A message from Mr Sparks: Two weeks in to a new year and students at Harris Morden have made a really positive start. All students are following our new safety routines and conducting themselves sensibly and with maturity to protect themselves and others in our Academy community. Just as importantly students have made a great start in lessons, coming back to school with determination and enthusiasm. Everyone is focused on learning, making good progress and making sure that this year is a successful one. The hard work put in by all staff before and over the summer break has certainly been rewarded by our students. Well done to all our hardworking and dedicated students and staff.

FACE MASKS: We have made the decision to make the use of face masks mandatory for staff and students in communal areas to keep us all safe as possible from COVID-19. https://0e58658be539ee7325a0-220f04f871df648cf4a4d93a111e3366.ssl.cf3.rackcdn.com/harris_secondary_morden/uploads/document/Face-masks-mandatory-01.09.pdf

Year 7 – Information for parents 1 – Re opening letters: https://www.harrismorden.org.uk/174/letters-home 2 – Uniform: The academy is aware that there is a delay with delivery of blazers and PE Kits. Students must wear black skirt/trousers/white shirt etc. Tie provided on 1st day. https://www.harrismorden.org.uk/131/uniform-expectations 3 - Stationary - EQUIPMENT FOR EVERY LESSON - Full size school bag suitable for A4 size books. - Pencil case - Pens (black or blue) - Pencil (sharpener and eraser) - Coloured pencils or felt pens - 30cm ruler - Scientific Calculator - Geometry set for Mathematics 4- A free lunch for Year 7 will be provided for the first 2 days. 5 – Information relating to Parent Pay and school meals will follow shortly. 6 – We are no longer able to accept cash in the dining hall, parents will use Parent Pay to add money to a student’s account or students can bring a packed lunch.

GCSE Results 2020 Today students received their GCSE and other KS4 examination results. As we know, a large proportion of Year 11 was significantly affected and this is the first time in history that GCSEs have been cancelled! The awarding of results has been in the media for all the wrong reasons this last week, ever since the ‘A’ levels results were published. This has meant that ‘A’ level students and Year 11 students awaiting their results have had an anxious time waiting to find out how the DFE and governments decision making would affect their grades and ultimately the next stages of their education, work or apprenticeship. We are pleased that the decision was made to revert to the centre assessed grades as the minimum grade a student would receive on GCSE results day. I firmly believe this is the best approach after this unprecedented time. The results are now based on the students’ progress and journey and reflect the time, energy, effort and their academic ability through their entire GCSE studies. This is much better than a formula or DFE calculated grade based on statistics from previous years. We hope the students enjoy receiving their GCSE certificates and the grades awarded to them reflect the hard work of both the staff and teachers throughout their entire Key Stage 4 journey. Well done Year 11, congratulations and good luck for the future! Mr Mallin.

A NOTE FOR YEAR 11 - Results Day 20/08/20 You are due to receive your grades on Thursday 20th August. We would like to invite you to Harris Academy Morden at staggered times on this day to collect your results. Group 1 Surnames A – G Arrive at 10am Group 2 Surnames H – O Arrive at 10.30am Group 3 Surnames P – Z Arrive at 11am We will ask you to line up at the sports hall (or via the canteen if bad weather) where we will provide you with your grades and a form explaining an appeals process. The appeals process is for if you want to challenge the grade you have been given. We do not expect many of you will want to do this, however, some of you may wish to. The Senior Team will be onsite on the day to answer any of your questions relating to this. We will also be able to answer any questions you have about entering the sixth form or further study. During the morning you will also have a chance to say hello to your teachers, however, we ask that this is done with social distancing in mind. We ask that you do not remain on site whilst the other student groups are collecting their results so as to avoid overcrowding. If you would rather that we post or email your results to you then please contact the school. We hope to be able to invite you to a formal celebration of your results in the autumn term but this depends on what the Government decides is safe at the time.

A very impressive performance from our friends at Merton Music Foundation. Donate if you can. This special performance features over 100 of Merton's young musicians who attend our virtual Music Centre, as well as a few familiar faces of MMF tutors and band leaders. It's been a strange term with us all having to adapt to news ways of learning, teaching and rehearsing and we thank the students, parents, tutors and staff for their talent, creativity and encouragement. DON'T STOP THE MUSIC!! The financial impact of the pandemic has meant that there are some families whose children won't be able to continue their musical journey next term so we've launched our #MMFDontStopTheMusic fundraising campaign to help. The fact that you're watching this video suggests that you believe in the benefits that learning an instrument and playing in a band can have on young people, so if you would like to support our campaign please visit: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/dont-st... or text GIVEMUSIC to 70085 to donate £5, GIVEMUSIC 10 to donate £10, GIVEMUSIC 20 to donate £20. Every pound will be match-funded to help local children continue learning with us. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT4DHDh1kW4&feature=youtu.be

Transition for September 2020- PART4 Meet our Assistant Principals https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQkqqI-RUuQ&t=24s

Transition for September 2020- PART3 Welcome from HAMD Students https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxhymHOcDy8&t=42s