Harris Academy Chobham

About Harris Academy Chobham

Harris Academy Chobham opened in 2013 to serve the growing community of East Village, Stratford together with longer standing communities in Newham and Waltham Forest. Chobham is an all through school educating young people between the ages of 3 and 18. 

Our academy is a world-class educational legacy of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. In July 2015, Harris Academy Chobham was graded as 'Outstanding' in every category by Ofsted. 

Location

Stratford is one of the most rapidly developing parts of London. As well as new housing, and the Olympic legacy sports facilities, the area is becoming home to some of the country's leading cultural organisations including additional locations for Sadler's Wells Theatre and the V&A Museum. These organisations form part of the exciting arts quarter quickly growing in the area. 

High tech industries in computing and robotics are also found locally as this progressive industrial sector takes root in East London. Universities including University College London (UCL) are at the forefront of this innovation. Harris Academy Chobham is keen to further develop relationships with these new organisations (along with well-established local centres of excellence like the renowned Stratford Theatre). 

We are also very fortunate to have superb transport links making Stratford one of the most easily accessible parts of London. Harris Academy Chobham is a 15-minute walk from Stratford underground station (10 minutes into the City of London on the Central Line) and a 5-minute walk from Stratford International station (a 6 minute journey from St. Pancras). There is also a DLR station at Stratford International. 

Why work for us?

Harris Academy Chobham is always on the lookout for inspirational and influential staff. Most of all, we are on the lookout for potential colleagues who like our students and want to help them succeed. In order to help our staff have the best possible experience and achieve a proper work- life balance, we have put into place a range of measures to benefit both our teaching and students services colleagues.

These include:

• An extra week of holiday for all Chobham staff. This takes the form of a two-week half term in October. We work fewer days than most other schools.
• Outstanding professional development both at Chobham and through the wider Harris Federation
• Excellent promotion opportunities
• A constant dialogue about workload and how to manage it most effectively. We have regular workload audits, and frequent campaigns to tackle unnecessary work and identify quick wins
• Rapid and effective support with any student behavioural issues arising
• A high-quality staff induction programme
• Marking protocols devised by departments themselves
• Manageable and flexible lesson planning expectations
• Clear communications and manageable deadlines. We only ask staff to do what is necessary and avoid complication and confusion. Chobham is an exceptionally well-run school
• Learning walks rather than formal lesson observations. These are not graded
• Nursery on site
• Flexible and part time working encouraged whenever possible
• Additional time for leadership responsibilities
• Focus on effective outcomes rather than time spent
• High levels of administrative support for all teachers
• Ongoing celebration of staff excellence
• Generous Harris rewards and benefits package, including an extra £2000 annually for all Mainscale and Upper Payscale teachers working in our academy.

Wellbeing

We place high emphasis on staff wellbeing at Chobham. This helps colleagues to be happier and more effective in their work. Staff are regularly consulted about their wellbeing and the outcomes of these consultations have a direct and rapid impact upon the Academy's approach to supporting staff wellbeing.

We understand that while it is incredibly rewarding, teaching is also a physically and emotionally wearing job. We want Chobham teachers to be as fit and fresh as possible and to know that the school as a community really cares about how they are. We have tried to put these principles into practice with a number of initiatives which we think give Chobham teachers one of the best wellbeing packages to be found anywhere. These include:

• A meeting free week every half term
• An extra week of holiday with a two-week half term in the Autumn
• A late start or early finish for every teacher on one day each week
• A staff mindfulness programme led by trained colleagues and supported by a free mindfulness app
• Subsidised gym membership
• Staff fitness and exercise classes
• Guest speakers on wellbeing
• Regular special events such as comedy nights
• Staff discounts at shops and restaurants in the local area
• Access to the Harris Federation's staff counselling service

Our staff are regularly consulted on the wellbeing services the school provides and we always try to respond to staff suggestions. In this way, staff feel empowered and get more of the services they really want. We are very proud of our wellbeing programme at Chobham and hope you will agree that it shows our commitment to making the school an exemplary working environment.