Harris Messenger - Summer 2015

SUMMER 2015

Harris messenger

hARRIS MESSENGER SUMMER 2015

Courage, challenge, success

Message from THE Principal The year as a whole has been a great success for the Academy. We have achieved a very impressive Ofsted report and our popularity within the community continues to rise.

The number of applications for Year 7 has significantly increased and there is a real possibility of the Academy being oversubscribed in September for the very first time! This is a fantastic achievement and we are very proud of the progress we continue to make.

Throughout the year students and teachers have been involved in some

The Academy also hosted over 100 teachers as part of the London School's Excellence Fund and helped them to develop the subjects of

wonderful events and activities. We have

English, Maths, Science, ICT, History Geography and Spanish. I am very

seen the Academy Chess competitions take off and our Year 7’s using

proud of our Subject Directors who have helped other colleagues across

this experience to help them compete with Harris Merton Year 10

London get to grips with the changes in the National Curriculum and

students! This shows how good our students are becoming at mastering

GCSE syllabus.

the game. Equally, we have seen trips to Switzerland, Spain, many famous landmarks across London as part of our A.E.E. weeks and even

The highlights above are only a small token of the activities and events

ball boys/girls at the world famous Wimbledon Tennis Championship.

across an academic year at Harris Academy Morden but equally they

The Academy has also developed partnerships with some very interesting groups.

members.

demonstrate the exciting opportunities for both students and staff

We now have the internationally renowned Unity All Stars Cheerleading Club based on site. They provide extra-curricular clubs for our students and run a programme for over 400 boys and girls during their evening classes.

We are currently working hard with local groups and companies to allow us to offer additional clubs and activities to our students and the local community.

fEDERATION CHESS tOURNAMENT

Art & Design It has been an exciting and productive Summer term in the Art Department. Students throughout the years have been working incredibly hard on a huge range of topics, utilising both traditional and more unusual methods and materials.

Year 7 students have been very busy

3-dimensional artwork in clay and

exploring a wide variety of materials

mixed media.

in their artwork and producing work based on ‘Cubism’. This has resulted in observational work that is visually arresting and experimental.

Year 8 have been working on the theme of ‘Up Close’, allowing the students to use magnifying glasses to draw objects found in nature such as flowers, leaves, beetles and

Our Year 11 students have been extremely busy all year completing their coursework and then producing exam prep-work that was very personal and meaningful. They produced exam work that was very impressive and we wish them the very best for the future.

butterflies. The results of this work have been very impressive with much of it going on display around the school.

With Year 9 now starting their GCSE in art they have been working hard on the theme of nature. This project has allowed the students to work more independently than in previous years, finding inspiration through personal research and developing work tailored to their own interests and choices. Year 10 students have also been working on the theme of nature, creating very interesting

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Darja in Year 8 - ‘Close up’ – watercolour and poster paints

Siyana in Year 11 - ‘Human condition’ – mixed media

Aspire, Experi A.E.E. Week - Summer 2015

Harris Academy Morden strives to create fantastic experiences for all of our students. To broaden the students’ experiences we run a week of ‘Outstanding’ educational opportunities. During July students were removed from their timetabled lessons to participate in the Aspire, Experience and Explore Week.

Exploring london Our ‘Walking Tour of London’ started from Waterloo, with students walking into Jubilee Gardens to find their first group of answers to the tour quiz. Strangely only 4 students got the correct answer to ‘How many capsules are attached to the London Eye?’ – apparently they were hard to count as they kept moving! Some students showed an amazing knowledge of flags as we passed many official buildings on our way to Trafalgar Square, and easily answered our one quiz question on flags. Once in Trafalgar Square students challenged themselves both intellectually, converting Roman numerals from the monuments to our everyday number system as part of the quiz, and physically, by climbing as high as was allowed at the base of Nelson’s Column.

From here, we walked down The Mall just in time to see the changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, always a great occasion, and to hear the band playing on the Palace forecourt. With this beautiful music as our background, we had lunch in Green Park, and students set up their own mini sports challenges in the sunshine. With time running out, we walked back through the tourist packed area of Westminster, with Big Ben chiming overhead.

Students finally collapsed into their seats on the tube from Waterloo for their short journey home to Morden.

ience, Explore Kew Gardens The final day of A.E.E. week offered our group a real treat: Kew Gardens. The weather was perfect: not too hot, but warm and sunny. The journey, although long, seemed to fly by with the anticipation of the natural wonders which awaited us.

Upon arrival (and after a quick refreshments stop) we plotted our route for the day: Temple of Arethusa; Rhizotron and Xstrata Treetop Walkway; Mediterranean Garden; Palm House and finally the Victoria Plaza.

The Temple of Arethusa although small was a beautiful example of how simple can be truly effective! We then marched onto the eagerly anticipated Rhizotron and Xstrata Treetop Walkway. With baited breath the group started the ascent to the top. It clearly became apparent that most had underestimated the number of steps to the top. Once composed, the class took to the walk-way to admire the views and walk-way experience.

The Palm House offered the students an opportunity to experience the temperature and humidity of the rain forest and a glimpse into the marine life through the aquarium. After a well-deserved rest and snack break, sadly it was time to head home. The groups seemed to thoroughly enjoy the experience. A great day was had by all.

Horniman Museum Year 7 enjoyed a trip to the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill where they visit the Aquarium and Petting Zoo and learning about natural history and African art, as well as appreciating a wildlife photography exhibition!

Mathematics Firstly a thank you to all the mathematics staff who worked tirelessly putting on extra provision for all our Year 11 students. We had Year 11 students arriving at the school at 7am and not leaving until 6.30pm on regular occasions, all making the most of the revision sessions put on offer.

In other news, we have had record Year 10 mock results, which is very promising for next year. We have also installed our new maths online program, Manga High. This program has been preferred to other online programs due to the bespoke challenge offered to every student. The more questions each student gets correct, the harder the questions become. The success of the program has been unpreceded with Harris Academy Morden currently holding 4th spot in a nationwide challenge.

Two of our maths teachers spent a week revising and reforming our new maths curriculum. Since the national government’s proposal to shake up the mathematics syllabus, we are privileged to have some of our own teachers engaged in the new curriculum design.

VISIT - WWW.MANGAHIGH.COM

Harris Federation Chess Tournament held at Harris Academy Morden, July 2015

Numeracy There have been multiple numeracy activities that have taken place this year. The Pi recital competition was one of many events occurring during Numeracy Week which also featured a staff dingbat competition. This year’s contest was won by Dario in R7B, who recited Pi to an astonishing 200 decimal places! With second and third place going to Hassan in G7B (180 decimal places) and Michelle in G4 (166 decimal places) respectively.

A number of students were able to recall Pi to more than 100 decimal places!

The inter-faculty quiz was won by the Green faculty after they pipped the Blue Faculty in a thrilling tie breaker question. The winning team was comprised of Elouise (B8), Pierre (Y2), and Kamile (Y7).

In addition a team was entered into the UKMT Team Challenge. Well done to those students for their hard work and effort, which resulted in an enjoyable and rewarding day!

Finally, a big congratulations to Tony-Junior Bryant in B7B who attempted all of the questions in the ‘Questions in the Corridor’ competition.

Numeracy Inter-Faculty Winners!

Science It has been a demanding but successful year for us in the Science Department. A special thank you to all of the Science teachers who have given up their time to ensure that our Year 11s succeed in their GCSEs. Also special thanks you to Ms Martin and Mrs Navaratnarajah for their continued support with practical work and engaging our budding scientists through enrichment clubs and other activities.

Race Day at the Formula E London ePrix!

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On Saturday 27 June 2015, Harris Academy Morden made history alongside 11 other schools by taking part in the first ever British Formula E School Series in London’s Battersea Park.

Run by UK-based charity, Greenpower Education Trust, the FE School Series, comprises of students aged 11-16 who build and race their own electric racing car, learning hands-on sustainable engineering skills while experiencing the thrill of racing on the same inner-city street circuits on which the stars of Formula E compete.

Harris Academy Morden and Truro High School for Girls (an Independent Girls Schools from Cornwall) have worked in partnership to share resources, staff and opportunities to compete in this huge global event.

A huge crowd of over 8000 spectators attended the vast event in Battersea Park. All students were made to feel like superstars!

Preparing the race car!

The event requires each school to build the car from scratch. The team built the car and then travelled for a weekend at Goodwood Race track to try and fine tune the car.

The Academy finished 7th in the Battersea event from a total of 12 schools.

Mr Mallin, Principal, said “The Greenpower events have been a great experience. We are a London school, yet we are working with an Independent school from Cornwall. We are sharing resources, expertise and time to provide large numbers of students the chance to build and race Formula E cars. At the same time students are getting really excited about the possibilities engineering can bring now, and in the future.

Over 60,000 people watched the event in person over the two day programme and millions of others watched the first event on the TV. The event in London will be even larger next year!

Iman (R6), Tope (Y5) and Matteo (R7) with 'The 11th Hour' race car

Physical Education The PE department this year have introduced a range of new extra-curricular clubs for pupils to participate in including: cheerleading, dance, gymnastics, a football academy, archery and fencing. These clubs have been well-attended and offer pupils a whole range of activities to experience. These will continue into the new school year.

Charmont sets the pace!

Wimbledon Tennis

Charmont (R3) has had another extremely successful year winning

Daniel (G4) was able to ball boy at this year’s Wimbledon Championships. He

100m gold in Surrey Schools, Surrey Counties and English Schools.

passed the difficult training programme and had a very enjoyable two weeks.

Charmont is currently ranked 3rd nationally but we expect her to really push first and second next year. Well done Charmont!

Daniel was also fortunate to meet one of the greatest tennis players of all time Roger Federer!

Charmont (R3) - 100m Champion at the Surrey Schools

UKSA SaILING TRIP Forty Year 7 students had the opportunity to go on the UKSA Isle of Wight trip where they participated in many water based activities like kayaking, raft building and sailing. The weather was brilliant for the weekend and the pupils had a great time and lots of fun!

Daniel (G4) pictured with the Wimbledon Men's runner-up, Roger Federer

The PE department would like to thank everyone who has attended extra-curricular clubs and fixtures for all your hard work and hope for even more success next year!

Students take up the UKSA Raft Building Challenge

Daniel in his Wimbledon uniform

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Harris Federation Sports Day On Thursday 9th July in hot temperatures, our Harris Academy Morden athletes visited the Crystal Palace sports arena, taking the school with them to see an enthralling day unfold. The Harris Federation Sports Day has been going on for over seven years with the 2015 event setting a milestone for future events to try and match in the future. Harris Federation Sports Day is an opportunity for all schools in the Harris Federation to compete in athletics. It was also a chance for all students and members of staff to come together as one, have a day off the usual timetable, and also to enjoy the many talents we have in our Federation.

Harris Academy Morden had an excellent start, with Takunda (Y10) winning the long jump gold medal before we had even arrived! We collected many other medals during the day, ranging from bronze to the coveted gold medal.

Harris Academy Morden former student Salmaan spoke to Hamza a for his opinion on the event: The Harris Federation Sports day is known for its magnitude, the emphatic students and the pulsating atmosphere, what do you like most about the event?

“Being able to show and express your abilities in a big arena in front of that many students is what drew me to participate in the event, it was a great experience!”

Sir Dan Moynihan, Nicky Morgan & Lord Harris

Students hiding in the shade!

The official Guest of Honour, Nicky Morgan, Member of Parliament for Loughborough was there to support the students and give a speech on the importance of sport before the events had commenced. Many other VIP’s were there also including Lord Harris with Team GB sprinters Shannon & Cheriece Hylton A variety of our students took part in all manner of track and field events.

Although we did not come first this year, we arguably had the most passion for our athletes, who represented our school well. Even if they did not receive a medal, they were always the first to shake the hands of their opponents, showing great unity and sportsmanship.

The day consisted of many races, field events and various performances from vocal pieces to cheerleading and special appearances. Students across all 15 academies, from year seven to year ten competed against each other to win A huge well done to the school for the excellent behaviour shown and to the achievements of our athletes, also a massive thank you to the 1000’s of Harris students, staff, guests, stewards and security who made the day possible.

Takunda (Y10) with his Gold

Students enjoying the day

Congratulations to all students who took part and all those who won their events!

MFL Modern foreign Languages Year 7 worked well this year and produced an excellent standard of work. Special congratulations to Benedict Reid-Jones (Y4) for winning the 'Spanish art game competition!' It was an excellent game and very creative, well done!

Key Stage 4 has worked exceptionally hard to produce brilliant Controlled Assessments. A special mention to Tara Rousselot (R7) and Paeton De Coteau (B6) in Year 9 for achieving outstanding results in their first speaking exam!

The Korean club has grown in popularity and has given students opportunities to cook Korean food and learn th

Taekwondo from a 7 Dan instructor, Dong Jin Bae. Mrs Kweon wanted to congratulate Saharla Gibson and Syeda Islam for their commitment to speaking Korean at every opportunity and for 100% attendance!

sPANISH TRIP TO COSTA BRava

Cooking up a storm - our very own Korean Chefs!

Miss Marshall, Mr Adou, Miss Juszczyk, Mr Cabanes, Miss Low and 49 students returned from a successful 7 day trip to Tossa de Mar, Costa Brava in Spain. The students were a pleasure to be with and enjoyed their time visiting many monuments: Camp Nou (Barcelona football stadium), La Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, Parc Dalmau, beaches, castles and much more!

Students pose for a photo in the sun outside the famous Camp Nou Football Stadium

Activities during our visit to Tossa de Mar

Selfie whilst Exploring Barcelona!

The MFL team would like to wish Miss Corchero well as she begins her Maternity leave! Enjoy motherhood and we look forward to meeting baby Corchero soon!

Staff and pupils would like to thank Miss Navarro for her hard work and support this year. We will miss you but wish you luck in your new job and school!

Posing with a colourful street performer

English Through a series of inspiring and wide-ranging topics, the English Department at Harris Academy Morden aims to nurture and encourage creative and independent thinking as well as promoting rigour in grammatical accuracy and articulate communication. Our aim is to produce the authors, poets and journalists with a passion for the English language, but also competent speakers, listeners, readers and writers who will excel in business, university and further education, regardless of their academic interests.

In lessons, students in Years 7-9 have also been engaging with a variety of

short stories for the Federation Anthology, and all students in Year 7 and 8

texts: from Shakespeare to Michael Morpurgo; poetry to political speeches;

interviewed an older member of their community to produce transcripts that

interacting with authorial voices from the UK and all around the world. They

gave them – and their teachers and readers – an insight into the past.

have learnt how to write in different styles for different purposes, how to analyse language and read between the lines for hidden and implied meaning, and to make words come alive in dramatic performances, motivational speeches and formal presentations.

To encourage reading for pleasure outside of lesson time, a series of events are run throughout the school year including ‘Book Buddy Breakfasts’ where community volunteers come into school to read with Key Stage 3 students and World Book Day that saw two members of staff dressing up as the literary duo, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, much to the delight of the student body.

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson

One of our ongoing Key Stage 3 projects is the Shakespeare School's Festival.

This event is the UK's largest youth drama festival and it offers students from all backgrounds the opportunity to perform Shakespeare on their local professional stage. In the Autumn Term, our Year 8 students exhibited their talent in a stunning performance of ‘The Tempest’, by Shakespeare. They exuded confidence, passion and true brilliance as they performed their interpretation of the play and preparations are already underway for this year’s festival.

Antoinette speaking to her audience Following a year-wide competition in the Autumn Term, Harris Academy Morden held the regional finals for the Jack Petchey ‘Speak Out’ Challenge, a project that raises the profile of public speaking and develops students’ oracy skills. Three of our Year 10 students competed in the final, which was judged by high profile members of the local community and attended by parents, teachers and friends. The quality of speaking throughout the evening was very impressive.

Book Buddy Breakfasts - July 2015 Being part of the Harris Federation means that students regularly have the opportunity to exhibit their skills on a wider stage through Federation Competitions such as the Short Story and Literacy Anthology. This year, Key Stage 3 students were invited to let their imaginations run wild to submit

Mayor of Merton presenting Christelle with her certificate

Inter-faculty events As part of the annual competition to find the best faculty, students regularly take part in competitive events organised by each department to earn points for their respective faculties. Students have been challenged in many ways, from code-breaking to protecting an egg when thrown from a great height!

Here are some photos of the Inter-Faculty Baking Competition in aid of Comic Relief 2015

Students put their baking skills to the test to raise money for Comic Relief 2015!

Most-able students A group of our most-able students in Year 9 and 10 were selected to take part in this year’s Harris Experience Programme. This programme provides some wonderful opportunities for these students to be challenged, be exposed to a range of different study and career options and become more culturally aware. Trips included the Royal Opera House, Oxford University and Barts Hospital. The year concluded for the Year 9 cohort with a trip to Christie's Auctions house where students were taught the tricks of the auctioneering trade and then Tara (R7) and Krystina give directions as our artwork is hung at Christie's Auctions House sold a painting that they had produced themselves. The masterpiece was bought by Lord Harris for £270 – all proceeds are being donated to Save the Children.

MSSP Merton School Sport Partnership After a term to settle into its new home the Merton School Sports Partnership based at Harris Academy Morden, has had an eventful term. The MSSP team have been encouraging the Harris staff to demonstrate their sporting prowess by organising various internal netball/volleyball competitions and local derby football matches against our rivals Harris Academy Merton.

In addition to this the partnership delivers various enrichment clubs for the school. Due to popular demand, Mr Riches, partnership coach, continued to deliver the weekly table tennis club during the spring and summer term, attracting 25 participants each week. Ms Forshaw, Morden Sports Co-ordinator, delivered a Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 rounders club, which is always highly attended by both girls and boys.

The Key Stage 4 girls finished as runners up at the Merton Borough Year 10 Rounders Competition which was a fantastic achievement.

The Academy is always accommodating when it comes to providing the partnership with sports leaders. The outstanding Year 8 leaders assisted at various borough events this term including the Boccia and both the Year 3 and 4 and Year 5 and 6 Key Steps Gymnastics at Canons Leisure Centre, Mitcham. These leaders also assisted at Perseid Sports Day by delivering a multi skills festivals for the primary pupils and athletics activities for the secondary pupils.

Various other sports leaders have also been used this term; the

Primary students holding their stance - Gifted & Talented Day 2015

Academy’s cricket team were used to officiate at the Morden Cluster Year 5/6 Kwick Cricket Competition at Mitcham Cricket Club. Over 30 leaders volunteered at the partnership’s Key Stage 2 'Gifted and Talented Sports Day'. The Year 10 leaders also assisted the partnership at the Academy’s Year 5 Open Evening by organising a series of multi skills activities.

“The Gifted and Talented Day was amazing! The children all really enjoyed it, I wish they had done something like this when I was at primary school”.

Sports Leader Deja (B5) Leaders at Gifted & Talented Day The partnership team have also aided the Academy with taking pupils to offsite sporting events. Mr Riches and Mr Sanders have both helped take the school’s cheerleading squad to Federation trails at Harris Academy Greenwich. Mr Sanders also took a group of students to watch an England Cricket Test Match, at Lords. In addition to this Mr Riches also assisted the Academy by taking pupils to the Federation Athletics Trials at Croydon Sports Arena, which saw Charmont, set the bar high winning the 200m! Charmont (R3) has had a fantastic year in her athletics career she also won gold in the 100m at the English Schools, Charmont has an promising career ahead of her.

Morden Cluster Year 5/6 Kwick Cricket

For more information visit www.mertonssp.org.uk

hISTORY The summer term saw the end of the GCSE History exams for 2014/15 and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our exiting Year 11 students for their hard work and dedication over the past 2 years. They have consistently attended after school and weekend sessions, which could finish up late into the evening and afternoon respectively.

On a staffing note, we say goodbye and good luck to Ms Mathieson who has been promoted to SEND Co-ordinator. Ms Mathieson has been integral to the History Department’s success over the past few years and will be sorely missed.

The summer term also saw the History Department’s first meeting with the Royal family!

In June we were invited to join members of the Royal Family, David Cameron and other dignitaries in commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. Lukas Springer in B4 represented the student body and helped contribute to an online book reflecting on the battle.

In the spirit of marking anniversaries, the department has also taken a number of students to visit the Magna Carta at London’s Guildhall to mark the 800th year anniversary of the sealing of the Great Charter by King John at Runnymede.

Students across all year groups have shown outstanding progress and we look forward to

Battle of Waterloo Ceremony attended by Lukas in B4

this success continuing next year.

gEOGRAPHY It has been an exciting year for HAMD Geography Department. Lucky winner of the Jack Petchey award, Kiera Marshall, chose to spend £200 with the Geography Department. Her donation will provide a trip for all GCSE students in Year 11 to go to Kew Gardens and have a tour of the tropical rainforest plants! It was also used to purchase brand new atlases that students of all years can take advantage of.

The Year 10 GCSE class had their Geography field trip this summer. It was a fantastic day spent at Herne Bay in Kent, where pupils undertook geographical investigations they had been planning, as well as having an opportunity to put their work they had done in coasts to the test! They are now using the information that was collected to produce coursework that will contribute to their final GCSE grade.

The amazing Palm House where we will be visiting later in the year!

The department also had to wave goodbye to a great Year 11 group that worked extremely hard for their geography exams. Results are out in August and we are hopeful of some great, well deserved grades.

Popularity of Geography has soared, and we are happy to welcome 3 new Standing in front of the ocean at Herne Bay fieldwork trip

GCSE classes starting in September. They have worked hard in Year 8 and we look forward to continuing to teach them for the next 3 years.

Religion & Philosophy Over the Summer term Year 7 have been exploring what God means to them and what different world views across the globe teach about God. Students have explored whether or not God exists, and the different reasons for these conflicting beliefs and passionately debated their positions.

Year 8 has been exploring the value of religion in the modern world and have been debating whether or not they believe we might be better off without religion. Some very interesting views have been put across in a very academic manner ensuring the discussion on this matter was at times heated but always fascinating.

Year 10 have continued their GCSE studies developing their understanding of the different religious responses to a range of issues such as same sex marriages, animal rights and global warming. Students are also looking forward to their trip to St Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Cathedral to compare the different symbolism used within Anglican and Catholic Christianity.

Psychology

St Paul's Cathedral

This term, both Year 9 and Year 10 students have been learning about how to plan and deliver psychological research. Both groups have performed actual experiments to test a range of hypotheses such as; completing two tasks at the same time will have negative effect on attention and memory is affected by how long you have to recall the information.

All students now demonstrate a good deal of confidence in understanding how to run an experiment which will prove useful in their exams but more importantly in their future psychological studies.

Both year groups are also making good progress in their understanding of exam technique so should be on course to get some good results in their GCSE exams in the years to come.

St Paul's Cathedral

Can we effectively multi-task?

Charities Students have been very active in their charitable events and contributions this year. At the beginning of the year, each Faculty was asked to select a charity to represent and support and the following were chosen:

BLUE

RED

GREEN

YELLOW

Each term, different events have been organised by our charity representatives to raise money for the charities above. We have had cake sales, film nights, Easter egg sales, sports challenges, face painting on Sports Day and much more.

As a whole school, we have raised money wearing Christmas jumpers and we also had lots of events taking place on Red Nose Day to help support this worthy charity. Students took part in a charity bake off competition and lots of students were completing sponsored silences, which was bliss for the teachers!

We hope that all the money we have raised this year will help those in need both in the local community and further afield.

Resistant Materials Year 7 have been designing and making Acrylic Key tags and Fridge magnets in Design and Technology Resistant Materials with Mr Cresswell. They learned how to mark out, cut, shape and finish acrylic to make their designs a reality and vacuumed formed their packaging. All designs were based on a theme and for a specific person in mind.

Year 8 have been designing and making bridges and testing them for strength. They worked in teams to design ideas based on triangles in frame structures, a real Engineering Year 7 Acrylic Key-tags task! They made their bridges as a model and tested them by hanging weights from them to see which was strongest.

There was a lot of creaking, twisting and bending of material! Year 8 have also been designing their own boards games based on a theme of their choice. They have designed the board, game cards, accessories and instructions using a CAD program called 2D design. It is always a thrill to see such a range of imaginative ideas in such a creative atmosphere!

Year 9 have been designing and making a range of products in preparation for GCSE and most recently have been designing and making their own push or pull along wooden toys. Creativity is flowing down in B130!

Hospitality and Catering Year 10 students were set the task to select, modify and make four dishes that include the use of fruit and vegetable. They all had to be new and innovative to suit their target market. The dishes had to be annotated with detailed descriptions of what ingredients are being used in the making and with the garnish or decoration of the product. Students had to analyse the dishes they chose and include a write up on the nutritional value it provides. They also had to compare it with the healthy eating guidelines and suggest ways in which their dish can be made healthier.

Vinkita's (Y5) wonderfully presented assessment!

The use of vibrant colour was vital to accomplish an appetising set of products.

The product range included appetisers, main courses and desserts. All four dishes had to be prepared and served in three hour. Students used a multitude of skills and techniques and produced a wide variety of food products exhibiting the creative use of fruit and vegetable.

EAL English as an additional language It has been an exciting, yet busy Academic year for the EAL Department. The EAL team has been amazed by the extraordinary levels of enthusiasm, commitment and resilience displayed by all of the students who come to TLC (The Language Centre) to attend their intervention sessions, extra-curricular clubs and GCSE tuition in their community languages.

27 students worked extremely hard during their weekly extracurricular tuition sessions in Polish, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian and Italian to make sure that their home language GCSE exam this summer will result in A and A*.

To reward the outstanding effort and determination, all the EAL intervention students have been invited to watch the world’s famous circus performance, ‘Kooza’ by Cirque du Soleil, at Royal Albert Hall. It was an unforgettable, inspiring and breath-taking finale to the Spring term.

Throughout the year the EAL Department has been celebrating our Academy’s cultural diversity through the Festivals of the world display in the International corridor. The display has been updated every month and the students had an opportunity to explore the cultural festivals such as St Patrick’s Day, Chinese New Year or Diwali and take part in the competitions.

The Language Centre - TLC

Interactive study time in the TLC

The academic year has culminated with the AEE Week Languages Day organised by the TLC staff. All the students in year 8 were exploring the language and culture of France, Poland and Spain through the different workshops: Ms Naidu in her Pattiserie Parisiene session has taught the students to make chocolate croissants; Ms Debruyne’s workshop focused on ordering food in the French restaurant; Mr Shackleton has explored the geography of Poland; Ms Wolanin taught the tourist’s survival phrases in Polish; Ms Corchero’s session focused on Spanish Cubists followed by Ms Freedman’s Paint like Picasso’s art workshop.

The students thoroughly enjoyed all the sessions and developed their appreciation of other cultures.

Enrichment At Harris Academy Morden we offer an extensive after school programme of boosters and clubs, with all Year 7 and 8 students expected to attend at least 2 clubs a week and older students attending after school booster and revision sessions to support them in achieving their best.

Korean Club Learn Taekwondo!

Kicking practice!

This year students have been able to choose from a range of exciting activities from 3D Art and Computer Coding to Genealogy and Korean! As ever, the PE staff have worked with a range of professional coaches to offer a wide range of sports clubs from Archery and Athletics to Table Tennis and Girls’ Football.

Students taking part in Archery Club

Student Referral Centre During September and March the S.R.C. facilitated Self-Esteem and Positive Friendship intervention programmes to support the smooth transition from primary to secondary school for our Year 7 students. These three week courses consisted of group work sessions with students engaging in positive thinking exercises, role play and team building games to boost confidence and self-belief.

In January seven of our Year 10 boys attended a 5 week programme delivered

by METRO – a Young Man’s Project commissioned by Merton Council to support young men aged between 11-19 to progress their behaviour, attitude and knowledge about sex, relationships and risky behaviour.

The project is designed to elevate young men’s self-esteem and to assist in building healthy and respectful relationships and informed life choices, similarly nine of our Year 10 girls attended the ‘Check It Out’ project facilitated by the NHS Outreach Programme to address similar issues affecting young girls today.

Recently two Year 9 students have successfully completed the Life Course run by the London Fire Brigade, the students attended a four day course where they

Students taking part in the Self-Esteem Workshop

participated in activities including squad drills, basic first aid and using fire appliance to instil discipline, self-motivation, teamwork and leadership skills. Both students thoroughly enjoyed this course and passed with flying colours!

Students taking part in the Metro - Young Man's Project

Year 6 Induction Day

Formula E Race Day

Sports Day 2015 Harris messenger - Summer Edition 2015 www.harrismorden.org.uk

Courage, challenge, success