Transitioning to Year 7
Congratulations on gaining a place at Harris Academy Beckenham. We are delighted to welcome you and your family to our school community and are very much looking forward to meeting our new cohort of students.
We recognise that beginning life at secondary school is a huge step. Our priority throughout the transition process is to ensure all students who will be joining us in September are fully prepared, to provide families with the information they need to support their children and to enable our new cohort of students to start a new and exciting journey at Harris Academy Beckenham.
In service of this we have created this dedicated transition section of the website which will be updated regularly with letters, documents and information for you to view and download.
Meet the team
At Harris Academy Beckenham, we have an experienced and knowledgeable team of staff who are passionate about providing excellent teaching and learning experiences for our students.
The leadership team is led by our Principal, Chris Brett, along with Mr Shone, the Year 7 Co-ordinator. The team work hard to ensure our academy captures our sense of aspiration, discovery and achievement which will enable students to enjoy being the best they can be.
A parent/child workbook
Click here to download a parent/child workbook called Managing the Transition from Primary to Secondary school. It's produced by Islington Child Wellbeing Service but has useful guidance that applies to all children making the transition from primary to secondary school.
Virtual Tour
Harris Academy Beckenham is laid out over three floors. These are organised into subject areas.
In secondary school, you will move from classroom to classroom for each lesson. For example, you may start your day with a maths lesson as your first lesson, on the first floor. Then for second lesson, you may go to the second floor for Science.
When you join us in September, we will give you a guided tour so you can get to know the different areas. There will be lots of teachers to help you find your way.
We recognise that it is in the best interests of the students for there to be effective and open communication and information-sharing between the school and parents/carers.
To help this we have dedicated this section of the website to sharing key information with you regarding the transition process.
Letters home will always be shared via email direct to the family but links to the letters can also be found below. You will also find details about our catering services and some links to pages about term dates, the curriculum and our policies.
Should you have any questions that are not covered within these pages please contact the Academy via email, and our Transition team will be happy to help you.
Letters to parents about transition
These are emailed to parents but copies of these letters can be found below:
Transition newsletter
Our transition newsletters will be added here between now and September, as they are produced.
Additional links
Please click on the links below to view other sections of our academy website that may be of interest to you and provide you with additional key information about Harris Academy Beckenham.
Catering
Our catering service is provided by Innovate IFG, part of the Impact Food Group. Innovate is a well-established and experienced school caterer. The service is provided under contract with Harris Federation.
Please visit our main catering page to view further details of our cashless payment system, special diet procedures and free school meals.
In this section, you will find an array of sample lessons to give you an idea of learning at secondary school. Why don't you choose some to watch?
Each lesson has an activity attached that you can choose to complete. Please send in your completed work to transition@harrisbeckenham.org.uk We'll be celebrating your efforts in the July newsletter and there will be prizes for the best ones!
Art
Art resources needed - teabag, herbs and spices, water, stick, pen and paper.
Computer Science
Computer Science resources needed - Access to website: https://makecode.microbit.org/ pencil and paper.
DT
DT resources needed - marbles, cardboard, toilet loo rolls, glue, masking tape and scissors.
English
English resources needed - pen and paper.
Food Tech
Food tech resources needed: 150g plain flour, 100g butter, 50g caster sugar, Rolling pin (optional), Cookie cutter (optional), Mixing bowl, Baking tray, Parchment paper.
Geography
Geography resources needed - pen and paper.
Maths
Maths resources needed - pens (at least two different colours) and A4 paper.
MFL
MFL Resources needed - Compulsory - Pen and paper. Optional – Landmark building materials (i.e. Paper, Magazines, Toilet or kitchen roll tubes, Old pens, Jenga blocks, Lego, Lollipop sticks, Sellotape, Glue, Straws, Anything in the recycling bin, Cake baking (any ingredients).
Science
Science resources needed - Egg shell, small paintbrush, white glue, food colouring, Epsom salt or alum powder (in the cooking section of your local grocer), water, paper towels, bowl, heat proof containers (coffee cups work well), spoon.
Our current students have recorded some short videos below with some advice and guidance regarding life at Harris Academy Beckenham.
Take a look at advice from people who know want it's like to be in your shoes!
Writing at HABE
We explicitly teach our students how to become experts at writing within individual subject areas by equipping them with the necessary support skills. For students who struggle with these skills, we offer different forms of interventions to support such as Sounds Right, Phonics and Hackney Literature.
Reading at HABE
This year we have moved away from the generic Drop Everything and Read system to a more systematic approach with The Big Read. This programme involves a set class reader to explore with their form tutor. The rational behind this is that the teacher is modelling to the students an effective manner of reading while also teaching them key decoding skills for unseen extracts and texts within their other subjects.
Oracy at HABE
We embed different opportunities for students in lessons to develop the spoken word. This could be through Partner 1 and 2, Just a Minute and Knowledge Summary. To support these skills, students are offered a success criteria as well as oracy steams. This further develops their academic language.
Vocabulary at HABE
This year we have been implementing a systematic vocabulary approach within our lessons. The focus has been to expose our students to a wide range of high frequency words that can be implemented across all of their subjects to make learning more cohesive. We also use Bedrock vocabulary as an online platform where students are given various tasks to support the implementation of this.
HABE Summer Reading Challenge:
Curriculum Challenges:
- Art Curriculum Challenge
- Design and Technology Curriculum Challenge
- Drama Curriculum Challenge
- English Curriculum Challenge
- Food Technology Curriculum Challenge
- Geography Curriculum Challenge
- History Curriculum Challenge
- Maths Curriculum Challenge
- MFL Curriculum Challenge
- French Summer Vocab Classroom Language
- Spanish Summer Vocab Classroom Language
- Mandarin Summer Vocab Classroom Language
- Music Curriculum Challenge
- PE Curriculum Challenge
- Science Curriculum Challenge
Cultural Capital Passport:
Students from Harris Academy Beckenham must be in exemplary uniform and come to school equipped to learn.
Students are expected to be of smart and formal appearance. Click on the Uniform and Equipment. A guide for parents/carers image to download full details of our uniform expectations and requirements.
Uniform and faculty ties can be purchased from:
Wearabouts: 99 Sydenham Road, London, SE26 5UA. Tel: 0208 659 9917
Online: www.wearaboutsschoolwear.co.uk
Email: info@wearaboutsschoolwear.co.uk
Click HERE to visit wearaboutsschoolwear.co.uk - Harris Academy Beckenham
Donated uniform items
We are also pleased to tell you that we have started to stock donated uniform items. At the moment we have limited stock but we hope, with your support, that stock will increase over time and grow into a well-used resource for families. Parents/carers are welcome to drop off unwanted uniform items at any time to reception. (Washed first!).
The Uniform Shop will be open by appointment only by emailing Ms Barnett in the main office on J.Barnett@harrisbeckenham.org.uk
We hope you are able to take advantage of the opportunity to obtain uniform items but it’s success does rely on donations from parents/carers so your support is very much part of its potential success.
We look forward to hosting our parent information evening with the date to be confirmed. This meeting will take place at the academy, with more information being shared in the summer term.
Assembly on Harris Academy Beckenham's ethos
In advance of the evening, we have prepared two short videos below which cover our Academy ethos and key information about the day-to-day routines at the Academy. Please watch these together with your child as they hold lots of key information. After watching the videos, please bring any further questions you have to the meeting.
Our current year 7's filmed a video to support you with your transition. Within the film, they show you what a day in the life of a HABE student looks like, as well as introducing you to some key members of staff. We hope you enjoy!
Your child may be entitled to free school meals. Even if your child does not wish to eat free school meals, but is entitled to them, it's worth applying because for each child entitled to free school meals the Academy could receive funding to help with tuition, resources, coaching and extra assistance.
Find out if your child is entitled to free school meals by accessing this link https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2025/06/expanding-free-school-meals-what-parents-need-to-know/.
The meal value is £2.76.
A Data Collection Form has been emailed to all parents whose child(ren) have been formally offered a place at Harris Academy Beckenham.
We collect and use certain types of personal information about students and their parents/carers in order to provide education and student welfare, including the protection of an individual’s health interests.
The Academy is part of the Harris Federation, which aims to ensure that all personal data is collected, stored and processed in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018). More information can be found in the Harris Federation Privacy Notice.
We will only collect and use student’s personal data where the law allows us to. The information requested in this student admission form is primarily required to meet statutory obligations we have with the Department of Education e.g. for the School Census.
Where information is legally required it is labelled as mandatory and must be provided. Non-mandatory information is also important for the Academy and wherever possible it is requested you provide it.
The information you provide will be transferred and stored in our Management Information System (Bromcom), which is very secure with limited, controlled access.
In preparation for your admission to HABE, we would be very grateful if you would take time to fill in and return any of the following medical permission forms that relate to your son or daughter.
If you have already completed one of these forms and returned them to our Academy, there is no need to resend. These must be carefully completed with all the relevant sections signed and returned to Medical Administration or email info@harrisbeckenham.org.uk.