Lead Practitioner of Chemistry

Working With Us
A lovely secondary school where the students say, “Good Morning”, and actually mean it. Check out our school via our video.
“I am passionate about three things:
Leading staff to become happy, successful, highly trained professionals who stay in the game and don’t burn out or lose their way.
Creating a fulfilling secondary experience for students where they can grow to become well-rounded, ambitious and successful young adults ready to put a ding in the universe.
My life outside work.
Being great at number 1 and number 2 should not mean we can’t do number 3!”
- George McMillan, Executive Principal and National Leader of Education.
We are an 11-18 academy with a thriving Sixth Form and a lovely building. It is a school where we are as passionate about developing our staff as we are about developing our students. We have recently been visited by Ofsted and awaiting the report and are very pleased with the result.
Our location just outside the M25 means we attract staff not only from Essex but from London. Indeed, over half our staff live in Kent/Surrey/South East and Central London. Some of our team even travel from West London because they like the school so much.
Our role here is to help students and staff dream bigger than they ever thought possible, and to make that dream come true through our culture of “work hard, be kind, take responsibility” which beats at the heart of our school.
The Executive Principal is George McMillan. Originally from Glasgow, he graduated from the University of Aberdeen with an MA (hons) degree in English Literature and a burning desire to teach. After teaching in Edinburgh, then moving to senior management in Chafford (Essex), George took over Harris Academy Greenwich in 2011 and led its transformation to hitting the top 15% of schools in the country for progress 7 years in a row. Harris Greenwich is one of only a handful of schools in London to retain its Outstanding status (2014 then 2022) under the new Ofsted framework, and the World Class School status twice in a row.
The Principal is Ms Jo Rainey. Originally from Belfast, she graduated from the University of Ulster with a first class degree in History and Geography. Over the past 21 years, she has taught history and led in schools across London and Essex with most of her senior leadership career being spent in Hackney. Jo has been Principal at Ockendon since 2018. She is highly respected for her strong sense of integrity, her passion for student life chances, and loyalty to the school.
The Harris Federation is a highly successful group of schools who serve many of the most deprived areas of London and Essex. We are collaborative, enterprising and share a passion for turning lives around, yet each school is autonomous and free to set its own vision and strategy for how it does that.
Each Harris school feels completely different in terms of culture and ethos. Perhaps this is the school you’ve been looking for.
Main Areas of Responsibility
You will play a leading and highly visible role in the improvement of teaching and learning of the Faculty and academic success of all students, ensuring the highest standards of teaching, learning and achievement and leading in the monitoring, evaluation and review of standards and provision in the subject area.
The general expectations of this role are:
To collaborate as a member of the Lead Practitioner Team in order to build and realise the shared vision of excellence and high standards for all students.
To account for students’ performance in line with Academy procedures.
To provide the Governing Body with relevant and accurate information relating to the Faculty’s performance and development.
To support and participate in the work of the Harris Federation, including strand or subject groups as appropriate.
To contribute actively towards the formulation of all Academy policies and procedures, ensuring their consistent implementation.
To ensure high quality teaching and learning in the Faculty or across the Academy.
To participate in duties at lunch, break, before, during and after school the Academy day.
To ensure that the subject knowledge of staff in the Faculty is exemplary.
To ensure that behaviour in the Faculty is exemplary.
To ensure that Schemes of Learning and Independent Work books are of a high quality.
What We are Looking For
The successful candidate will:
Hold QTS (or equivalent) and a relevant undergraduate degree, and, ideally, be able to show evidence of ongoing professional development
Demonstrate outstanding teaching practice and excellent behaviour management
Have experience of lesson observations and giving robust feedback
Have experience of improvement planning and of implementing a range of strategies to raise student achievement, with evidence of success
Be able to contribute to improving on the quality of learning and teaching and curriculum
Have a proven track record of excellent results at KS3 and 4, and, ideally, experience of teaching to KS5
Have experience of high quality pupil tracking and feedback practices
Ideally, have experience of working with governors and of working in more than one school
Applying for this Position
Our people are at the heart of our success. We have developed a strong culture of collaboration and best practice, with professional development and career planning at its centre. We invest in our staff with support, coaching, mentoring, and a wide range of top-quality training programmes delivered at every level.
In addition to the opportunities for career development and progression, we also offer a competitive rewards and benefits package which includes our Harris Allowance for teachers on MPS/UPS, a Performance and Loyalty Bonus, Pension Scheme with generous employer contributions, a Wellbeing Cash Plan, electric car scheme, 26 days' annual leave (plus bank holidays) for staff who work across the full year, and many other benefits. Learn more about our benefits on our website.