Megan Greet

Harris Federation Case Study

“Working within the Harris Federation has given me great opportunities to develop as a leader and build a really flexible skill-set and knowledge base. I joined as a lead practitioner and a year later gained promotion to Assistant Principal.”

“My line manager’s experience, candour and role as a “critical friend” was the perfect complement to my formal development through the Harris Teaching Alliance’s NPQSL Programme. This course paralleled my work neatly. The fact that we have this programme in-house is fantastic; it means that your regular school visits and sessions with Harris Principals give authentic insights into every aspect of leadership because there is a genuine desire for collaboration and cross-Federation growth: nobody hides anything within their schools and they are truly open about what successes and challenges there have been in the school’s improvement journey. I don’t think this, or the highly practical element, is something that can be replicated in leadership programmes that draw on leaders from disconnected sites. 

I’ve since been fortunate to be supported by Harris to study an MBA in Educational Leadership with UCL, alongside joining the Harris Accelerated Principalship Programme. I’m not yet sure if I want to be a headteacher, but the Harris Federation certainly gives you the chance to find out – as I’ve moved into a new role in my fourth year with Harris as Head of Sixth Form, coming together as leaders from different sites to review key headship duties has been invaluable. 

The central team at Harris is a key asset in ensuring that you can hit the ground running in the ever-shifting context demanded by senior leadership roles; whether learning from the central data team or having the chance to host sixth form leaders from the Federation post-16 team, I’ve been able to glean from others’ extensive knowledge at every turn and have not been left worrying “I wonder if this is a good way forward.”