Harris City Academy Crystal Palace
Academy Information
- Maberley Road, London SE19 2JH Get Directions
- 0208 771 2261
- info@harriscrystalpalace.org.uk
- https://www.harriscrystalpalace.org.uk
About Harris City Academy Crystal Palace
Very few schools can claim to have been the cornerstone and flagship of the most successful, large multi-academy trust in the country, and to have been awarded three consecutive ‘Outstandings’ from Ofsted.
Very few schools can claim to have changed thousands of children’s lives over the course of over thirty years, and to have produced hundreds of leaders and teachers for the education system.
Very few schools can claim to have been pivotal and influential for the rapid rise of school improvement across London, and beyond.
However, Harris City Academy Crystal Palace (HCACP) can, and we are looking for education’s best leaders, teachers and support staff to help us continue changing lives and tackling inequality in whatever form it may take.
At HCACP, we believe that, “All Can Achieve". As such, we are unashamedly ambitious about our goals: offering a knowledge-rich curriculum; exemplary teaching & learning; excellent behaviour; an exceptional Personal Development programme, and being an academy that continues to pioneer, as it did when it first opened in 1990 as one of the very first autonomous academies in the UK.
The Education Endowment Foundation argues that, “The best available evidence indicates that great teaching is the most important lever schools have to improve pupil attainment”: consequently, we aim to recruit the very best leaders and educators to ensure that HCACP stays as one of the country’s most dynamic and inspiring schools.
If you wish to work in a high challenge, high support environment that aspires to redefine what an educational institution can achieve then, apply to work at HCACP.
Vision and Values
The academy’s focus on the core values of Community, Contribution, Courtesy, Co-Operation and Courage helps to cultivate a distinctive and unique ethos of inclusivity, high standards, and academic rigour. HCACP is unequivocal in wanting the best for students so that they are not restricted by background, but rather equipped to push boundaries and seize opportunities. Leaders, teachers and support staff at HCACP have a moral imperative to offer students the best so that they are able to develop into Global Citizens, ready to contribute to the world.
Location
Located in Crystal Palace, a stones throw from the triangle, HCACP benefits from excellent transport links throughout the local area, to and from the city. Whilst public transport serves the academy well, many colleagues choose to drive to work and make use of the generous, onsite car park.
Why work at Harris City Academy Crystal Palace?
We believe in leadership at all levels, and pride ourselves on developing talent that goes on to achieve brilliant things throughout the education system. We are leaders in the education system, and all that work at HCACP are leaders.
HCACP has an enviable position as a world-class school, and a rich history of developing world-class leaders that currently serve as CEOs, Executive Education Leaders, Principals, and some of the most accomplished teaching practitioners in the country.
We identify, develop and nurture talent through rigorous coaching, mentoring, and bespoke professional development offerings, supporting all to constantly get better for the benefit of our students. These facets of HCACP have not changed over the years and are the lynch pin of the academy's success.
The academy is significantly over subscribed at all stages, and is fortunate enough to have one of the most consistently inspirational student cohorts, who are relentlessly ambitious and understand their role in the community and the importance education plays in their lives. These behaviours and ambitions are rooted in our core values which underpin all we do at the academy.
If you are ambitious, driven, and inspired to make a difference, each and every day, then HCACP could be the academy for you. We fundamentally believe that our collective endeavour changes children’s lives for the better: we are agents of social mobility, and we work hard to give every student in our care the very best education possible. We welcome applications from like-minded individuals who share our values and beliefs.
Our benefits
Working for HCACP has many benefits, some of which are listed below:
- Alignment with the DFE Wellbeing Charter
- Wellbeing champions
- In-house therapeutic support
- Early finish on a Friday
- Two-week October half-term
- Regular dialogue about workload and how to manage it effectively
- No-email policy between hours of 19:00 and 07:00
- Free private healthcare plan
- Cycle to work scheme
- Enhanced maternity benefits
- Free or discounted access to local amenities (tourist attractions)
- Free tea and coffee in the staffroom
- Free lunch and refreshments on INSET days
- Free or discounted lunch for all staff
- Training grants for qualifications
- Internal promotion and progression opportunities
- Staff CPD breakfasts
- Leadership coaching Instructional coaching
- ECT programme through the NioT
- Harris subject networks
- Harris conferences
- Coaching culture – number of staff with coaching accreditations
- Regular and sensible performance management – working with you
- Focus on effective outcomes rather than time spent
- Clear communication and manageable deadlines
- High-quality staff induction programme
- Whole-staff events
- Staff sports (e.g. football, tennis, table tennis, badminton, basketball, hockey, rugby, yoga, Pilates, etc)
- Regular recognition and celebration of staff excellence
- Regular special events (e.g. comedy nights)
- Free on-site parking
- Scenic surroundings / green spaces
- On-site IT technician offering full time tech support
- Exemplary student behaviour
- Weekly time set aside for planning & preparation as department teams
- Only two assessment entry points per year (to reduce administration workload)
- Manageable and flexible lesson planning expectations
- Directed time for marking and moderation
- Additional time for leadership responsibilities
- Teaching & learning responsibility allowances
- Free lunch for staff on lunch duty
- High levels of administrative support for teachers
- Pastoral manager who does not teach and focuses on student issues
- Rapid and effective support with any student behavioural issues arising
- All SLT teach
- Centralised detentions (sat by SLT)
- Bespoke Professional studies’ for training teachers
- Low-stakes lesson observation (not graded)
- Learning walks in place of formal lesson observation (not graded)
- A long established and highly successful school: one of the most oversubscribed in the country and the top school in Croydon at Attainment 8 2017
- As a Teaching School, we are able to offer all teachers an extensive programme of first class professional development and a vibrant learning community giving all the opportunities to excel.
- All the advantages of a successful academy group, including a strong central team of support, teaching and leadership staff
- Generous Harris rewards and benefits package