NQT to Head of Academy: Charlie Comerford, Harris Academy Battersea

What’s been your experience with the Harris Federation?

I started at Harris City Academy Crystal Palace in 2012 as an NQT teaching Citizenship and Politics. I’d never previously heard of the school even though I grew up in south London only a mile away from the school. 

From then, I took on a couple of small roles such as coordinator for gifted and talented students, working with some of the more able students in the academy. I then became the Deputy Head of Social Sciences, and shortly after, the Head of Social Sciences, and during that time worked with an amazing group of people and got to teach lots of other subjects including Psychology, Sociology, Law, Geography, and History. At the end of my fifth year, I was promoted to Assistant Principal and became a Faculty Director which gave me pastoral responsibility for a quarter of the students in the school. It was a huge responsibility but went really well and I had a lot of useful guidance from people around me. 

After seven years at Crystal Palace, I decided to broaden my experience, and made a sideways move to Assistant Principal at Harris Academy Sutton. This was a new school so whilst I initially came in with responsibility for Personal Development, I quickly took on more responsibilities including for Teaching and Learning. As we came out of Covid, I was promoted to Director of Curriculum and Pedagogy and then Vice Principal. As Vice Principal, I had responsibility for all areas of the academy’s curriculum, and progress and quality of education. 

I had an incredible four years at Harris Academy Sutton, we grew the school from being one year group to being full with Years 7-11 and our first Ofsted was Outstanding. Sutton's first set of results were unbelievable, the students achieved a Progress 8 of +1.1 putting us among the top 10 comprehensive schools in the country. I couldn't be prouder of the work we did together there. 

In the summer term of that last year, I came across the Head of Academy role at Harris Academy Battersea which is where I am now. Overall, it’s been a busy, exciting, and brilliant journey. 

 

The best CPD has always been working with the most experienced people on the job, and I’ve worked with lots of fantastic leaders who have coached me but also given me opportunities to try new things and learn through doing.

 

Can you tell us about the CPD opportunities that you have had at the Harris Federation?

I have been lucky to have extensive CPD opportunities in my time at Harris. The best CPD has always been working with the most experienced people on the job, and I’ve worked with lots of fantastic leaders who have coached me but also given me opportunities to try new things and learn through doing. I’ve also engaged with the National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) and have done a professional coaching course. 

I have also done lots of bespoke CPD around my subject discipline and leadership through Harris Federation conferences and events. I’ve worked with and been coached by some brilliant Consultants and leaders which has given me great stepping stones as I have progressed my career. 

 

Every year another cohort of students leave with so much gratitude and that makes every minute of the job worth it. 

 

What advice would you give to current ECTs or those considering a career in teaching?

I’ve got lots of friends doing jobs in different fields and none of them talk about their work like the teachers I know talk about teaching. Teaching is more than a profession, it’s a vocation, it’s something people can be passionate about and be really happy in. It’s hard work but it’s worthwhile work, and it pays off every day in interactions with students, colleagues, parents, families. Every year another cohort of students leave with so much gratitude and that makes every minute of the job worth it. 

In terms of being a new teacher, you want to make sure you find the right school or group of schools to work in. It’s really important to make sure that wherever you are training to teach, you have a fantastic network of great educators around you who can help you learn, and support you. Those first years are hard work but once you develop your proficiency and experience, it becomes really rewarding and exciting. 

 

How would you describe your students at Harris Academy Battersea?

The students are vibrant, passionate, and opinionated. They’ve got a really strong sense of social justice and that drives everything they do. It means we have students who are chomping at the bit to campaign, to promote worthy causes, to discuss what is going on in our world and in our society. 

 

How would you describe your colleagues at Harris Academy Battersea?

The Battersea team are really close knit, and really hardworking professionals. Everyone here knows that the school is on an important mission. A sense of community amongst colleagues and the feeling of working towards a shared goal is really palpable. 

 

There is a reason why people stay at Harris for their careers and it’s the career development opportunities but also because of the mutual support that the staff within Harris show each other day to day, and the community and networks you can build is amazing. 

 

What do you love most about working at the Harris Federation?

The thing I love most about working at the Harris Federation is the community of staff. At every Harris conference I have been to, I can’t turn without seeing someone I know, and there’s a cuddle, there’s a handshake, there’s a “hi, how are you doing?”. There’s a lot of sharing journeys with people I have worked with for more than ten years. 

There is a reason why people stay at Harris for their careers and it’s the career development opportunities but also because of the mutual support that the staff within Harris show each other day to day, and the community and networks you can build is amazing. 

I love it here because it is unbelievably rewarding to provide an outstanding education to kids who really deserve it. Lots of our students don’t get the best of what London has to offer when it comes to their lives at home and in the community. We talk to the students often about the mission of the Federation. Taking those young people and showing them what London and beyond has to offer, and making sure they get a fantastic education means every day is incredibly rewarding.