Our Aims
Harris Professional Skills Sixth Form is your pathway to a successful career.
It will offer an excellent, focused and bespoke vocational provision for students for whom traditional pathways may not be appropriate.
We will enable our students to develop practical skills and knowledge related to local, national and international employment needs, while also offering the opportunity to resit or take the GCSEs they need to start a job or go on to higher education.
Once the academy is established, we also intend to offer high-quality education to adults living in the local community.
Harris Professional Skills Sixth Form will provide inspirational teaching. Students will be encouraged to develop and follow their own vocational interests, both within their chosen subjects and as part of the academy’s wider academic and cultural enrichment programme.
Resilience, Reflectiveness, Resourcefulness and Reciprocity
In addition to the formal assessments that take place, students will also be assessed on Resilience, Reflectiveness, Resourcefulness and Reciprocity. These scores give an indication of how the student approaches their studies and the level of determination to succeed. Each element is awarded a score out of 5. Where teachers are awarding scores of 3 or lower, it will be considered a cause for concern.
1. Reciprocity - Being socially adept at learning
Students who score highly in this are excellent listeners and communicators. They have empathy with others and can adapt to different situations and audiences with ease. Working with different teams, they can be successful in a range of roles as appropriate and they can cooperate with others to produce the best possible outcomes. Because of their strengths in listening and communicating they can support good learning in others as well as themselves.
2. RESILIENCE - BEING IN-TUNE WITH LEARNING
Students who score highly in this will agree challenging goals for success, identify any potential barriers to achievement and explain articulately how they will overcome them. They will demonstrate determination and a "can do" attitude to achieving their aims. Oracy will be used to create an optimistic environment where all is possible. Through an enterprising approach to learning, students will discover fresh potential for achievement.
3. RESOURCEFULNESS - BEING PERCEPTIVE OF LEARNING
Students who score highly in this are able to assess situations and take risks in order to achieve their learning goals. They can exploit a wide range of stimuli and resources that support their learning potential. In particular a wide range of sophisticated Oracy skills will be highly developed as a key resource for being successful. They will use innovative ideas to solve problems and take an entrepreneurial approach in seeking out opportunities to increase motivation and improve their life chances.
4. REFLECTIVENESS - BEING AWARE OF LEARNING POTENTIAL
Students who score highly in this are aware of their successes and know what they need to do in order to improve further. They can be flexible and make good decisions based on well thought through planning that can be transferred to a range of situations. They are able to discuss their reasons for making decisions and are experts at communicating their views clearly. Students know themselves very well and are able to build on their strengths as well as identify and work successfully on their areas for improvement.
