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18/07/25

A fantastic day this week at Lidl Warehouse-Belvedere! Students stepped into the heart of logistics, exploring the warehouse and witnessing Just-in-Time stock management in action. Students had full immersion into how modern supply chains work. pic.twitter.com/JfiHFFB9yA

18/07/25

Students wowed the Lidl Head of Sales Operations with their bold business pitches! After fierce competition, the top two groups were selected to go to the Lidl warehouse trip- Belvedere this week! Future entrepreneurs in the making pic.twitter.com/aab8woVu1H

16/07/25

Our amazing Year 10 Athletics medalists — their final competition before heading into Year 11! 👏🏼🎽 🥇 Princess – 100m⁰🥈 Kaidon – 100m⁰🥈 Ridhwaan – High Jump⁰🥉 Wilfred – 300m pic.twitter.com/FLF0lgHeqv

11/07/25

Harris Federation Festival of Music! We are very proud of HAM music students who represented our academy on the first ever Harris Federation Festival of Music which took place in Fairfield Halls on 9th July 2025🎼 pic.twitter.com/xktxGXMfG6

11/07/25

WE ARE SO PROUD https://t.co/UhlFyjXun8

10/07/25

An unforgettable moment at today as our incredible ball boy, Karsten, had the honour of meeting Queen Camilla — with none other than by his side! 👑🎾🍓 pic.twitter.com/OMQ4CuYie6

09/07/25

This week, Yr12 SCCC scholars are at The Oval for work experience! Monday: partnership workshop – pitch a £1M Nando’s sponsorship to SCCC. Tuesday: promo for the SACS programme with our media & comms team. Harris Merton Scholars smashed it!#HarrisScholars pic.twitter.com/ac1EcXecLG

09/07/25

Yr10 GCSE Business students took part in a behind-the-scenes tour of operational excellence, & explored the wide range of career opportunities available at Lidl, gaining real-world insight into one of the UK’s leading retailers. A brilliant example of business learning in action! pic.twitter.com/JKTRifC7Kt

08/07/25

Over the last two weeks 42 of our incredible students have taken on the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award expedition - what an adventure it’s been! From navigating trails to building teamwork and resilience, they’ve shown true grit and determination💪👏 pic.twitter.com/USwkgAQn7o

08/07/25

Our top readers were rewarded with a magical day at the Harry Potter Studio Tour! Hard work and a love for books really do open doors — or in this case, Platform 9¾! 🧙‍♂️🎉 pic.twitter.com/C0yQa1HUfp

04/07/25

🎉 Day Trip to Lille! An unforgettable adventure with 47 amazing students exploring the beautiful city of Lille and its charming zoo! From cobbled streets to curious creatures, we made memories to last a lifetime.#Lille pic.twitter.com/SgIDrGROL3

20/06/25

🏆South Quadrant Federation Boys and Girls Athletics Champions🏆 What an incredible achievement from all of our athletes. Their hardwork, determination and team spirit truly paid off. Good luck to those who will go onto represent Merton at the Athletics Final 🙌🏼🍀🎽 pic.twitter.com/HN9OoiD6xX

20/06/25

Amazing performance from all of our relay teams. A huge congrats to our Year 8 & Year 10 girls and boys and our Year 9 girls relay teams for taking the win at the South Quadrant Federation Athletics! 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️💨 Teamwork makes the dream work🥇🙌 pic.twitter.com/RuOaMaRHKh

20/06/25

Total domination from our Year 10 boys 💪🔥 Crowned South Quadrant Federation winners after smashing both track and field events! A powerhouse performance all round 👏🏼🎽 pic.twitter.com/hXqpuYjyWx

20/06/25

Year 9 girls South Quadrant Federation Athletics winners 🏆🔥 An amazing performance showing determination and resilience in their track and field events 👏🏼🎽 pic.twitter.com/8sYJagQ8ZA

16/06/25

On Friday 13th June we had an ice cream van visit HAM to reward almost 700 students for excellent and most improved attendance. Well done to all involved! 🍦🍡 pic.twitter.com/sAV44UuYeM

02/04/25

Regional Final was a blast at Ursuline HS Wimbledon Well done to our finalists: 🥇Zayd Anwar, 🥈Agathe Lambert, Ursuline High School Wimbledon 🥉Stacey Digan, Find all photos on https://t.co/rPkPTWMkOF pic.twitter.com/QxRV3SUYvr

13/11/24

Members of the our student leadership body representing at the Mitcham Remembrance day service. pic.twitter.com/kM77l97O4D

22/08/24

⭐️⭐️⭐️9 Grade 9’s⭐️⭐️⭐️ We are so proud of Rouzana! She has done amazing, such a bright future ahead 🌟 pic.twitter.com/YRhzKfCm61

22/08/24

🎉🎉🎉HARD WORK PAYS OFF🎉🎉🎉 Exceptional performance from Manuchehr, Jael, Zhuri and Erin! 20 grade 9’s between the 4 of them 🤩🤩 We are so proud of all the work that they have put in 💪#achievementissuccess pic.twitter.com/KI4R2KR18w

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

Brent

Bromley

Clapham

Croydon

Greenwich

Haringey

Havering

Merton

Newham

Southwark

Stratford

Sutton

Thurrock

Wandsworth

Westminster

Attendance

At Harris Academy Merton we believe that good attendance is vital to the wellbeing and prospects of all our students. Attendance is intrinsically linked to our Academy strategy for raising achievement. We thus expect students to achieve above 96% attendance.

Punctuality to school is also crucial to create a calm and purposeful atmosphere as students who are persistently late often disrupt their own and others’ learning. We expect students to arrive on time for learning.

A student’s progress is severely hampered if they do not regularly attend school. To illustrate:

Percentage Attendance 

School Days Missed Over an Academic Year 

Sessions Missed  

100% attendance 

0 school days missed 

95% attendance 

10 school days missed (60 lessons) 

20 sessions 

90% attendance 

19 school days missed (114 lessons) 

38 sessions 

85% attendance 

29 school days missed (174 lessons) 

58 sessions 

 

How can I track my child’s attendance?

You have access to My Child at School (MCAS) to track your child’s attendance. Students' attendance should be 96% and above. If a students’ attendance is below 90%, they are considered persistently absent, and action will be required to address this serious cause for concern. If you need a reminder of how to access this platform, please call reception for support. 

 

How can I support my child’s attendance to school?

  1. Talk regularly with your child about school and how they feel about it. They are more likely to attend if they feel supported and anxieties listened to. 
  1. Phone us as soon as possible to tell us why your child is absent, and when you expect them to return. Putting the school number in your phone can save you time. Know the school routine for alerting you to absence. 
  1. Only grant days at home for genuine illness.
  1. Avoid taking holidays in school time. 
  1. Know routines of the school day to avoid issues, e.g. have they got their PE kit? 
  2. Praise and reward good attendance: even small successes.
  3. Contact Faculty to resolve issues, we may be able to help and support.

 

What happens if my child’s attendance is low?

We review attendance weekly for the below:

  • Students that miss 10 sessions (5 school days) in 10 weeks
  • Students that are persistently absence (bellow 90% attendance)

Faculty staff may contact parents/carers to put in place support via an Attendance Contract with the aim of improving a child’s attendance over a 6-week period, and longer. This will involve various on-site strategies to support your child e.g., Early Help 1-1 conversations, Learning Zone, rewards.

If little improvement is seen or a there is a lack of engagement from parents/carers, a Notice to Improve (NTI) letter may be sent which outlines improvements that need to be made during a monitoring period of between 3 and 6 weeks.

If sufficient improvement has not been made, details will be forwarded to the Senior Education Welfare Officer at Merton who will make arrangements for a Penalty Notice fine to be issued.

Ppo

 

How do we promote good attendance at Harris Academy Merton?

Assistant Principals take overall responsibility for encouraging and rewarding publicly the need for high attendance and excellent levels of punctuality in their Faculties. Any figures which outperform the Academy targets or demonstrate week-on-week improvement are celebrated with staff and students during tutor time and weekly assemblies. Staff encourage a competitive spirit within and between Faculties.

100% attendance and punctuality are rewarded at weekly and termly celebration assemblies where students receive badges, certificates, and vouchers. There are also termly rewards for shorter periods of 100% attendance, this includes bowling, an ice cream van, breakfast, and movie screenings.

 

KEY DOCUMENTS

LB Merton School Attendance and Penalty Notice Info for parents and carers Sept 2024 Click Here 
Principal Letter - Attendance Guidance September 2024 Click Here