Ethos and Values
Harris City Academy Crystal Palace has a long established, distinctive and positive ethos which guides our work and the education of our students.
Preparation for adult life underpins our Academy aims and the well-developed culture which is established across all aspects and functions of the Academy. We are committed to the success of each of our students and this is reflected through the Academy's values and aims to deliver:
- Exam success – we want our students to get the best possible qualifications
- Challenge, relevance and engagement – we want our students to be fully involved in their learning
- Appropriate skills for living, for work and for happiness
- Active citizens
- Self-identity and a feeling of self-worth
- Opportunities and experiences that ignite our students
- Healthy habits that are embedded for life
Core values
Our five core values at Harris City Academy Crystal Palace are:
- Community
- Courage
- Courtesy
- Co-operation
- Contribution
Harris City Academy Crystal Palace also supports and delivers a firm commitment to developing and upholding British Values.
Democracy
We have our own Student Council made of up of elected form representatives, Year 11 Prefects, a Senior Student Leadership Team who lead our Senior Prefects as well as elected Head Boy, Head Girl, Deputy Head Girl and Deputy Head Boy. Students are taught about the importance of democracy in a variety of ways including tutor time, assemblies and in subject specific content.
The rule of law
The importance of laws, whether they be those that govern the class, the Academy or the country, are consistently reinforced throughout all aspects of life at HCACP. Students are taught the value and reasons behind our rules, that they govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when laws are broken. We have visits and talks about the rule of law from the Community Police Officer/Safer Schools team.
Individual liberty
Students are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. We educate and provide boundaries for students to make choices safely, through provision of a safe environment and empowering education. Students are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and advised how to exercise these safely, for example through our e-Safety and tutorial sessions. Whether it be through choice of learning challenge, for example, or participation in our extra-curricular clubs and opportunities, our students are given the freedom to make choices.
Mutual respect and tolerance
Harris City Academy Crystal Palace is situated in an area which is culturally diverse and our Academy community reflect this diversity. We place a considerable emphasis on promoting diversity within the student and staff body. Our Religion & Philosophy lessons, Thematic Days, assemblies and tutor time sessions reinforce this. Members of different faiths or religions are encouraged to share their knowledge to enhance learning within classes, just as our students and staff are able to share their cultural heritage and experiences.
Curriculum
Within the wider curriculum and its delivery we expect all students irrespective of gender, ethnic origin or beliefs to:
- Take part in PE, art, music, dance and drama lessons
- Participate in wider activities and discussions, for example during tutorial time, that uphold British values
- Show tolerance of different faiths and beliefs, including Christianity.
Female students in all years can be taught by a male PE teacher.
Radicalisation and extremism
The Academy believes and actively supports the view that all students should be protected from radicalisation and extremism. Our approach to this is in line with the Government’s CONTEST strategy (the counter terrorist strategy) and PREVENT (stopping people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism).
Radicalisation is the process by which people come to support terrorism and extremism, and in some cases, participate in terrorist groups. Extremism is the vocal or active opposition to the fundamental British values.
Our 100% commitment to safeguarding student welfare means we are vigilant to monitoring vulnerability to radicalisation including:
- Family tensions
- Sense of isolation
- Migration
- Distance from cultural heritage
- Experience of racism or discrimination
- Feeling of failure
Any concerns must be reported to the Designated Safeguarding Officers.
A cross-curricular approach
We deliver a cross curricular approach to the delivery of SMSC (spiritual, moral, social and cultural development), including British Values. This is done via:
- current affairs, including weekly tutorial discussion sessions centred on a topic in the news, such as extremism
- assemblies – once a week and centred on a theme that links to British Values, for example, Human Rights and Freedom
- the Academy - Thematic Days that encourage the exploration and application of British Values and being a British citizen
- student leadership – actively voting in Academy elections to elect posts of responsibility
- Religion & Philosophy lessons – predominantly Christian but exploring beliefs and values of other faiths including multicultural celebrations
- and in subjects where we map how other subjects deliver knowledge and understanding of key concepts that link to British Values.
