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19/04/24

Thank you so much to our brilliant young artists for sharing their Digital Futures exhibition with the SLT. Their presentation generated so many interesting conversations about the future of technology. Thank you so much! pic.twitter.com/k16CdR3LXS

19/04/24

Winners of the London Debate Mate Cup! Huge congratulations to our debating team - you are incredible! pic.twitter.com/I5WzP8t7vW

28/03/24

Our future lawyers loved their day . Thank you for the opportunity. https://t.co/gs8cQlBw8X

27/03/24

Thanks to supporting year 11 students' well being. A great session today with NASYouth helping students prepare for exams. pic.twitter.com/2d26XwsaUN

27/03/24

You’re very welcome - thanks for continuing to invite me! Your brilliant school has a special place in my heart.

27/03/24

You’re very welcome - thanks for continuing to invite me! Your brilliant school has a special place in my heart.

27/03/24

Not everyday you have your GCSE Text signed by the author pic.twitter.com/INXqgCT6Pd

27/03/24

Our Y11s loved their creative writing workshop with . The next generation of authors here 👏 pic.twitter.com/hGWzx8e3kY

27/03/24

Almost a decade of studying 's brilliant 'Pigeon English' at HGAED. The highlight of every Y11's year in English is the Q&A with the author himself! Thank you so much for being so generous with your time. 📙 pic.twitter.com/yviphuxdUe

22/03/24

Our brilliant Ms Noah being recognised for all her work to promote good mental health in our communities. A inspiration to our students! 👏 https://t.co/JA2Ohfty3d

21/03/24

Our brilliant choir performing with 6,000 young people . We could not be prouder of your passion, resilience and confidence. A proud day for HGAED! pic.twitter.com/7e9Jj784b8

20/03/24

Our Art History Society visited the Courtauld Gallery to learn more about significant figures in art including Edouard Manet. pic.twitter.com/DCbaowPri8

19/03/24

Inspiring trip to Dulwich Picture Gallery for our Y10 GCSE Photography students. pic.twitter.com/WNeINtAaWG

19/03/24

Wonderful Shibori creations by our Y10 Art Textiles students 💙 pic.twitter.com/mxP9qi7QBV

15/03/24

Great day for year 10 students. Visit to with and thanks to the staff and students making us welcome. Interesting Q&A and debate. pic.twitter.com/YHIkTZKN6r

15/03/24

ASME Clinic guided our students through the process of creating and marketing a skincare product for pic.twitter.com/yf8nRksi8R

15/03/24

A huge thank you to ASME Clinic for their brilliant careers event. Our students loved making their own skincare! 💜 pic.twitter.com/MyTsyWyhcF

13/03/24

Great day for year 10 students. Visit to with and thanks to the staff and students making us welcome. Interesting Q&A and debate. pic.twitter.com/YHIkTZKN6r

11/03/24

A huge thank you to for celebrating with us. Our students loved learning about all the protective equipment officers use and were delighted to have the opportunity to try the shields! pic.twitter.com/3p5awMov6J

11/03/24

Capturing 💜 pic.twitter.com/PqgTtePL58

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.

Central Office

Bexley

Bromley

Clapham

Croydon

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Newham

Southwark

Stratford

Sutton

Thurrock

Wandsworth

Westminster

Willesden

Literacy at HGAED

Fundamental to every student’s future success is the acquisition of effective literacy skills. This belief underpins the development of literacy at HGAED through our WORD (writing, oracy and reading development) programme. 

By focusing on the subject-specific literacy skills needed to succeed, students are able to access and comprehend all parts of the curriculum. This disciplinary literacy also ensures that our students are able to articulate their understanding using communication methods appropriate to each subject.  Consequently, our students are fully prepared for the challenges of higher education and employment in their futures.

Literacy encompasses reading, writing, speaking, listening and vocabulary development across the curriculum. How we read, write or speak in science compared to history compared to French is very different. Therefore, we aim to equip students with the knowledge and skills to flourish in each academic area.

We are leading this work across the academy with the current foci being on promoting the reading of academic texts, varied and challenging fiction and non-fiction texts, improving the quality of oracy and independent writing.

Students are introduced to a range of texts appropriate for each subject area and are shown the strategies needed to unlock those texts. This may include exploring the origins and structures of specialist, academic vocabulary; identifying the type of text; predicting the content of a text; clarifying its meaning or summarising the content after close reading.

Students are encouraged to read aloud in lessons in order to develop their fluency when reading. Literacy is also being developed through the Bedrock learning programme, VSPAG marking and feedback in exercise books as per our marking policy, and Friday coaching sessions centred on reading for pleasure (see our ‘reading for pleasure’ page under personal development for further information).

Oracy development is a real focus here at the academy with students frequently participating in structured discussions within lessons in order to practise articulating their ideas prior to completing written work. High expectations are set with academic language being used and responses being phrased in full sentences. Opportunities are provided for the development of debating skills both in lessons and through the Debate Mate club.

“Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. It is a tool for daily life in modern society. It is a bulwark against poverty, and a building block of development, an essential complement to investments in roads, dams, clinics and factories. Literacy is a platform for democratization, and a vehicle for the promotion of cultural and national identity…Literacy is, finally, the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realize his or her full potential.” Kofi Annan

Bedrock Learning

Bedrock Learning is an online curriculum that students can follow at school or at home. The digital literacy curriculum teaches students the language they need to succeed at school through a series of multi-modal and interactive activities. The rigorous assessment feeds data back to the teacher, enabling us to easily monitor progress. The English department sets and tracks all its homework through the Bedrock programme.

Literacy interventions

We offer additional support to students to help them improve their literacy across Year 7-11. The need of the individual determines the type of support they receive, as detailed below:

  • In-class support – teaching assistant (TA) support within lessons
  • SALT - specialist speech and language support
  • TA led literacy - small group literacy support
  • 1:1 paired reading intervention to improve struggling readers
  • EAL - 1:1 or small group English as an additional language support

Academic reading lists

In order to support students' reading skills and their wider academic studies, each subject area has compiled a list of texts related to the curriculum for each key stage. Some of these books will be introduced in lessons whilst others provide an opportunity for students to explore a particular topic in greater depth outside of lesson time. These reading lists are available on each subject page in the curriculum area of the website.

Getting in touch

If parents/carers would like to get in touch with our literacy team please contact:

Download our Literacy Policy from our Teaching and Learning page.