Harris City Technology College
Encyclopedia
Background
The College was once Sylvan High School, a newly built mixed comprehensive school, opened in 1974. The school, considered to be significantly under-performing, was closed, only to re-open in 1990 as a City Technology College sponsored by Lord Harris of Peckham.The new Harris CTC introduced new systems and structures and results steadily improved. In recent years the examination performance of the school has been excellent.The school became an Academy in 2007 and received the promise of £10 Million for new buildings and facilities. The work on the new buildings will be completed by November 2010 with the construction of a new Sixth Form block and reception.
The Academy achieved exceptional examination results in 2009 with 99% of students achieving 5+ A*-C grades at GCSE and 82% of students achieving 5+ A*-C (including English and Maths). The Sixth Form results were also the best ever achieved by the Academy with 100% of students passing their A-level
GCE Advanced Level
The Advanced Level General Certificate of Education, commonly referred to as an A-level, is a qualification offered by education institutions in England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Cameroon, and the Cayman Islands...
exams and 82% of all grades achieved resulting in a grade A, B or C.
In October 2009, under the new tougher Ofsted inspection criteria, the Academy became the first secondary school in the country to achieve an outstanding grade in each of the 30 categories. By Easter 2010 the Academy was still the only school in England to have achieved this result.
Over 2000 applications were received for 180 places in Year 7 for September 2009. The intake of the Academy is mixed ability.
The Sixth Form is part of a federated Sixth Form with Harris South Norwood, Harris Merton, Harris Purley, Harris East Dulwich Boys and Harris East Dulwich Girls. The Sixth Form at Crystal Palace delivers primarily AS and A level courses and around 350 students are based there. The other two sites offer some AS and A levels but also a range of vocational courses. From September 2010 the Harris City Academy Crystal Palace will offer the International Baccalaureate to Sixth Form students. Harris City Academy Crystal Palace is also a registered Cisco Networking Academy
Cisco networking academy
Cisco Networking Academy, a global education initiative from Cisco Systems, offers networking programs, like the CCNA and CCNP courses, which prepare students for the certification exams of the same name, and other computer-related courses...
and offers the CCNA
CCNA
CCNA is the certification from Cisco.CCNA certification is a second-level Cisco Career certification...
course to Post-16s throughout the Federation as part of the enrichment programme.
The Academy is a Gifted and Talented specialist school. Specific new opportunities for students include: an annual opportunity for three Post-16 students to visit NASA astronaut training facilities in Houston and Florida in the USA and many residential trips.
The Student Commission
The Harris Federation Student Commission is a project which involves 70 students from all the Harris Academies are working together with teachers and leading educationalists in order to explore ways of further improving teaching and learning. This Commission is supported by NESTANESTA
The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts is an independent endowment in the United Kingdom established by an Act of Parliament in 1998....
and is part of a national project 'Learning Futures'.
Year Structure
Each year in the College, excluding Post 16, is divided into 4 faculties: Arts, Communications, Science & Maths, and Technology. There are 8 tutor groups in each faculty consisting of approximately 20-25 students in each - 2 different classes of the same year in each faculty E.g. Technology: two year 7, two year 8 etc. In Year 7 some lessons are taught in tutor groups, except Design & Technology and Art, but in Year 8 the Core Subjects are mixed on ability between Science & Technology and Arts & Communications.From September 2009 all students started their GCSE's in Maths, Science and English a year early, and from September 2009 all GCSE's are started in Year 9.
Faculties
There are four faculties at Harris City Academy Crystal Palace, identified by a colour typically displayed on the stripe of their students' ties.They are:
Arts (Green),
Communications (Blue),
Science & Maths (Red),
and
Technology (Yellow).
The academy also has a Post-16, which contains Year 12 and Year 13 students.
Harris Federation
The school was founded in 1990 as a City Technology CollegeCity Technology College
In England, a City Technology College is a state-funded all-ability secondary school that charges no fees but is independent of local authority control, being overseen directly by the Department for Education....
. In September 2007 Harris CTC was integrated into the Harris Federation
Harris Federation
Harris Federation is a federation of Primary and Secondary academies in South London, England. There are currently fourteen open academies in the federation which span over five London boroughs including the London Borough of Croydon, London Borough of Southwark, London Borough of Bexley, London...
. This Federation was set up by the same Lord Harris of Peckham and has been set up as a coalition of several secondary schools in Croydon
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
Merton and Southwark
Southwark
Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...
. As of September 2009 the Harris Federation of South London Schools consists of nine schools.