Burnt Mill Academy

In January 2010, Helena Mills was appointed to the role of Head teacher at Burnt Mill Academy. From that moment, the school embarked upon a journey to achieve the vision of providing an outstanding educational provision for the young people and community of Harlow. At that time, I was the Head of English and, having grown up in Harlow myself, I was inspired to be a part of this exciting journey to change the pupils’ lives through education.

We are now nine years into our journey; Ofsted has rated the school outstanding and our pupils achieve excellent outcomes. Helena Mills is the CEO of Burnt Mill Academy Trust comprising of six secondary schools and five primaries. In 2017, Helena was awarded a CBE for her services to education. In the same year, I was privileged to take up the role of Head of School at Burnt Mill Academy to continue the journey that has changed our students’ lives and our community.