Values and Ethos
HAPU is an outstanding, vibrant, mixed school for students aged 11 - 19 with specialisms in enterprise and sport.
We are ambitious to build on the outstanding success of the Academy thus far, already a well-established centre of academic, artistic, sporting and technological excellence.
We teach students from diverse backgrounds, cultures and abilities and enable them to make exceptional progress both academically and in their wider personal development.
Our passion and expectation is that each and every student who joins Harris Academy Purley achieves and exceeds their ‘potential’. We want our students to be inspired and engaged in their learning, developing strong ambition and resilience to succeed. In all aspects of school life we emphasise the traditional values of respect, integrity and self-discipline. These underpin our entire philosophy.
Our students join us for a seven year journey, with the expectation that they will continue their education into our Sixth Form.
Learning, Excellence, Unity, Integrity
Learning and Achievement. This is our core business – students learning and leading to outstanding achievement. We expect students to learn in every lesson and to make progress from whatever their starting point may be.
Excellence and Resilience. We aim for students to attain excellence in all aspects of their school life. We want students to achieve the very highest standards academically in the creative & performing arts; technology and in the sporting arena. For students to reach the very highest standards they must develop resilience. Resilience means encountering challenges and learning to persevere and bounce back when they fail. To ensure we develop this resilience means we must ensure students are genuinely challenged in all aspects of school life.
Unity and Diversity. HAPU is a very diverse academy. 75% of our students come from an ethnic group other than White British. Additionally we have a wide range of students from different social, religious and financial backgrounds. We aspire for students to learn and enjoy what real unity is and that they make a meaningful contribution to the academy and external community unity – whether it be their Tutor group, House, year, whole school or external community. In contrast to this desire for unity, we also seek to see and encourage genuine diversity. We value the individual and respect the unique talents and approaches that they bring to the Academy.
Integrity and Respect. These two values underpin our entire philosophy. Integrity means ‘doing the right thing, even when someone isn’t looking’. A school community motivated by integrity and embodying a true understanding of respect and care for others is a successful school.
Vision
- To be the top performing academy in the top performing Federation
- To deliver an outstanding curriculum that prepares students for their future learning and careers
- To be identified as one of the top comprehensive schools in the country for progress and relative attainment
- Progress 8 of +1.0
- Attainment of +80% Grade 5 to 9 E&M
- To eliminate the PP v NPP gap
- Eliminate gender performance stereotypes
- To have record levels of student, parent and staff satisfaction
- To be the school of first choice in the community
British values
The academy supports and delivers a firm commitment to developing and upholding British Values.
Democracy
We have our own Student Voice made up of elected Form reps as well as Head Students. Students are taught in a variety of ways including tutor time, assemblies and in subject specific content about the importance of democracy.
The rule of law
The importance of Laws, whether they be those that govern the class, the academy or the country, are consistently reinforced throughout all aspects of academy life. Students and parents are taught the value and reasons behind our rules, that they govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when laws are broken. We have talks from the Community Police Officer team to students on the rule of law.
Individual liberty
Students are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. We educate and provide boundaries for students to make choices safely, through provision of a safe environment and empowering education. Students are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and advised how to exercise these safely, for example through our E-Safety and tutor lessons. Whether it be through choice of learning challenge, of how they record, of participation in our extra-curricular clubs and opportunities, pupils are given the freedom to make choices.
Mutual respect and tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs
Harris Academy Purley is situated in an area which is greatly culturally diverse and we place a great emphasis on promoting diversity with the student and staff body. Our RE, assemblies and tutor teaching reinforce this. Members of different faiths or religions are encouraged to share their knowledge to enhance learning within classes.
Curriculum
Within the wider curriculum and its delivery we expect all students irrespective of gender, ethnic origin or beliefs:
- To participate in PE lessons.
- Female students in all years can be taught by male PE teachers
- All students are expected to take part in PE, Art, Music and Drama lessons
- Students will be taught in mixed gender groups in all other subjects
- To participate in wider activities and discussions, for example, during tutor time, that uphold British values
- To show tolerance of different faiths and beliefs, including Christianity.
Radicalisation and extremism
The academy believes and actively supports the view that all students should be protected from radicalisation and extremism. Our approach to this is in line with the Government’s CONTEST strategy (the counter terrorist strategy) and PREVENT (stopping people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism).
Radicalisation is the process by which people come to support terrorism and extremism, and in some cases participate in terrorist groups. Extremism is the vocal or active opposition to the fundamental British values in bullet points above.
Our 100% commitment to safeguarding student welfare means we are vigilant to monitoring vulnerability to radicalisation including:
- Family tensions
- Sense of isolation
- Migration
- Distance from cultural heritage
- Experience of racism or discrimination
- Feeling of failure
Any concerns must be reported to the Designated Safeguarding Officer, Ms Dixon, who will make a referral using the “Channel” referral form.
A cross-curricular approach
We deliver a cross curricular approach to the delivery of SMSC, including British Values
- via current affairs – regular discussion sessions once a week centred on a topic in the news such as Extremism
- via assemblies – regular sessions run centred on a theme that links to British Values, for example, Human Rights and Freedom
- via tutorial activities that encourage the exploration and application of British Values
- via student leadership – actively voting in academy elections to elect posts of responsibility
- via Religious Education – predominantly Christian but exploring beliefs and values of other faiths including multicultural celebrations.
- In subjects where we map how other subjects deliver knowledge and understanding of key concepts that link to British Values.
