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Lord Harris speaks exclusively to Harris Invictus students about his love of football and battling dyslexia. Written by students Andrej and Connor.

Lord Harris might be an incredibly successful gentleman and the proud of owner of 44 academies and a seat in the House of Lords, but he didn't always consider himself the cleverest student at school. In fact, he had dyslexia.

“If I hadn't been dyslexic I’d have been a lawyer,” he admits frankly, but added, “What I did have was ambition and motivation.”

Speaking to Lord Harris, it’s clear that his success is built on resilience. When one of our students asked if he ever gave up, he gave a simple, one word answer: “Never.” He went on to say, “When I’m disappointed, I fight back.”

So has Lord Harris ever been disappointed? When asked if he had any dreams that he still hasn’t accomplished, the first thing that came to his mind was, “I really wanted to play for Arsenal.”

Lord Harris was kind enough to agree to be interviewed by Invictus Scroll journalists this summer and covered a range of subjects, from his love of football to teacher accommodation and even the origins of our school’s name.

Unlike most other Harris Academies which are named after their location, Harris Invictus is unique as it is named after the poem Invictus by William Ernest Henley. So our team asked Lord Harris why don’t we switch our school’s name to Harris West Croydon instead?

“We’d rather get a school really great like your school’s becoming than argue about a name,” he replied honestly. Actually, Lord Harris admitted that he had very little say in the naming of our Academy. Instead, it was decided by local community members who strived to create our Academy.

A final topic that we touched upon that may intrigue staff was teacher accommodation. Lord Harris was adamant that he wanted “teachers to have homes of their own” and said that he was in the middle of trying to fix that challenge.

Overall Lord Harris gave up several hours of his time to speak to us over the phone and attended our Academy in person to share his views with the students and listen to their opinions. He also provided everyone in attendance a free copy of his book ‘Magic Carpet Ride’. All the journalists at the Invictus Scroll would like to say a massive thank you to him. It was a privilege speaking to such a successful and generous man who has made such a difference to all of our lives.

Andrej and Connor