Class Teacher to Head of Academy: Jordan Hollis, Harris Primary Academy Shortlands

Jordan has been a valued part of the Harris Federation for 8 years. Originally from Derby, he moved to London and started at Harris in 2015. He’s one of our shining examples of how a brilliant teacher can successfully progress into a leadership role, and the support they will get along the way. We spoke to him about his career journey with us. 

 

Opportunities to progress at Harris

I started as a Class Teacher at Harris Primary Academy Haling Park in 2015, and whilst there, I got promoted to Assistant Principal. Harris supported me with the NPQSL and allowed me to shadow really strong leaders. Having helped to get an Outstanding Ofsted rating at Haling Park, I moved to Harris Primary Academy Purley Way to be their Assistant Principal. They were a growing school with an Ofsted inspection imminent; and when the inspection did come, they secured the Outstanding too. 

It was whilst I was at Purley Way that I managed to progress to become Vice Principal, and when the Head of Academy went on maternity leave, I became the acting Head for the rest of the academic year. I then moved to Harris Primary Academy Shortlands in September 2022 to become their permanent Head of Academy which is what I am doing now. 

 

Being inspired to teach

In Sixth Form, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do as a career. I’d considered architecture as that was something that I was really interested in, but it was my Drama Teacher who said that I’d make a really good primary school teacher. I mentioned it to my Mum, and she proceeded to explore the routes into teaching. She really liked the idea, so I did my degree in Education Studies at Derby University and then my PGCE after that. 

I’ve been inspired by some of the teachers that I had. I will always remember my Year 6 Teacher called Mr Stanley; he would do the assemblies and would get in front of the school and tell a story – he’d always do the voices for every character and would just seamlessly go from character to character without ever mixing up the voices. He’s a teacher that I’ll never forget.

 

Taking the first steps into leadership

I have had such a positive experience with all the leaders I’ve worked with and it felt like the natural next step for me to progress into a school leadership role. I’ve always loved supporting others around me and helping people to grow and that’s certainly been my experience within Harris. I’ve been fortunate to be surrounded by amazing, inspiring leaders and have always been given the progression opportunities by the Federation, whilst always feeling fully supported. 

From the very beginning when I joined the Federation, I asked the Executive Principal if it would be possible to do my NPQSL and prepare myself to become an Assistant Principal which they agreed to. That has been a consistent pattern within the Federation, they’ve always allowed me to do the training I need to help me get to the next step.  

They do some Aspiring Head courses as well. I was on the Accelerated Principal programme and that was a chance to hear from inspirational leaders across the Federation. It also helped to build up networks which is something I’ve always tried to do since working here, no matter which role you’re in, it’s so important to make those connections because there’s so much to learn from everyone and you never know when it will be useful. It’s equally so important to make links with people in Head Office, because they do so much work behind the scenes to support our academies and it is invaluable to have friends there. 

 

I’ve been fortunate to be surrounded by amazing, inspiring leaders and have always been given the progression opportunities by the Federation

 

Understanding my leadership style

I would describe my personality as quite Tigger-like. I used to think that the way I was as a person and a professional, didn’t always make the greatest of headteachers as I always worked with headteachers who were the opposite of me – they were very structured, organised, concise, delivered a firmer message and could have those difficult conversations. 

But as I surrounded myself with different types of leaders, I started to see heads that had more similarities to me, were a little softer, and had a more playful side. As I did my leadership training, I started to realise that the reason I’d had those heads before was because I had complemented them, we had different styles and that helped us to work together so well.

I learnt that if I was going to become a headteacher, I needed someone who was different to me to be my Vice Principal. I needed someone that was organised, I needed someone who could take my 10 ideas and filter them down to 2 and make sure that they are logistically possible. I could not do my job without my Vice Principal, Deb Hayes, she is my rock. We are polar opposites but we make a great team and together, we are a force to be reckoned with.

 

I learnt that if I was going to become a headteacher, I needed someone who was different to me to be my Vice Principal.

 

The challenges that have helped me to develop my career

During my teacher training, I had a mentor who was very different to me. It felt like we clashed as her approach was the complete opposite and she was so militant in terms of her planning and sequencing, and we just didn’t get on. She sat me down and told me that she was hard on me because she could see I had the potential to be a great teacher, and she was giving me the tools to upskill and make me a better teacher. A few years into teaching, I found her on Facebook and messaged her to thank her for that moment because it was difficult at the time but now I can see what she was doing and how she was helping me.  

A crucial part of working at the Federation is being open to knowing where your gaps are so you can develop, it’s really important to not be afraid of that. I think transitioning between schools is always hard. You get used to being amazing at one school where you know everyone and feel confident in what you do, and then you go to a new school, and you need a bit of self-realisation to recognise there are gaps to learn more. Having the Consultants is an invaluable part of working here, as long as you are open to feedback rather than seeing it as criticism, their support has been very helpful. 

 

A crucial part of working at the Federation is being open to knowing where your gaps are so you can develop.

 

Career highlights

For teaching, the highlight is the light bulb moment when children get it after you’ve worked tirelessly to help them to understand something. My most rewarding time as a teacher was working with children who make so much progress.

As a leader, the highlight is the growth of your colleagues, knowing that you’ve helped teaching assistants to become teachers, or teachers to become leaders, or leaders to progress further. 

As someone who is very extrinsically motivated, a very proud moment was when I won a staff award for Transforming Lives as a Teacher, and it was lovely to be recognised by my colleagues. 

 

Aspirations for the future

In the future, I am keen to further grow the people around me and support the ambitions of my colleagues and helping to facilitate that career journey for them. 

For myself, I’d like to be able to progress my career further at Harris, so the next step would be to become a Principal, and then become an Executive Principal where I would get the opportunity to support multiple schools. And then potentially much further in the future, become an Assistant Director. But the great thing is that at Harris, I know those things are possible rather than just being a dream. 

 

The great thing is that at Harris, I know those things are possible rather than just being a dream. 

 

Advice I would give people with school leadership ambitions

My advice for someone considering becoming a school leader is don’t be afraid to do things that feel like they might be too soon. Take on as many courses and as much professional development as you can because I think it’s better to be doing the thing you want to be before you take the role on properly. By doing that, the transition is more seamless. So for example, going from Class Teacher to Assistant Principal, you want to be doing parts of the Assistant Principal role without having the label. Then by the time it comes that you are in that position, there’s no change for you to worry about. Be willing and prepared to do the job before you have the title, and learn everything you can from the people in the positions you’re aspiring to be in. 

I would also say that everyone has the qualities to be a good leader. You need the drive and to be a beacon of good practice but it’s important to make sure you understand the individual qualities that you bring to the role. 

 

Be willing and prepared to do the job before you have the title, and learn everything you can from the people in the positions you’re aspiring to be in. 

 

Being part of the Harris Federation

I think the success of the Federation comes down to the collective drive and passion that everyone has, they’re motivated by delivering excellence for all no matter a child’s background. As teachers, we want children to succeed but at Harris it’s not just a tagline, it’s something the organisation embodies day in, day out. 

Harris can get a negative reputation for working staff hard but that only comes from a place of passion for children succeeding. It’s not because they want staff to struggle but because they want the best for the children in Harris schools so to work at Harris you’ve got to have the drive and passion as well. 

I would recommend working at Harris to any teacher, senior leader, or teaching assistant, especially if you are keen to progress. It’s just so well facilitated here and there are so many more opportunities because we are a large network of academies so there are possibilities everywhere.