ERROL COMRIE INTERVIEW
people moving forward in terms of finance and wellbeing, but it’s about giving them the tools. When we measure young people we measure in terms of academic achieve- ment normally, but sometimes we don’t measure them in terms of their ability to contribute to global society and deal with things we’ve never had to deal with before. We
ably one of the best things I have seen in 19 years of education. And it’s not just about that. The young people can connect with each other and they can understand each other and they can feel as one, because they are one. And I think that is the true sense of the partnership. So when our students go to Dulwich College to help
City Heights Academy E-ACT The College has greatly enjoyed working with Errol Comrie, Headteacher of City Heights E-ACT Academy. Errol leaves City Heights in July and Dr Pyke was delighted to interview him in early May for the Alleynian
are developing that and we are proud of what we have at the moment: it’s about putting our young people in a position to make the right choices as well as achiev- ing. This is at the centre: are you going to make the right choice? For some young people the right choice is not about going to university, it’s to do an apprenticeship or to work in tech or to travel the world. But have they got the tools to do this? CP : City Heights and College staff have also enjoyed working together. EC : Dr Spence is one of the nicest and most genuine people I have met in education. I think his knowledge and his approach to how he talks to people touches me every time he comes to the College. He’s got a high EQ and attention
students with their Portuguese they feel a sense of pride. We are all proud because it means that we have something that we can contribute and vice versa. CP : We’ve also enjoyed working together in sport. EC : The fact that we both have young people who are talented – it’s about building on that in the future and about having some sort of inter-school compe- tition to showcase each other’s strengths. We are also using your facilities for our sports day. The partnership is about how we can give back to each other. CP : We recently hosted a group of female pupils from City Heights. EC : They were so impressed by the
CP : Do you remember when the Secretary of State visited City Heights? I remember thinking you were so proud of your school and your pupils. EC : And that was a really important moment for us, to have someone in that position to come to our school and talk to us and the young people and staff about what we were doing. And saying, actually, what you are doing is the right thing endorsed all of our efforts and all the part- ners that we are working with. It was a credit to Dulwich College, our trust E-ACT, all our staff, all the site team – everyone. It was a celebration for everyone. It was about saying we are doing the right things. It was the icing on the cake for us. CP : He seemed genuinely interested and really engaged with your school’s prefect leaders. EC : Yes, the young people had the opportunity to speak with the then Secretary of State for Education and that was important as well as it built confidence for them, and they were then able to talk about the experience they had with other people and that had a trickle-down effect. I think the staff enjoyed it more, if I’m honest! They got an opportunity to meet someone in that position, so that was nice. CP : We’ve developed an education partnership together. How has this worked in practice? EC : It’s probably the highlight of all the partnerships that we have. Being able to share expertise, share facilities, share resources, share ideas I think is fantastic. The fact that Dulwich College has provided us with a Sixth-Form place over the last three years for a young person who has excelled in education – to be put in a position that they can attend that setting is heart-warming. It’s prob-
CAMERON PYKE: Good morning, Errol. When you reflect on your leadership at City Heights and its community what in your opinion makes them special? ERROL COMRIE: It’s about the ethos that we create – a warm and welcoming supportive environment for our students, staff and parents. We also try and drive high standards for all of our young people. CP : What have you most enjoyed about the role? EC : I think building a connection between the local com- munity and the school and being a hub, almost a support mechanism for families and for local residents to come and seek our advice or guidance and creating a safe space for young people. Developing healthy relationships and allowing students to be aware of their surroundings, of who they are and the role they play in society and more broadly – I think that’s the main thing. Seeing the young people grow, seeing them smile and making sure they can be citizens they can be proud of. CP : You successfully weathered the challenge of the pandemic. What did you learn about leadership during that experience? EC : That it’s tough – there is a lot of pressure. That tech- nology will play and has played a vital part but will play an even more important role in the future in how we teach our young people to learn and how we engage with young fam- ilies. I understood the importance of working with other schools, so being able to visit Dulwich College’s testing centre, for example, and being able to look at what they were doing and taking it back and being able to modify it in our own way was important. Understanding leadership and direction from the DfE and from experts from the trust that I work in really helped me to make the right decisions.
young person, Ryaan, who gave them a tour. They talked about careers and choices – it was almost as if it ignited something inside of them and that again trickled down to the other young people and they discussed it in tutor time. It was so important for them to visit because there is no limit to what they can achieve. They came back and felt really good about themselves. CP : Would you say your pupils are positive about the future? EC : We always try and look at the positive aspects of life and not focus on the negatives. We work with the parents of the young people and the skills and attrib- utes to be successful. I think our personal development programme is strong. It’s not strong because Ofsted said it’s strong, it’s strong because that’s the core of what we do and it’s about developing the character to be resilient to push forward. We have some really touching stories, everyday we see them, but what I say to the kids is: we wear uniform because we are uniformed. Whatever our problems are we leave at the gate, we try to function and if we can’t leave at the gate we try to work as a group not as individuals. It is going to be challenging for young
to detail so every member of staff he sees he stops and asks how they are doing; he’s genuinely interested and he remembers their names. He talks to the young people. It’s almost like he’s a member of the school. It’s just an inspiration to work with someone like him and it’s been really great to have someone I can look up to as a model of excellence in education. CP : Would you have a particular message to our pupils? EC : I wish the pupils all the best in terms of their achieve- ments. We here at City Heights are proud of the relation- ship that we have and I hope that they won’t just achieve academically but they will achieve in helping to shape the future for all young people to be part of an equal and just society, and I think Dulwich College is a place that provides them with that stepping stone to achieving that. I also wish them all the best in their exams! CP : How would you like to see the partnership develop in the future? EC : More competitions. I think that the young people should choose. Inter-school competitions like basketball, rugby, football. I would also like to see more of our staff
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THE ALLEYNIAN 711
COLLEGE COMMUNITY
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