Concerns about the conduct of Harris Academy

[SENDmumneedsleep]

The treatment of pupils at my daughters school over the first few days of term has been utterly disgusting. The school has just been taken over by the Harris Federation and my daughter who has SEND needs was too anxious to even step foot in the school today after hearing about the way the girls have been treated. Mum's are furious across all the year group because their daughters are coming out of school in tears because they have been yelled at, made to change skirts because the ones we bought in their uniform shop were too short (and by too short I mean touching the knee cap), they do not offer different lengths so if your daughter happens to be tall she will be put in isolation, given a detention and made to wear a skirt three sizes too big. They are made to line up in silence on the playground while a member of staff is stood on a raised stand with their hand in the air and the kids are supposed to do the same. (sounds like something I've heard before....rhymes with artzi!) they are expected to click or clap in class rather than speak. SEND provisions that were in place before the take over have been taken away so the kids who had things like early passes to avoid the crowds now have to suffer. They are escorted to the toilets by a member of staff. Harris are meant to be these hugely successful, outstanding schools but the way they achieve it is through humiliation and fear.

after hearing about

So how much of this has your daughter experienced vs witnessed vs heard about?

So they are doing the Nazi salute in school?

It’s probably not a ‘salute’ as such. It’s raise your hand to show you’ve seen the teacher raise their hand to signal lining up time.
Has your dd been made to wear a skirt 3 sizes too big for her or is it just something that’s going round in a dramatic way?

“Hands up” for silence is perfectly normal. And is, in fact, the exact opposite of shouting at children. I saw the clapping thing in operation on a school trip a couple of years ago. Two adults did this routine and about 50 primary kids immediately stopped what they were doing to copy and then pay attention. It seemed a bit cultish but it worked so well and nobody needed to raise their voice!

My school recently removed all lunch / early / toilet passes and only reissued those with documented evidence of need. The number of passes was cut to less than half! And our early passes became late passes - cos loads of the early pass kids were then hanging outside classrooms waiting for their mates and then getting caught up in the busy corridor at lesson changeover.

I can’t be doing with the policing of school skirt lengths though.

Yes, the raised hand for silence was used as a signal when I was in the Girl Guides in the 1970s.

Lining up in silence in my experience is for a fire drill. Schools have to practice this at the start of term.

Could this be the case?

Yes, we did this in Guides too. Also primary school - stood still and raised hand on the teacher’s first whistle then on 2nd whistle, walked quietly to our classrooms.

Why was the school taken over?

The teacher putting their arm up and then everyone else stopping what they are doing and copying has existed for donkeys years.
Brown Owl used to do it in my Brownie pack circa 1984.
It's a way of getting everyone to shut up and pay attention.
The clapping thing is basically the same concept.
So I wouldn't worry about that happening too much.
However....
School bloody skirts.
There's been dozens of newspaper reports in the last week about girls being told their skirts are too short despite being bought in the correct size from the designated uniform shop.
It's ridiculous.
If a school is going to insist on a specific skirt (always seems to be those "kilt" things) then they clearly need better manufacturers of them.
I know a lot of girls do purposely wear their skirts short but it always seems to be even when wearing one properly the kilt ones are teeny tiny.
Schools that have the "any school skirt as long as it's grey and you can buy it at the supermarket" uniform the students seem to manage to get ones that actually do fit them.
Sorry that's a bit of a rant but the sooner the school uniform fetish of "kilts" goes away the better.
@SENDmumneedsleep I am a bit 50/50 about Harris schools. I personally don't like them but I know several children who have attended them and had a perfectly fine school experience.
I have heard (admittedly mostly gossip) that their attitude to SEN pupils isn't great.
Are there any alternative schools in the area?

I used this with my cub group as well , nothing Nazi about it , it’s a very well known technique .

I've name changed for this...

My daughter has diagnosed SEN and a raft of reasonable adjustments in place, EHCP, etc. She attends a Harris primary school. It has been a Harris for over a decade before she started there.

The school team have been really good after she displayed behavioural problems in reception. The school itself has led the way in suggesting and implementing adjustments to help her to cope, doing the CAMHS referral for diagnosis, pushing the EHCP through. They even arranged for a private behavioural consultant to work with her, and for the past year she's had a private therapy session weekly. It's made a huge difference.

The school itself is strict on behaviour but will work with kids and families to get them what they actually need. What you need to do is meet with the SENCO and/or Head and have a sensible discussion about your child's needs. Encourage her to ignore rumours and hearsay.

As others have pointed out, the raised hand for quiet thing is pretty normal. And comparing them to Nazis makes you sound pretty unreasonable especially when you're basing that on third hand information. Go talk to them with an open mind and get it straightened out.

I would never, ever send my child to a Harris school or similar. I’m a teacher and I think in the future we’ll look back and be totally shocked that we allowed this to happen. I went to a pretty bog standard comp in the early 80s and my first teaching job in the early 90s was in a state school- it doesn’t need to be like this.

It’s really interesting to compare rules and regulations of top girls school vs harris academies and clearly see how much more personal freedom money buys; full access to washrooms, chatting to friends in the hall, PE kit in class. There’s a time for military style education that’s when you’ve willingly signed up for cadets.