our Ethos In our procedures and daily routines, our broad and varied curriculum, our pedagogical model and through our commitment to providing experience of the wider world, we aim to promote a strong sense of community and belonging, to provide a blend of high challenge and high support and to encourage the development of: • Outstanding habits of behaviour such as self-awareness, kindness, appreciation, humility, politeness, confident self-expression and self-presentation; • Outstanding habits of learning such as determination, resilience, organisation, reading, studying and practice.

Welcome Harris Academy Riverside is a brand new secondary academy for the local community.

We are part of the Harris Federation, a not-for-profit charity which runs 44 successful schools in and around London – all of which are rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted, with the majority rated ‘outstanding’.

Nicky Graham, Executive Principal

Andrew Betts, Head of Academy

We want students at Harris Academy Riverside to learn the skills, behaviours and habits which will serve them and the wider community throughout their lives. Our teachers and other members of staff emphasise the value of hard work, practice and determination, as well as the importance of kindness and respect for others.

We hope this prospectus gives you an idea of what life at Harris Riverside is like. Please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions.

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An academy for

THE local community We are a sister academy to the ‘outstanding’ Harris Academy Chafford Hundred (HACH), where our Head of Academy, Andrew Betts, worked from 2002.

Nicky Graham is joint Executive Principal across both academies.

In their work at our new academy, Nicky and Andrew have built on their experience at HACH, which is academically successful and always oversubscribed.

Harris Academy Riverside, which was already oversubscribed in its first year, provides local young people with an excellent education in a friendly, calm and purposeful environment.

Whether they need to be stretched, are struggling, or are somewhere in the middle, we support and work with our students to meet their individual needs. We are driven and ambitious on behalf of every student, helping them to achieve their ‘personal best’.

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Happy and welcome from day one We want all our Year 7s to feel welcome and cared for so we work hard to ensure that the transition from primary school is as smooth as possible.

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We know it is important that staff get to know our new students as individuals to ensure that they feel happy and welcome at our academy.

Each student has an individual development plan which regularly details progress, successes and setbacks openly and honestly so that parents or carers, teachers and senior staff can help each student to reflect and move forward.

There is a dedicated pastoral lead whose only role is to get to know students and work with them to help them develop.

We aim to promote a strong sense of belonging by building teamwork and responsibility into daily routines. In addition, the academy has a student leadership team in Year 7 made up of students who have been either elected or appointed by interview.

Parents are encouraged to get involved with their children’s education and to visit on a regular basis, whether for special events or to hear about their son or daughter’s progress. Reports are sent home every half term.

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Our curriculum Whether your child needs to be stretched, is struggling or is somewhere in the middle, our skilled staff will work with them to meet his or her individual needs.

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Students enjoy a broad curriculum which will prepare them for examinations and for later life. We deliver engaging and challenging lessons which expose students to some of the best of what has gone before – famous poems and literature, the most important inventions and the most remarkable of mankind’s achievements – as well as exploring subjects of the future like artificial intelligence, digital technology and product design.

As they progress through the academy, students specialise, refining their subject choices. Our skilled staff will assist this process so that students make informed decisions about their future studies and work.

Daily homework (which we call ‘prep’ because it is work set to prepare students for the upcoming lessons – articles to read and facts to learn in advance, for example) ensures that students learn how to work independently and establishes an ongoing momentum of study that makes it much easier when the time comes to revise for exams.

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A wide range of

extra-curricular activities Learning does not begin and end at the classroom door and we recognise, support and nurture the wide-ranging talents of our students.

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As well as striving for academic excellence, we encourage students to find at least one activity or club that they enjoy and can excel in. This encourages self-confidence and social skills.

We work hard to cater to a wide range of interests.

Wherever there is demand for a club or activity, we will always try to find a way to make it happen.

As a Harris academy, we are also part of Harris Experience.

This programme has been designed for the most able students from Year 9 onwards. It exposes them to a range of cultural experiences that take their learning well beyond the curriculum. Recent examples range from learning the art of auctioneering at Christie’s to a day of lectures at the University of Oxford.

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A brand new building We are currently operating in a self-contained area of the newly built Harris Primary Academy Mayflower and we will have our own purpose-built space in time for September 2019 in the heart of Purfleet, close to the railway station.

Thurrock Council and the Purfleet Centre Regeneration team are working hard to make our new building the first to be delivered as part of the regeneration of Purfleet town centre.

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Modern and welcoming, it will house specialist facilities that cater for the academy’s curriculum as well as serving the wider community. These will include new science laboratories, a sports hall, main hall and dining hall, along with other, smaller halls available for drama and fitness activities.

Once we move into the new building, a subsidised coach service will be provided for Chafford and South Stifford families who have enrolled their children over the previous two years.

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The Harris Federation Our academy is run by the Harris Federation, a not-for-profit charity with nearly 30 years’ experience of running happy and successful primary and secondary schools in and around London.

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The Harris Federation has an exceptional track record with academic progress far greater than the national average.

Every Harris academy so far inspected by Ofsted is rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’, with the majority rated ‘outstanding’.

The founder and Chairman of the Harris Federation is Lord Harris of Peckham. His vision of delivering happy and successful education is brought to life by an excellent team of teachers and leaders.

As well as joint working between the teachers at our academies, there are many shared experiences for our students. These include federation-wide sports days at the National Sports Centre; Harris Experience, a unique programme that readies our most able students for life at top universities; and inter-academy events such as one-to-one reading partnerships between our primary and secondary schools, World Maths Day and Debate Mate.

You can follow the Harris Federation on Twitter: @HarrisFed.

Admissions For information about our upcoming open events and how to apply for a place, please visit our website: www.harrisriverside.org.uk

#inspireyourcommunity

Mayflower Road, Chafford Hundred, Essex RM16 6SA T: 01375 802060  Email: info@harrisriverside.org.uk  www.harrisriverside.org.uk

#inspireyourcommunity