NQT to SLT: Tom Christopher, Harris Science Academy East London

My career journey at Harris

I started at the Harris Federation in 2014 as an NQT, joining Harris Academy Beckenham as a PE Teacher, and whilst there had a number of leadership opportunities. 

I went from being Most Able Lead across the academy and making sure those students could access more opportunities. At that time, I was fortunate enough to lead a really successful PE department. I was the Coordinator of PE and worked with a number of colleagues across the Federation to build a strong, exemplary PE department across our academies. 

During Covid, I then took on an Assistant Principal role. Obviously, it brought a number of challenges, but it was really exciting to be part of that leadership team. The team was successful in getting another Outstanding under the new Ofsted framework which was really good to hear. 

I took a year away from the Federation and then returned in June to be part of the transformation at Harris Science Academy East London as Senior Assistant Principal, with the aim to move the school to Outstanding and have really successful outcomes for our students. 

 

Developing character education at Harris Science Academy East London

One of my main responsibilities as Senior Assistant Principal is to lead our character education programme which ensures our students can articulate themselves effectively and stand shoulder to shoulder with students from more advantaged backgrounds and giving them as many opportunities to excel and be leaders in their chosen field.

We also run 12 character education days across the course of the year. And by the time students leave us, we want them to have visited an art gallery, gone to the theatre, been to a sports performance, and had a chance to be involved in debating and public speaking. We also offer residential trips as part of the programme as well. 

There are also opportunities for sporting competition, and we enter the Federation competitions, competing against other Harris schools, and we’re also part of wider football and netball leagues too. 

 

Being part of rapid school improvement

Harris Science Academy East London joined the Federation in September 2022 as a school in desperate need of transformation, and since then Harris has been able to make quick improvements. 

We have a small staff body too, so when we want to make change and have impact, we can do that really quickly. 

I’ve worked at the Federation for almost 10 years, and the uniqueness of this academy is that it is a really small school; we’ve only got around 500 students, with 90-100 in each year group. So, it has a real family feel, and it means that we know all the students by name, and know all the families really well too. And we have a small staff body too, so when we want to make change and have impact, we can do that really quickly. 

I love the students at this academy. They are really articulate and compliant, and they have loved what we are doing for them to ensure they can excel and be successful. We give them opportunities to be leader in the classroom, and we talk often about them being leaders in their chosen field. We want to give them opportunities and the skillset to be successful beyond school life when they leave us in Year 13. 

Our vision is to be the top-performing school in Newham by 2028, and we want to be one of the most successful schools in the country. We want our students to be proud of the school, and when they write ‘Harris Science Academy East London’ on their CV, it will be talked about in a positive way. That vision is something I’m really excited about, and all of the changes we’re making are pushing us towards that goal. 

As a team, we run in house CPD where we share good practice amongst departments. We also have many leaders here who have worked across the Federation so bringing all those approaches and that experience of working in Outstanding schools together.

Our vision is to be the top-performing school in Newham by 2028, and we want to be one of the most successful schools in the country. We want our students to be proud of the school

Everything we do is led by research so we have a really consistent lesson structure which supports staff, particularly new staff, with being able to teach. We set high expectations for our students, so we talk a lot about behaviour and culture, and we believe if we get that right, then everything else will fall into place and it means our students and our staff can be successful.

The wellbeing of staff is also important, and we offer lots of opportunities for staff wellbeing. We have a lot of staff socials, but we also ensure the our calendar is planned at the beginning of the year which allows staff to plan time for themselves, as well as having time for marking, feedback, and all the things which are really important to the students’ successes. 

 

Working at Harris provides more opportunities and support

I took a year away from Harris to work for a local authority school in Tower Hamlets, which gave me real insight into how other schools operate. I realised quite quickly that it wasn’t for me because I wanted things to be consistent and I wanted the students to achieve great outcomes, and that wasn’t possible there because there wasn’t the vision, mission, or resources to do that. 

We do things really well and students from disadvantaged backgrounds are given opportunities which they wouldn’t get anywhere else. That sits well with me in terms of my personal vision for education and what I want that to be. 

What I like about Harris is the networking opportunities and the support from the Federation. There is always somebody who knows the answer if you don’t, and always people whose experiences you can learn from. We also have the October conference which is a really big event for us, and a chance to collaborate with colleagues in other Harris academies. 

Across the Federation, we’re all bringing really good practice and sharing that practice with each other. And for our students that gives a consistent approach and clear, high expectations. That is proven with being one of the most successful multi-academy trusts in the country. We do things really well and students from disadvantaged backgrounds are given opportunities which they wouldn’t get anywhere else. That sits well with me in terms of my personal vision for education and what I want that to be. 

Harris academies expect a lot, and they expect the best. But ultimately, we’re working for the young people of London so we want the best for them.

I’ve spoken to other teachers who aren’t part of the Federation and they seem to believe that every Harris academy is the same, but that’s not true. It really depends on the Principal, their vision, and what they want to achieve. I’ve worked at two Harris schools and they were both very different, but their context and their student intake was also very different, so they need different approaches. 

We've also got our Consultants, and their support is second to none. When we get new teachers within our departments, you can’t beat having someone come in and support them to build the curriculum, and have the help of someone who has done it before and seen that success in other academies. You don't get that anywhere else, not even within other multi-academy trusts, certainly not to the level that we provide for staff here. The Consultant support is something that helps the Federation to thrive. 

Harris academies expect a lot, and they expect the best. But ultimately, we’re working for the young people of London so we want the best for them. We should be challenging ourselves to do better. I’ve only had positive experiences and the opportunities for leadership growth and personal development is really strong.