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16/01/25

The  Book Fair has arrived! Miss Smith, our librarian has done a fantastic job setting up and students are making keen purchases!   

15/01/25

Tomorrow we will be hosting the fantastic  Book Fair! We can’t wait to see the array of books in store and encourage all students to visit the library and see for themselves. All books will be for sale! 

10/01/25

Happy Friday and Happy New Year to all our families! This week was a very cold first week back, but every student received a warm welcome by the Head of Academy and Faculty staff in assemblies this week!

18/12/24

The Invictus Family Programme have been busy! Headed by Ms Alston, Ms Duncan, and  Mrs Copeland Monday evenings have been filled with food, fun, and support. Cooking and eating together has been a display of true Invictus Spirit! 

12/12/24

Today we celebrated Christmas Jumper Day to raise money for  It felt particularly festive around the academy today! 

05/12/24

Tonight we are at the Creative Croydon School Festive Concert at the  Hosted by the we join a number of other schools performing tonight! 🎉 Go Invictus!   

25/11/24

Today is White Ribbon Day. After assemblies every day last week, on the importance of all students are encouraged to complete a pledge, on this year's theme: It Starts With Me. Afterwards, they collect their white ribbon, from Mr James & his team of ambassadors. pic.twitter.com/w9lJNko2DL

09/11/24

RT  : As part of our Game Over project, we shared Breck's Story with all Year 9 students, raising awareness about online safety a…

09/11/24

As part of our Game Over project, we shared Breck's Story with all Year 9 students, raising awareness about online safety and the importance of protecting themselves in the digital world. Thanks to  and the  for making this impactful session possible 💙

09/11/24

As part of our Game Over project, we shared Breck's Story with all Year 9 students, raising awareness about online safety and the importance of protecting themselves in the digital world. Thanks to  and the  for making this impactful session possible 💙

15/10/24

Today all Year 8 students completed a session of First Aid Training! What a fantastic, potentially lifesaving, experience for all students and thank you to the Paramedic team who came down to train them! Thank you to Ms Thomas and the Science team for organising!! 

10/10/24

Today is World Mental Health Day. Ms Williams has been speaking to faculties in assemblies all week, looking at how we raise awareness and support our own mental health.

09/10/24

Today we celebrated Black History Month in the Canteen! Chef and the kitchen team prepared a feast today, for staff and students to enjoy! Thoroughly enjoyed by all!     

09/10/24

We are celebrating Black History Month this month! Ms Bent delivered assemblies to all faculties last week, looking at Reclaiming Narratives. We have several competitions & challenges happening this month! We can’t wait to see what the students come up with!   

04/10/24

Just some of the prep going in to making the evening a success! pic.twitter.com/VwddwCeWl1

04/10/24

Last night we opened our doors once again for Y6 Open Evening! After a talk from our Head of Academy, visitors got to explore all the wonderful things going on in subjects! Thank you to all families that attended last night, we hope you got a feel for the Invictus spirit!

25/09/24

Harris Invictus Open Evening On Thursday, 3rd October 2024, our outstanding Academy looks forward to welcoming prospective Year 6 pupils and their parents for our annual Open Evening. https://t.co/0SXvGXxYvw Harris Invictus website: https://t.co/Apl70og1ZJ

25/09/24

Harris Invictus Open Evening On Thursday, 3rdOctober 2024, our outstanding Academy looks forward to welcoming prospective Year 6 pupils and their parents for our annual Open Evening.

23/09/24

This week we are celebrating both the European Day of Languages AND Banned Book Week! Ms Smith, our librarian has created a wonderful display to share with students some recommended literature for students to explore!

19/09/24

Here’s Ms Cullen stunning her Year 10 group with science today, using the Van Der Graff Generator! Teaching the static electricity topic in physics, she used the static electricity created in her, to light this Bunsen burner! Super science!

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.

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Wandsworth

Westminster

SMSC (& Assemblies)

Spiritual, Moral, Social & Cultural Education

We view SMSC development at our Academy as an extremely important part of all students’ education and personal life experience. We believe that it should be embedded in all that we do at the Academy, through subject areas, learning hubs, student leadership, enrichment programmes, extracurricular events and the ethos. Although many aspects of SMSC is taught indirectly as part of the specific subject curriculum children receive at Invictus, it is also developed and focused on in other areas of school life. As well as our extra-curricular activities and regular external speakers, we also explicitly cover SMSC as part of our tutor and assembly programme.

What we mean by SMSC

Spiritual, moral, social and cultural education covers the following areas.

  • Spiritual -  exploring beliefs and experience; respecting values; discovering oneself and the surrounding world; using imagination and creativity; reflecting.
  • Moral - recognising right and wrong; understanding consequences; investigating moral and ethical issues; offering reasoned views.
  • Social - using social skills in different contexts; working well with others; resolving conflicts; understanding how communities work.
  • Cultural - appreciating cultural influences; participating in cultural opportunities; understanding, accepting, respecting and celebrating diversity.

Tutorial Programme (SMSC tasks)

As part of our tutorial programme we have a weekly SMSC task in which all students in the academy take part. Topics cover an extensive range of subjects which develop students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding, including politics, media and religion.

Information is presented without bias, challenging students to discuss and debate issues taking place across the world as well as in Britain. Students are encouraged to interrogate the moral, cultural, spiritual and social aspects of the world around them. They develop a balanced point of view and empathy for those in the wider and local environment.

Assemblies

Assemblies at Harris Invictus Academy Croydon foster a sense of enquiry and interest in a range of religious, spiritual, moral, social, cultural and wider life issues, and provide clear guidance on what is right and wrong.

They link to the weekly SMSC tutor activity and are themed around current affairs, global and local issues and key aspects of the SMSC curriculum which are relevant to our context.

Each assembly encourages a sense of community and loyalty to the Hub and the Academy underpinned by a community spirit, a common ethos and shared values. Each week offers the opportunity of a public platform to encourage and celebrate individual and collective successes.

Week Beginning

Assembly

British Value(s)

07/09/2026

Welcome Back – Personal Development

Mutual Respect, Rule of Law

14/09/2026

World Afro Day and Black History Month

Mutual Respect, Tolerance of Different Faiths and Beliefs

21/09/2026

Principal's Assembly

All British Values

28/09/2026

Student Leadership Assembly

Democracy, Individual Liberty

05/10/2026

International Day of the Girl Child

Mutual Respect, Rule of Law, Individual Liberty

12/10/2026

World Mental Health Day

Individual Liberty, Mutual Respect

02/11/2026

Islamophobia Awareness Month

Tolerance of Different Faiths and Beliefs, Mutual Respect

09/11/2026

Remembrance Day / Principal's Assembly

Mutual Respect, Democracy, Rule of Law

16/11/2026

Tree of Hope / Grooming, CSE and CCE

Rule of Law, Individual Liberty

23/11/2026

International Day for Persons with Disabilities

Mutual Respect, Individual Liberty

30/11/2026

International Volunteer Day

Individual Liberty, Mutual Respect

07/12/2026

International Migrants Day / Contributions of South Asians in the UK

Tolerance of Different Faiths and Beliefs, Mutual Respect

14/12/2026

Online Safety, Deepfakes, Influencers and Scams

Rule of Law, Individual Liberty

04/01/2027

Welcome Back Assembly

Rule of Law, Mutual Respect

11/01/2027

Human Trafficking Awareness Day

Rule of Law, Individual Liberty

18/01/2027

International Day of Education

Individual Liberty, Mutual Respect

25/01/2027

Holocaust Memorial Day

Tolerance of Different Faiths and Beliefs, Mutual Respect, Rule of Law

01/02/2027

LGBT History Month

Mutual Respect, Individual Liberty, Tolerance of Different Faiths and Beliefs

08/02/2027

Self-Esteem Month / Zero Tolerance for FGM

Individual Liberty, Rule of Law

22/02/2027

Conflict Resolution

Mutual Respect, Democracy

01/03/2027

World Book Day / Principal's Assembly

Individual Liberty

08/03/2027

British Science Week

Individual Liberty

15/03/2027

Neurodiversity Celebration Week

Mutual Respect, Individual Liberty

22/03/2027

Safeguarding

Rule of Law, Individual Liberty

12/04/2027

Welcome Back

Rule of Law, Mutual Respect

19/04/2027

Being an Active Citizen

Democracy, Mutual Respect

26/04/2027

Being Enterprising and Ambitious

Individual Liberty

03/05/2027

Mental Health Awareness / Better Sleep Month

Individual Liberty

10/05/2027

Personal Finance – Managing Money

Individual Liberty

17/05/2027

Digital Footprints and Your Future

Individual Liberty, Rule of Law

24/05/2027

Safeguarding

Rule of Law, Individual Liberty

07/06/2027

Pride Month

Mutual Respect, Tolerance of Different Faiths and Beliefs, Individual Liberty

14/06/2027

Windrush Day

Mutual Respect, Tolerance of Different Faiths and Beliefs

21/06/2027

Refugee Awareness Week

Tolerance of Different Faiths and Beliefs, Mutual Respect

28/06/2027

National PTSD Awareness Day

Mutual Respect, Individual Liberty

05/07/2027

Plastic Free July

Individual Liberty, Mutual Respect

12/07/2027

Prefect Assembly

Democracy, Individual Liberty

19/07/2027

Summer Safety / Safeguarding Assembly

Rule of Law, Individual Liberty

 

Engaging with the local community

Work experience - students in Year 10 develop a range of skills related to the world of work when they participate in Work Experience. Students are given positions in the local and wider community in order to gain valuable social skills and experience of the world around them.

Guest speakers - visiting speakers to the Academy enable our students to gain first-hand knowledge of charities and businesses in the local community.

Celebrations open to the public - our very popular musicals and Rewards Evenings are open to members of the public to attend, forging social and community engagement.

Enrichment programme

Our enrichment programme provides extra-curricular activities designed to be fun and enhance our students’ experience at the Academy. Our students extend their learning beyond that of the standard curriculum in an environment that caters for and challenges all. They develop a range of essential skills that will help them become active, enterprising and well-rounded individuals. Students are expected to attend at least one enrichment activity on a weekly basis each term where they will enjoy a range of fun activities in a social setting.

Student leadership

Student Leadership is the individual and collective perspective and actions of young people within the context of learning and education at Harris Invictus Academy Croydon. Students vote for their form representatives and apply for student leadership roles across the Academy. Our young people are empowered to give their opinions and suggestions on Academy life in an open, democratic, secure and constructive way.

Religious Education and Philosophy

The curriculum for Religious Education (RE) and Philosophy is broad and well-balanced, promoting the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of students, and helping to prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life. Our RE themes involve respect, self-esteem, appreciation and wonder and open-mindedness. We offer a balanced approach to students’ religious education which is broadly Christian, but encompasses all major faiths.

PSHERE (Click)