More and more Harris Academies are opening up in and around London, so if you are based here and are looking into state secondaries schools, chances are that you have heard of Harris Academies. But what are they like? Who runs them and why? Are they as good as they sound? Harris Academies are run by the Harris Federation, a not-for-profit charity that now educates 1 out of 44 children in London in 44 different primary and secondary academies.
One of the best known Harris Academies is the Harris Academy Westminster, a selective Sixth Form college in Westminster that prioritises admission of high achieving state school children on free school meals. The school has a cooperation with nearby Westminster School, a wide variety of outreach and enrichment activities, and their Sixth Form pupils recently obtained 23 Oxbridge offers (this was 10% of the cohort).
Another school with impressive achievements is Harris Academy Battersea, which is the secondary school with highest value added / progress 8 school in Wandsworth whose pupils achievements even topped those of Graveney School, which selects a considerable portion of its applicants by ability. Harris Academy Wimbledon is a co-educational state secondary school opening in September 2018, and will likely be one to watch. Harris Federation academies are the top school for progress in five of the nine boroughs in which the Federation operates and three Harris academies – Harris Academy Battersea, Harris Academy Morden and Harris Academy Bromley – are in the top 1% of schools in the whole country for pupil progress.
Many Harris Academies, however, are located further out in South, Southeast and North London, in areas not traditionally associated with high performing state schools. The overall approach is traditional, with high expectations for each child. Some parents or children may find the approach rigid or overly strict, but it clearly works in terms of educational outcomes. The curriculum is broad and demanding, and emulates other high achieving schools.
Expanding further on the Harris Federations ethos, Sir Dan Moynihan, Chief Executive of the Harris Federation says:
“CLOSING THE GAP BETWEEN DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN AND THEIR PEERS IS THE REASON THE HARRIS FEDERATION EXISTS; TODAY’S TABLES DEMONSTRATE THAT THE HARRIS FEDERATION IS MAKING A REAL DIFFERENCE TO THE PROGRESS OF OVER 32,000 CHILDREN IN LONDON.
SCHOOL PERFORMANCE FIGURES MATTER – NOT JUST TO EDUCATIONALISTS AND POLITICIANS – BUT TO EVERY FAMILY WHO WANTS THEIR CHILD TO ACHIEVE THEIR FULL POTENTIAL AND PROGRESS INTO A SUCCESSFUL ADULT LIFE.
BY HAVING HIGH EXPECTATIONS OF EVERY STUDENT – WHATEVER THEIR STARTING POINT – AND SHARING WHAT WORKS ACROSS ALL OUR ACADEMIES, THE HARRIS FEDERATION IS SETTING THE STANDARD FOR EXCELLENCE.”
To find a Harris Academy near you, have a look at this map and overview which shows all Harris Academies in London.