Professional Learning at HAOC

A Middle Leaders' Forum is a structured platform within HAOC where middle leaders come together 5 times each year, to collaborate, reflect, and develop their leadership practice. These forums aim to build distributed leadership and foster a culture of shared responsibility.

Empowerment and Agency

• Middle leaders feel more involved in decision-making, which boosts morale and ownership.
• It encourages initiative and innovation at the middle tier of leadership.

Leadership Development

• Forums provide a safe space to build leadership capacity, including coaching, mentoring, and strategic thinking.
• They help prepare middle leaders for senior leadership roles.

Improved Communication

• They bridge the gap between senior leadership and classroom practice.
• They ensure that messages and priorities are clearly understood and implemented.

Consistency and Alignment

• Middle leaders can align departmental or phase strategies with whole-school goals.
• They help ensure consistency in teaching, assessment, and behaviour policies.

Collaboration and Support

• Leaders share challenges and successes, reducing isolation.
• Cross-departmental collaboration can lead to more coherent curriculum and pastoral approaches.

Impact on Teaching and Learning

• Middle leaders are often closest to the classroom; their insights can directly inform school improvement.
• Forums can focus on data, pedagogy, and student outcomes, driving improvement.

Daring Leaders is a 4-day, in-house Leadership Development Programme, aimed at Senior Leaders, Lead Practitoners and Middle Leaders.  We aim to develop conscious, skilful, high impact leaders who communicate brilliantly with their stakeholders and play the long game for sustainable success and happiness.

We apply this philosophy to our Daring Leaders curriculum which is delivered through a practise-based programme, spread through the course of a term.

Each session will allow participants to learn new skills which will be applied through tools practised in real life contexts.

We aim to close the gap left by the NPQ provision which does not tackle in enough depth the main challenge we face in leadership; how to deal effectively with other humans.  Nor do the NPQs really grasp the reason why dealing with other humans is so hard: how to lead yourself effectively.

The programme is planned and delivered by ORSC trained ICF and EMCC certified facilitators George McMillan (Acting Associate Director and National Leader of Education) and Saydur ‘Si’ Ali (Assistant Principal and Coach).

Priorities:

• Align culture and values, everyone on the same branch
• Build a culture of awareness and resilience
• Develop skilful communication
• Improve team dynamics, effectiveness, retention and staff happiness
• Prepare talented colleagues for more senior posts

Values:

• Work hard: we lead with purpose, fully conscious
• Take responsibility: we assume extreme responsibility
• Be kind: we get on the branch of others

Vision:

Our vision is to develop high impact leaders who are equipped with the knowledge, skills and experience to lead themselves and others, delivering outstanding results.

Working in partnership with Meyler Campbell offers staff at HAOC a powerful opportunity for personal and professional growth. By providing a confidential space to reflect, plan, and gain clarity, coaching helps individuals navigate complex challenges, strengthen relationships, and enhance performance.

Staff benefit from renewed energy, greater self-awareness, and strategic thinking, key ingredients for effective leadership in education.

The coaching process also supports well-being and resilience, enabling leaders to maintain enthusiasm and balance in demanding roles.

In partnership with UCL and Harris Hubs, our ECTs are supported to develop expert teaching and learning pedagogy.

• Frequent, high quality twilight training sessions are rooted in the evidence-informed Early Career Framework.
• Bespoke mentoring and coaching opportunities are led by trained colleagues.
• We offer a combination of both theoretical workshops, subject specific webinars and application to practise workshops; ECTs have a series of facilitated training sessions throughout the programme which are designed to cover essential parts of the ECF – these tend to be content-driven sessions. ECTs also have Online Learning Community (OLC) sessions – these are more exploratory and are discussion-based.
• Access to research-based self-directed study modules are offered via UCLeXtend.
• Half-termly subject enhancement sessions are led by Federation Subject Consultants.
• There is a Dedicated Delivery Partner Team Channel where ECTs are able to contribute to forums, blogs and the latest educational research with colleagues from across the country as well as within our own school.
• Training is also supplemented by our own in-house extensive CPD opportunities.

We offer a range of development opportunities relating to Initial Teacher Education.

• Weekly professional development sessions are led by experienced members of staff.
• Weekly mentor meetings, including deliberate practice, are a chance for mentors to model a specific strategy and then for the mentee to practise it with their mentor. 
• Learning walks are carried out by our LP Team, who offer encouraging support and feedback.
• Trainees are given the opportunity to observe experienced teachers, gaining an insight into the teacher standards/core content framework in practice.
• There is also a chance to experience being a part of the Monitoring, Evaluation and Review process.

At HAOC, we believe that every new team member, regardless of role or experience deserves a warm, purposeful welcome. Our New to HAOC Programme is more than just an induction; it’s a thoughtfully designed journey that supports staff transition into our school community.

Through this programme staff gain a clear understanding of our systems, practices, and values, empowering them to thrive from day one. It’s a framework that ensures you feel confident, connected, and ready to make a meaningful impact.