Career journey to Vice Principal: Melvin Hall, Harris Science Academy East London

My career journey at Harris

I started with the Federation in 2013 as a 2ic in Maths when Harris Academy Chobham first opened. I then moved to help set up Harris Academy Tottenham, where I stayed for 8 years. Both of these all-through academies achieved an Outstanding Ofsted rating, with Tottenham achieving it twice. 

I’m now Vice Principal at Harris Science Academy East London and am in charge of attendance and behaviour. With the people around us here, I hope this academy can also get an Outstanding Ofsted rating.

 

The importance of exemplary behaviour

We want our students to learn so we want to ensure the behaviour is in place to ensure that they can learn. We want them to be in a classroom where they feel safe and where they are able to flourish. For that to happen we need exemplary behaviour, where students are following the teacher and not disrupting the learning that’s taking place. We want to ensure that the cognitive load from other students isn’t taken away by silly low-level disruptions. 

Whether it’s university, owning a business, or just having a family and being comfortable in life, I want to give them the grades and skills they need to get there. 

We want our students to be good citizens so exemplary behaviour extends outside the classroom too. We expect our students to greet us in the morning, they are silent when they are meant to be silent, and when we want them to have discussions, they’re engaged in that conversation. 

Exemplary behaviour is everything they do within this building, from the beginning to the end, and how they're interacting with staff, how they're interacting with their peers, and how they're interacting with their learning.

Our students have got high aspirations, and I’ve had such in-depth conversations about the careers they want, and how they can get there. That is what really stands out most for me, they really do want to be the best, and they want to be in the best jobs and with the best companies.

For me, it’s about what their dreams are, and the aspirations I have for them is that they meet those dreams.

Of course, we would love for our students to go to Russell Group universities and study withs some of the best minds in the country, and we have other phenomenal universities all around the world. Not all our students want to go to university, but if they do, I want them to go to the best one that they can get into.

For me, it’s about what their dreams are, and the aspirations I have for them is that they meet those dreams; whether it’s university, owning a business, or just having a family and being comfortable in life, I want to give them the grades and skills they need to get there. 

 

Transforming a school through alignment

Our staff need to be aligned with where we want to take the school. We want to be the best school in Newham, and our staff are on that journey with us. They are putting in a lot of effort because they care for the students here. I'm learning from the team, and we're all in it together and that's a really lovely feeling.

We have a target of being the highest achieving school in Newham by 2028, and I’ve bought into that because there is nothing right now to say that we shouldn’t be able to get there. 

We all know we’re on this improvement journey and everyone wants to make sure that these students get the grades that they deserve, and to give them the future that they deserve.  

We have a very clear vision of where we want to go and I'm excited to see where this school can get to. We have a target of being the highest achieving school in Newham by 2028, and I’ve bought into that because there is nothing right now to say that we shouldn’t be able to get there. 

 

The Harris difference

Every Harris academy I’ve been at is different. Some people will believe that all Harris schools are just a copy and paste of each other, but it’s not the case at all. The students are different, the schools are different, needs are different, and contextual safeguarding issues are different. 

All our schools have quirky parts about them. Even the buildings have been exceptionally unique; at East London, the building is listed and I’d never previously worked somewhere that was built in the 1800s, and at Chobham, it was a brand-new building in the Olympic Park and had a huge atrium in the middle, and is world’s apart from where we are here. 

I've enjoyed all of them for different reasons. All of them have had positives that were great, and all of them have had areas we would love to improve. But they have all done a great job for the students and their outcomes, and I think that’s the thing that underpins all the academies. I've been really lucky to work in three amazing academies and be part of their incredible journeys. 

Some people will believe that all Harris schools are just a copy and paste of each other, but it’s not the case at all.

I love working for Harris. I wouldn't really want to work for anyone else but Harris because the support they have, the wealth of knowledge they have, it's hard to get that in other places. The development is great as well. I've been on different NPQ courses and been able to upskill. The focus is always on the students but Harris is also very supportive for the careers of their staff too.

They are a great multi-academy trust and a beacon to show other multi-academy trusts how it’s meant to be done. For anyone considering a career at Harris, I would say come and see for yourself. Don’t make a judgement about the Federation just from what someone says because we have so many people, like myself, who have had really positive experiences.