Equalities & Additional Intervention

We believe that all children should be equally valued at our academy. We will strive to eliminate prejudice and discrimination, and to develop an environment where all children can flourish and feel safe. We have a range of agreed policies.

Harris Lowe Academy Willesden is committed to inclusion and part of the academy’s strategic planning involves developing cultures, policies and practices that include all learners. We aim to engender a sense of community and belonging, and to offer new opportunities to learners who may have experienced previous difficulties. This does not mean that we will treat all learners in the same way, but that we will respond to learners in ways that take in to account their varied life experiences and needs.

We believe that educational inclusion is about equal opportunities for all learners, whatever their age, gender, demographic group, ethnicity, additional need, attainment and background. We pay particular attention to the provision for and the achievement of different groups of learners:

• Students from families that are financially disadvantaged (PP - Pupil Premium)
• Students who arrive with below nationally expected ability in any area (LAPs)
• Students from minority faiths, ethnicities, travellers, asylum seekers, refugees
• Students who have English as an additional language (EAL)
• Students who have Special Educational Needs or a Disability (SEND)
• Students who are Most Able
• Students who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender (LGBT)
• Students who are Looked After Children (LAC)
• Young carers, sick children, children from families under stress

A copy of our SEND Information Report and our SEND policy can be downloaded from our SEN and Disabilities Page.

Pupil Premium

We are incredibly proud to say that, in our founding year, our disadvantaged students made positive progress. This is compared to a national picture where students do substantially worse in average performing schools if they are disadvantaged. We do not let this define our students and their life chances at Harris Lowe Academy Willesden. Indeed, our disadvantaged students go on to out-perform their peers within our Sixth Form.

We believe passionately that everybody is equal and that equal opportunities are part of our core values at HLAW.  We will always strive to narrow any gaps regardless of whether they are social, academic or cultural to ensure every one of our students achieves their full potential every day.

Our model of support for Pupil Premium students aims to address some of the challenges they may face and allow them to realise anything is possible in life. We help to remove the challenges our Pupil Premium students may face by:

• Improving self-efficacy and self-esteem of our disadvantaged students to ensure they are empowered to achieve anything in life and their true potential. Background does not determine outcome.
• Improving emotional, mental and social wellbeing to ensure we are breaking down barriers that can inhibit learning.
• Improving low aspirations to ensure our students are empowered to explore careers that will give them fulfilment and challenge in life.
• Improve inconsistent and erratic attendance patterns when they enter the academy in Year 7.
• Narrow the gap in attainment and progress that typically exists on entry between our disadvantaged and non- disadvantaged students.
• Improve their aspiration, knowledge, information and guidance for all disadvantaged students, in particular, those who are most able and disadvantaged.
• Regardless of starting points, ensure that all disadvantaged students make positive progress and attainment, whilst continuing to outperform national disadvantaged students in all comparisons, as we have done for the past three years.
• Through our home visit programme, ensure that students have stability, resources, routines and the basic needs at home to flourish at school.
• Providing the basic resources that may be taken for granted by other students to ensure they receive equality of opportunity to be successful at the academy.

Gender pay gap report