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10/07/25

A huge thank you for the generous donation of toiletries 💙 Your kindness will make a real difference to our families and is deeply appreciated by all of us at Harris Academy Peckham. pic.twitter.com/Lew815vjVE

10/07/25

Absolutely fantastic evening performing as part of the first ever Harris Federation Festival of Music last night. Our students loved every single minute of performing and what a great way to showcase them! pic.twitter.com/uKclVM81n1

10/07/25

what do you think of our Year 10 saxophonist 🎷? He has only been playing for 6 years! pic.twitter.com/5rtl4Qo87k

10/07/25

This is 🤩 Orchestras, Rappers, DJs, Steel Pans, Musical Theatre, Choirs, Jazz Ensembles, the list goes on! pic.twitter.com/wTwArFB4Qa

10/07/25

🏳️‍🌈 Huge congratulations to our amazing team for being runners-up in the Just Like Us Charity Pride Group Awards! 🏆 Your passion, dedication, and advocacy continue to inspire. Here's to building an even more inclusive future together! 🌟 pic.twitter.com/kilEHj7aK1

10/07/25

Spectacular performances at the Harris Federation Festival of Music. https://t.co/WVFuUYIJEJ

09/07/25

Thank you to all the families who attended our uniform pop up shop today. To our students, we can’t wait to see you in September. pic.twitter.com/vzychJioIa

09/07/25

Thank you so much! An Outstanding outcome for our entire community. https://t.co/5pc0Lu3tA6

08/07/25

Always a brilliant opportunity to perform with Multi-Story orchestra especially on a project that has such relevance to Peckham and its community pic.twitter.com/r9gzOPD91H

07/07/25

It was a pleasure to welcome our new Year 7 students last week for their transition day! 🌟 A fantastic start to their journey with us — we can’t wait to see all they’ll achieve. 💫#TransitionDay pic.twitter.com/oQVjkO9y4v

04/07/25

So beautiful 💐🤩! Congrats on another fabulous Songfest! We also feel very lucky to have you as part of our team 🎻 🎶!

04/07/25

Prom - Class of 2025! Our students didn’t just show up— they slayed. ✨ Glam, glitter, and red carpet energy all around. pic.twitter.com/TeTBvLnH0T

04/07/25

Look at our beautiful prom setting . Glam vibes, and just enough glitter to find your way home. Prom magic is real! pic.twitter.com/DHrtAZJJF7

04/07/25

It was a pleasure performing with you. We look forward to working together again soon. https://t.co/jQmCNNNGg8

04/07/25

Your passion, dedication, and talent brings so much joy to our community. We’re so lucky to have you! https://t.co/UE1zA67Dpg

04/07/25

Huge thanks to for your incredible support. https://t.co/jVxFqmv5pb

04/07/25

One year into the best job in the world 🩷 pic.twitter.com/pIZFuFeemt

03/07/25

A huge round of applause to our phenomenal Music team and the wonderful local primary schools who made Songfest truly unforgettable! Voices soared, spirits lifted, and community harmony was loud and proud. pic.twitter.com/jD50aS8Tou

03/07/25

Inspectors from rated the school ‘outstanding’ in all areas, praising the Academy’s “highly ambitious” curriculum and “expert” teaching staff, as well as the students’ “excellent” behaviour.#Peckham @Miatsfhttps://t.co/QQZOARKIpI pic.twitter.com/FxOawGmXrh

03/07/25

Inspectors from rated the school ‘outstanding’ in all areas, praising the Academy’s “highly ambitious” curriculum and “expert” teaching staff, as well as the students’ “excellent” behaviour.#Peckham @Miatsfhttps://t.co/1fNV8isdQK pic.twitter.com/wozA3sht53

Harris Academies
All Academies in our Federation aim to transform the lives of the students they serve by bringing about rapid improvement in examination results, personal development and aspiration.

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English

At Harris Academy Peckham we recognise that English is not simply a core subject, but an essential skill for life. Effective practitioners can clearly articulate their responses to the world around them and make considered interpretations of the responses of others.

It is our responsibility, therefore, to develop effective practitioners; subject experts who can engage in disciplinary thinking. This means that they have a secure understanding of the technical concepts underpinning the subject, as well as the big ideas that frame the way we all think, speak and write about the world. To do this, each unit of work is framed within an Overarching Enquiry Question; an open, engaging question through which students:

  • acquire subject-specific knowledge;
  • replicate the thoughts and actions of subject experts and, most importantly;
  • develop and express their own unique, informed opinion, using the appropriate technical conventions.

By the end of each unit, all students will be able to comprehensively address the question, using a predetermined oral or written format. This requires individual student agency; a reason to be invested in (and engaged by) the material being covered.


Most people teach Biology by starting with the Molecule! This is exactly the wrong way to go. No one cares about the molecule. I don’t care about the molecule. Unless I have a reason to care – that is, a problem that I am working on that requires understanding molecules to address it.” E.O. Wilson, Professor of Biology, Harvard University.


Each of these units will be planned to start with the end in mind: firstly, so that staff have a clear, focussed understanding of the success criteria; secondly, so that students know the ‘whole game’ - where each lesson is ultimately taking them – so that they can apply critical thinking within the context of their overarching enquiry question.

Sequencing of these units is backwards planned for two reasons.

  • Firstly, to ensure a comprehensive coverage of the skills, conventions and tropes required for exam courses before they are reached, allowing students to develop subject mastery.
  • Secondly, so that each unit serves as a model for how students should apply their thinking at GCSE-level and beyond, creating lifelong, independent learners.

We will, through our implementation of this intent, ensure all students, including and especially those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, are world-ready, global citizens, capable of effectively utilising high-level literacy and oracy skills and top-tier vocabulary.

Clear, purposeful links to PSHE education and specific vocabulary instruction will be embedded within planning to achieve this. As part of Harris Academy Peckham’s Writing, Oracy and Reading Development (WORD), lessons will include the explicit teaching of sentence structure, drawing in particular on the Hochman Method Strategy.


Further details of the curriculum can be downloaded below.