Hello from Brighton!
You’re reading the We Are In Beta Podcast newsletter. We - the education community - Are In Beta - always learning.
Welcome to all you new subscribers. Thank you so much for joining us. If you’re reading this as a public post, catch up with previous interviews with inspiring leaders here.
We don’t often hear voices from within the Harris Federation, so I’m really excited to release Episode #8 of the We Are In Beta Podcast, with Dr. Chris Tomlinson, Regional Director of Harris Secondaries (and soon to be CEO of Coop Academies Trust).
In his time at Harris, Chris has taken 5 academies from inadequate to outstanding consecutively over 17 years of headship.
I this very rare interview, he shares, amongst many other insightful things, which school budget he always increases and why.
If you’re skeptical of Harris’ approach to education, I urge you to listen to this interview. I suspect it will make you think again. Let me know on Twitter @niallalcock or drop me an email niall@weareinbeta.com.
Take a break or schedule some time on your commute, and give this one a listen:
👂 Listen on Spotify | iTunes | Stitcher | Libsyn | TuneIn 🔉
⭐Leave us a review and I’ll give you a shout out in the next episode
👀 Read the full transcription 📖
What do we talk about in the podcast?
Why Chris’s experience of education wasn’t great and what gave him confidence
What he believes headteachers should all still do
What he believes is the key to leading 5 schools from inadequate to outstanding
Which groups of students he believes defines you as a leader
Why he disagrees with tabloid newspapers
What he thinks about Ofsted
His advice to new leaders about how to approach Ofsted
What he believes is the most effective CPD
The one budget he increases every year in his schools
Which external organisations he recommends working with
How to get the most out of SEN funding
How he responds to the criticism that Harris academies are exam factories
How schools and the government can tackle teacher retention problems
Why his weaknesses might be his biggest strength
What advice he would give to aspirant headteachers
What one question he would ask every headteacher if could
How one student helped him out when is new accountability structures weren't very popular
Why he is optimistic about the future of education
💬 Join the conversation. Sadly Chris isn’t on social media but I’d still love to know what you think so please do tweet me @NiallAlcock . I’d love to know what you think.
If you liked what you heard, please can I ask you share this link with your colleagues and friends in teaching?
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🙋🎙️ If you’d like tell your story or nominate a school with an incredible story to tell on the podcast check out the topics we’ll be exploring or tweet me @niallalcock with what you’re working on.
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Thanks for playing your part in making education the place we all know it can be.
Speak soon,
@NiallAlcock
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Dr. Chris Tomlinson, Regional Director of Harris Secondary - the one budget you keep moving up: how to keep investing in staff development in schools