Warning: Harris Academy Sutton

[SENMa]

This school school creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating and offensive environment for ALL pupils and one which is untenable for those with SEN. I have deregistered my child after over a year of hell. During the January of Year 7 after a day which included 6 assessments (should this be allowed?) she realised she had missed a detention given out for forgetting to attend another detention given out for 5 minutes lateness and started to have severe anxiety about going into school. She had been so looking forward to the change from primary to secondary, what a slap in the face. She was not sleeping at night, but still lateness (5 minutes in this case) is punishable by detention even in a child struggling as she was. Despite the school being aware of her struggles they mandated that pupils would not be allowed to use school bags that were not the official Harris Academy bag. This bag is too small for her to fit her PE things but yet they DO NOT SUPPLY LOCKERS. Due to my daughter's difficulties she was not able to successfully remember to take her separate PE bag from class to class. She was then disciplined for not having it when needed causing her severe stress leading to further school refusal and anxiety on PE days. We remedied this by purchasing a non-descript light-weight, larger black ruck sack which fit her PE things. The school then refused to allow this and confirmed that pupils without the official Harris bag would be disciplined. The same went for her non-descript black trainers. Sanctions are also placed on students who wear their coats in the corridors, coats which they are forced to carry from lesson to lesson due to their being no lockers. Perhaps the most degrading sanction Harris Academy imposed was that children are not allowed to use the toilet facilities during classes. At the beginning of year 8 the school implemented double periods of one hour and 40 minutes. Can you imagine 12-year-olds being asked sit without a break for one hour and 40 minutes? The only children that would have been allowed a break were those with timeout cards or girls menstruating. This stigmatises SEN pupils and girls. If you are truly trying to avoid discrimination you must give all pupils the option for a timeout. My daughter simply could not attend school at the time of the month for fear of these long lessons where she would be forced to draw attention to herself in order to get some privacy. I was forced to take her to the doctor to get proof of her period but then her absence still went down as unauthorised and I received a threatening letter as a result. There seems to be an agenda that promotes a culture of fear in our schools for both parents and pupils. Unlike at primary there was no WhatsApp group or way for me to contact other parents to find out if their children were having similar difficulties or to unite against discriminative school policy. It has been the most isolating and soul destroying experience. I cannot recommend Harris Academy, Sutton to any parent. I am glad to have found a space to break my silence about the school at last. This school has no regard for the welfare of their students. They simply wish to tick attendance and academic boxes.

I agree with you OP - Harris academies & similar schools are awful and shouldn’t be allowed. I heard of a brand new year 7 being given detention for giving a tiny wave to her friend from primary school in the corridor.

Tbh I think the people that teach in them should feel ashamed to be giving out detentions for the most tiny of things - stuff that’s human like forgetting locker keys. To expect kids as young as 11 to carry round coats, pe kits, 5/6 lessons of books all day is ridiculous. I would find that a lot to carry as an adult!

I think they have lost the plot and I hate the fact they seem to have removed all enjoyment out of school life and thrive on anxiety.

Yes I get there are behaviour issues but operating a nazi style school can’t be the answer.

As has been said, a lot of this is normal in a secondary school. To be given a detention for being 5 minutes late is completely normal and justified, students wandering in at all sorts of times is really disruptive. The toilet thing is extreme though, it's ridiculous she needed a doctor's note to confirm she was on her period, it's degrading. Most teachers in most schools would be reasonable in those circumstances, but tbh, it doesn't suprise me that it happens in a Harris. I wouldn't send my child to one, nor would I work on one (I'm a teacher). I do feel sorry for the kids where a Harris is their only option. To their credit they've really turned around some historically failing schools, with superb results. But I do wonder how much of that is down to changing intake as the school gradually improves and the reputation locally changes. The extremely hardline is necessary at first when they've taken over really poorly performing schools with terrible behaviour. They're not for me though, they're way too rigid in terms of policies for all sorts of things, not just the students, but the staff too.

I had a very similar experience with my DD, who does have SEN at another Harris school. She was treated terribly and suffered extreme anxiety, she started school refusing in year 8 and after the first few weeks of year 9 she never went back. We tried other settings but it was too late by then, the damage was done. She’s 18 now and despite being extremely bright she has no qualifications at all. She is however, thankfully enjoying a fulfilling and rewarding career without them.

I’m a teacher and have also worked in Harris schools, I never would again.

Secondary Schools are more like prisons or military camps.😂😂😂

Squiggles23

“Yes I get there are behaviour issues but operating a nazi style school can’t be the answer.”

What a stupid comment.

You sound absolutely traumatised by the experience and I hope you are your dc find somewhere better.

This really isn’t the norm for most secondary schools and definitely shouldn’t be in my opinion. Many schools are moving away from detentions as they recognise what a waste of time they are for both staff and children involved. Better schools do have lateness policies and sanctions for example, if a child is late they will get a demerit and so many demerits means a phone call home. In my opinion, a much more effective way to teach children the importance of punctuality without being unnecessarily cruel.

Did you choose to send your ND child to a Harris Academy?

Toilet attendants? Small class sizes? Plenty of adults? A common room?

You seem really out of touch with the realities of what secondary schools are like.

Choice is an illusion for secondary schools... you have a preference but unless you can afford private you don't get a choice. And besides you can't always tell before you send your child to a school what it's going to like - especially for a child with ND

Of course they should be allowed! Some people want to send their kids there and some teachers like working there!

My dc are at Harris schools. Not my first choice by any means and was very upset about it initially. They have been brilliant, very supportive and dedicated teachers, lots of support for gcse and levels at weekends and evenings etc. The lockers thing is a pita but the bag thing has never been enforced at our school.

Just to clarify what appears to be a common misconception: parents of ND children are not exactly spoilt for choice when it comes to suitable secondary schools and are generally not fending off ready offers of EHCPs either.

Many schools are like this. It's why I left teaching. They are awful. It's not about learning but about teaching the minions to do as they are told and become good little worker ants. It is shit.

So they set rules, she broke them and was punished, welcome to the real world.

Apart from that's not how the real world works as you would know if you thought about it... just for one example, Boris Johnson broke the rules and sweet FA has happened to him.

Schools don't have to be arseholes to teach young people the value of following the rules. What they do by being like that, is make people see how unfair life really is.

We didn’t know at the time

Be the change you wish to see in the world. That’s why she’s out of there and will never go anywhere similar

I am sorry that we have to be having this conversation at all but it is soothing to hear others that understand how wrong the Harris system and others like it are and what a traumatic experience it can create for pupils and their parents. I was completely isolated at the time and I’m only starting to process it all months and months later.

Amen to that - and best of luck to you and your daughter.

I work in secondary and I think the set up is often completely unsuitable for ND kids, who find the rules really difficult to navigate, and it shouldn’t be a case of tough shit, because I don’t think I’ve been in a workplace that was as inflexible and pedantic as some schools , so it’s not even necessary preparation for the ‘real world’. It completely infuriates me that some children are being so badly let down

My dc have Sen and had similar rules to navigate, pretty standard school rules and they learned to cope, detention for forgetting kit is a life lesson. I also had similar rules at my school 35 years ago and guess what, we didn't all have mental health issues. I don't think it's school rules causing problems

Not all ND are the same - you are clearly fortunate - and not all schools are like this. My ND child goes to a fabulous school that is strict but does not do detentions and silly rules for rules sake etc. and the school is outstanding and gets amazing results with all children. OP experience is awful and it should not be like that!

Thank you for putting that so well 🙏🏻

OP, sorry your dc has had such an awful experience and hope you can find a way forward that is more positive for them.

I find it so sad that so many on here think it's ok to treat young people like this in the name of 'discipline'. The system is totally broken and the approach many schools are taking now is simply a by-product of massive underfunding of education alongside the decimation of the other services that are supposed to support children, young people and families - from early years support via sure start / children's services, access to mental health services, access to specialist services such as SALT & OT, etc etc. Schools (and staff) are stretched to their limit in every way, kids are unhappy, anxious, scared etc, and the result is massive lack of pastoral care and no time or resources to implement anything other than a race to the bottom approach in which every young person is treated as though they are a petty criminal in the making.

@Pythag it shouldn’t be the only option available to people. For them to be so widespread is not good.

Those teachers must be sadists. I could never be that pedantic and harsh. It isn’t preparing for the real world it’s creating a fear culture about school and little worker ants as someone else said.