Education Business

The Harefield Academy is situated in the village of Harefield, in the London borough of Hillingdon. Operating under the ethos of ‘excellence for everyone’ The Academy breaks away from tradition and structures its day in a way that students get ample personal contact and support, allowing each individual to thrive. With its vibrant specialism in sport, health and wellbeing, The Academy encourages its gifted young sports men and women to pursue their chosen subject, yet still ensures an all-round education is achieved by all.

Why were the specialist subjects chosen?
Our lead sponsors – who were all directors of Watford Football Club – were key players in the creation of The Academy and felt that sport, health and wellbeing would have the greatest impact on improvement.
    
They wanted a specialism that would give students the opportunities to thrive physically, to enjoy education, and to become more focused in the classroom. There were lots of other groups in the area that were keen to sign up to that vision too, such as Speedo, The Magdi Yacoub Institute, and the Grove Hotel with its champion golf courses.

What sets this academy apart from others?
We are the only academy with such a strong programme for elite sports young men and women. There is no other academy in the country where you can play table tennis during the day and still get a very high level of education.
    
Our day is quite unusual too. Rather than have all students free at one time during break time, we like to divide them down into smaller groups so that they can have more personal contact with staff and each other. Rather than having the traditional morning break, our students have personalised learning which is 45 minutes in mixed age groups. Similarly, lunch is half an hour with small groups of students going at different times.
    
We are also privileged in that we have high profile sponsors; I’m sure there are very few academies out there that can send their students to the Grove Hotel to play golf for free. It offers opportunities to students that they otherwise might not get.
    
In addition, come September 2010, we will be the only academy with a 50 bed boarding house.

What innovative ICT do you use to enhance learning?
Because many of our students spend a lot of time in sports training, we use e-learning platforms where teachers can upload work to allow students to keep up with their classes. The idea that you have to be in a classroom to achieve is dated. You could be competing in a swimming competition in Australia and still keep up with your lessons through learning platforms and e-mail.
    
Our students also use PSPs, which are handheld recording devices that give visual feedback from their physical activities, such as sports or drama.

You’ve been recognised for your success in managing behaviour. How have you achieved this?
We use a behaviour management system called SIMS, which records how many points students get for good or bad behaviour.
    
We make a big deal out of students that get points for good behaviour by rewarding them in assemblies and giving out certificates. On the other end of the scale, students know if they do something wrong, it triggers a consequence, such as a detention or their parents being called in.
    
We are successful because all our students understand our behaviour policies and systems, and know that they are taken very seriously.

How do you ensure the security of your pupils and staff?
The building has been designed to have only one entrance. Everyone is checked in with security passes and visitors are escorted in.
    
Regarding bullying, we try to get the students to act as our eyes and ears Our vertical tutoring really is an asset in this area. During personalised learning, if the younger ones are worried about bullying they can talk to an older student in their group. The information would then get discretely passed on to a student manager.
    
With the increased pressure to tackle obesity in school children, how does The Academy promote healthy eating and lifestyle to its pupils?
We have a fantastic Cucina chef who cooks a range of healthy food that is checked by nutritionists. We also supervise students during personalised learning so they are not allowed to eat junk food. At lunchtime, however, students can eat what they like because we can’t always be the food police. But we do encourage them to bring in healthy food if they have a packed lunch. Recently, however, more and more students are choosing to eat from the Café. As it’s open from 7.15am to 8.15pm they can eat healthy snacks when they want.
    
All our students do a lot of PE. We try to find physical activities that suit everyone, whether it’s outdoor sports or using a dance mat. It’s trying to find something that every student will enjoy rather than adopting the traditional prescriptive PE curriculum.

What positive impact has The Academy made on the surrounding area and community?
We have been very well received by the community with parents proud to send their children here. The local community have access to all our facilities, and some of students go out and serve the local area. We also encourage the community to be part of our curriculum as well. For example, if we’re doing something on graffiti in PSHE, members of the community will be invited in to speak on how to keep the village tidy.

For more information
Web: www.theharefieldacademy.org