Harris Academy Bermondsey

This is coming from two students who have been in this school since 2018 (7 years). The school itself is average but lacks good math teachers. Since we started there were constant fights under the old principle and not as many under the new one. Before the new principle came in it felt like a totalitarian state because of the punishments dished out to entire year groups for the mishaps of a certain group of students. In year seven we had silent lunch with assigned seats and were unable to go outside of the cafeteria, mandated to read. As well as being escorted like criminals in Alcatraz from one class to another and given 30 minutes if we spoke. This caused mass amounts of anxiety in our year group.

During year 7 and some of year 8, I was constantly being bullied by a girl in my year, who would curse me and make fake allegations about me. This made me insecure about myself and my safety around the school. There was even a point where coming to school felt like a bigger ordeal than it should have. When I finally found the strength to tell my tutor at the time, I was told that I was "old enough" to solve the issue by myself despite only being 11. After being told this, I left the cafeteria and went to the toilet as I started crying from being denied the option of reporting a BULLY! When going to the toilet, multiple members of staff saw me and not a single one asked me if I was okay.

Some of the teachers were fake to say the least, in the sense they should have never been given a teaching license or a job. The amount teachers that have left during important exam periods with no suitable replacements made GCSEs harder for the students and the teachers taking on the extra students. It's safe to say that the school has gotten better with most of the rules being fair.

In terms of sixth formers though, they have many restrictions on the students and treat them as though they are still secondary students despite practically being adults. There are times when students feel infantilised, on top of that, some teachers are far too harsh on their students for their coursework. Two teachers that I've heard of have said offhanded comments to their students and called them "failures".

Some teachers were also way too harsh on students for the strangest things. I recall in year seven wanting to avoid two specific days of school as this was when we had their class. They were belittling and rude with students unless you were one of her favourites. For a different teacher a student got in trouble for making a "ruckus". It was flu season and that student was sneezing and coughing quite often, literally flu season.

The security is meh. There have been two cases where people have/ attempted to climb over the fence.

The food itself is awful. We understand that the school has a certain budget and has to feed hundreds of students in a short period of time. However, this doesn't excuse the number of times where the accidentally gave me food containing meat as a vegetarian.
With my experience, on two separate occasions I was given raw chicken or food that was not halal.

In conclusion the school isn't that bad it's just some of the teachers and a handful of students.

I’m incredibly impressed with the passion for teaching that shines through at my daughter's school. The teachers are dedicated to delivering a high-quality education, and the care provided by the pastoral team and support staff is exceptional. They genuinely look out for the well-being of the students and are always there to support them through challenges.

While the rules and expectations can seem strict, they are understandable, especially in today’s society where managing behavior is a challenge. The structure in place helps create an environment where children can learn meaningfully, provided they are willing to engage. The school has a strong commitment to keeping children safe while also supporting their academic and personal growth.

A lovely bonus is the free warm bagels provided in the morning, ensuring the students start their day on a positive note. All in all, the school truly cares about its students, and it shows in everything they do. THANK YOU HAB FOR ALL YOU ARE DOING FOR OUR GIRLS!

I am highly disappointed on how the school handles bullies. I don’t think it’s okay for the teachers to gaslight a child and not do nothing about bullies. A child (child A) that is currently at Harris Bermondsey complained to the teachers about being bullied by other children at Harris Bermondsey. An incident occurred where other children threw a water bottle at her head (Child A) and the school response to child A was that the bullies “was just joking with her (child A)”. In what world is throwing a water bottle at someone’s head a joke? That is assault. The kids who have thrown the water bottle at Child A head have not been expelled or suspended - that sets a precedent to the kids that their behaviour is acceptable and they can continue to do that without any repercussions and consequences.

I’m highly disappointed on how Harris Academy Bermondsey handles bullies. There’s no amount of rebranding this school can do to convince me that this school is a good school. They have a history of protecting bullies, whereas the child being bullied suffers the consequences of being bullied and their mental health is impacted in a negative way.

Shame on Harris Bermondsey Academy on how they have handled the situation, I’m appalled.

My daughter went to this school and she never really liked the school. She found most teachers and students very nice but She told me other students had did very inappropriate behaviour like kids in year 7 (her year) had been vaping and selling vapes. A girl was also bullying her and my daughter and I told her head of year and he told the girl not to do it anymore but she still continually did it. Also, hair and other disgusting things was in my daughters and other student’s food. After a few months of the school and begging , my wife and I let our daughter move to another secondary school.

I wont lie and say it's a bad school because its not. Comparing to others, I believe it is a school that can use improvement though the way it is now is alright. On the one hand, the support system is strong, there are people you can go to if something is going on in your personal life such as if your struggling with your mental health because if family issues. However on the other hand, in terms of the rules and procedures it has it can confuse me. There are rules that do not make any sense to me at all as they cannot have an impact on our learning. Also, in terms of school food the quality never maintains a good standard. I've noticed that there have been increases in price from my time at the beginning and I do understand that the school must take these measures in order to help its quality but it can be excessive. The food as a whole can be very unappealing to many students which can cause them to just be left starving. Overall, the school do have some supporting teachers who do provide an understanding that what goes on each students lives is different but the school also needs to take matters into their own hands because the food can be a monster of it's own at times.