Bridget Phillipson's former teacher Zahida Hammond

It is a great achievement for any teacher to see their student make a significant contribution to the world.

Zahida Hammond believes that the student who always sat in the front row of her Spanish classes and eagerly soaked up all the information presented to them, has a good chance of becoming the education secretary following Labour's victory in the election.

Hammond reveals a school report she wrote over 25 years ago about the quiet teenager with long braids, Bridget Phillipson.

The description of her was mature, diligent, and highly organized. However, it was suggested that she should participate more in class discussions.

Hammond, who Phillipson addresses as Haq, was a passionate and eager new teacher just starting her career. She has now built a successful reputation for transforming difficult schools.

They have things in common. They both grew up in council houses in Washington, Sunderland, with single mothers who had limited financial resources.

Hammond views Phillipson's success as her proudest achievement. It inspires her to believe in the future of the industry.

Phillipson recently complimented Hammond for demonstrating that there were no limits to what she could accomplish.

An emotional video that brought tears to viewers' eyes shows Phillipson talking about her exceptional teacher who unexpectedly joins her on the couch. This video has been highlighted in Labour's campaign efforts and is also mentioned in their manifesto.

The two connected in 2021, not long after Phillipson had started as the shadow education secretary.

Phillipson spent a long time with Hammond, at a boring rest stop pub on the highway, discussing ideas about how schools could be improved. They drank coffee and exchanged ideas for hours.

Hammond suggested that she concentrate on the early stages of education to reduce the gap in opportunities. Improve the quality of career advice and offer a wider range of subjects in schools. Offer assistance in training strong school administrators. And update an evaluation system that is no longer effective.

It seems like by chance or intentional planning, those thoughts seem to be the building blocks of Labour's education strategies.

Headship Clashes With Family Life

Hammond wishes she had a role in it. She fully grasps the stress that headteachers are under currently.

In January, Hammond gave up her position as head of the school and took on a new role as an executive leader focused on school improvement. She expressed that being a headteacher was not conducive to balancing work and family responsibilities.

Being a single mother to 18-year-old twins and a 20-year-old severely autistic son, she feels guilty that she hasn't been able to spend as much time with them due to her career as a headteacher.

The new job allows her to have a better balance between work and home life. She can now take a step back from being the motherly figure in schools after many years and focus on being a mom at home.

She thinks being a headteacher is a very stressful job. She feels that school leaders should do more to support headteachers' mental health and make sure they have a good balance between work and their personal life.

Hammond's mother, who works as a nurse, was also required to work extended hours when he was young, often working up to 100 hours per week.

Hammond grew up in London while her Pakistani father was completing his studies. However, after her parents separated, her mother, who had converted to Islam, moved them to Washington.

Their housing project was considered difficult or tough. Hammond was not allowed to play outside in the neighborhood.

Since they didn't have a car, Hammond's mom made an agreement with their neighbor to give Hammond piano lessons in exchange for using their garage.

Hammond studied for her A-levels at St Robert of Newminster, a catholic school where she would eventually become a teacher alongside Phillipson.

After a trip to Germany sparked her love for new experiences, she decided to pursue a degree in languages at the University of Wolverhampton.

After spending her entire first year's student loan, she caused her mother concern by using it to book a flight to Pakistan to visit her father, whom she had only met a few times.

Hammond began participating in rugby while attending university, despite her family not being supportive of her decision. Her grandfather, who used to work in the coal mines, thought that sports were only for those who didn't put in enough effort during the week.

After she graduated, she began working as a language teacher at St Robert of Newminster. She inspired her female students, like Phillipson, to love rugby. Phillipson decided to join the new team that she had created.

The politician shared how playing rugby allowed her to explore different places and made her feel more self-assured. She didn't stop playing even while attending Oxford University.

Hammond was a passionate and eager young educator, aiming to make a difference by encouraging everyone to explore, participate in sports, and make music. He thought that having these experiences would lead to happiness and knowledge.

Their school building was severely damaged and unstable, so Hammond taught Phillipson in a makeshift classroom located at the rear of a muddy field, equipped with a small heater.

Hammond remembers with joy how during the summer they took advantage of the open field location, where "no one could see our activities", by engaging in games and singing in Spanish.

Two years later, she decided to leave her job and explore different countries like South Africa and Bangladesh. Interacting with children who had limited access to education made her realize the value of England's free schooling system.

After that, she was employed at St Edmund Campion (now Cardinal Hume) school in Gateshead, a disorderly setting where security personnel were needed for parent-teacher meetings in order to prevent altercations among families.

She became a teacher with advanced skills, helping others, and was chosen to assist in creating the primary languages curriculum as part of a government initiative to encourage language learning.

During this period, there was a focus on innovative ideas and broadening the range of courses and certifications, according to Hammond. However, he notes that all of this changed suddenly when the Conservatives took control.

She stated that there was a universal agenda being pushed with the belief that EBacc was the right path for everyone.

"Pale And Male Dominance"

In 2012, Hammond was selected to participate in the Future Leaders program, a nationwide effort aimed at cultivating leaders for schools facing difficulties.

Attendees were sent to Chicago to study charter schools that are considered to be excelling, and speakers from various countries were brought in to address the group.

She ended up thinking that some views within the education system in the North East were a bit closed-minded. She thought it was important for people to have higher goals for children.

The groups in the program were very different, but the CEOs of multi-academy trusts right now are mostly white men, according to Hammond.

One of Phillipson's promises in education is to implement a new 'Leadership Excellence' initiative to enhance the quality of schools.

Hammond took on temporary leadership roles at schools in the North East before becoming the head of a Catholic school in Redcar called St. Peter's in 2016. The school was facing challenges and was put under special measures. During her time there, Hammond focused on improving the music, arts, sports programs, and providing students with top-notch career guidance.

Hammond hired a career counselor who worked to support excluded students in finding their way back and guiding them towards achieving their future goals.

At St Peter's, the number of students who were not in school, training, or working after graduation dropped from 11 percent to zero. The school also achieved a perfect score in all eight Gatsby career advice benchmarks, putting it among the top schools in the country.

In 2019, St Peter's improved to a 'requires improvement' status with positive leadership.

As a leader, Hammond focused on providing children with top-notch reading and speaking skills. He believed that it was important for children to learn how to articulate themselves effectively in order to succeed in exams and gain entry into prestigious schools.

"We need to teach that language the same way I taught Spanish."

When creating student councils at schools, Hammond ensured that students from underprivileged families were given help and motivation to put themselves forward for the positions.

After she was chosen, she hired a professional in public speaking to help them because she knew they were very afraid of speaking in front of an audience.

Stay True To Your Values

Hammond transitioned into a director position overseeing languages and later took on temporary leadership roles at various organizations. However, he began to feel disheartened with the focus on standards in education.

Having a son with autism made her feel like she could relate more to the special needs community.

In 2021, she was appointed as the head of Cambian Dilston College, a college and care facility for individuals with complex autism that had recently received a rating of 'inadequate'.

In her current role at the Laidlaw Schools Trust, she is able to use her leadership skills to help schools facing difficult situations.

Hammond states that it is now more challenging than ever to improve the performance of these schools.

She compares the current students she observes wearing "big tribal earrings, sweatshirts, and athletic leggings, holding energy drinks" to students from the 1980s, a time when "everyone was a little messy."

However, she expressed that it is important for schools to have adequate resources and be given the autonomy to implement the curriculum that best suits their community. It shouldn't be a one-size-fits-all approach.

Phillipson recently wrote an article expressing concern that many teachers similar to her former teacher are leaving the classroom in large numbers.

If Hammond were a languages teacher nowadays, would she feel inclined to leave the profession?

There was a moment of silence. "It's extremely challenging... if I had the opportunity to work for specific organizations with certain bosses, I would be doing really well. However, I can see why some educators feel discouraged and lose motivation quickly."

She believes that some trusts have inexperienced leaders who were promoted to higher positions without gaining enough experience in their field.

She also mentions that without empathy for teachers, students can become overwhelmed and lose their enthusiasm quickly.

She advised Phillipson to stay true to his beliefs and to stay in his position long enough to make a difference, knowing that many education secretaries do not last in their roles for very long.