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26 January 2012 Closing the achievement gap: Further GCSE improvement at ARK academies Today's results confirm ARK Schools' fifth consecutive year of improved GCSE attainment across its academies. The five ARK academies with GCSE results achieved an average rise of 11 percentage points over the 2010 results. Read the full press release here. 18 December 2011 ARK Atwood Primary Academy, which opened in September, was featured in the Sunday Telegraph today. Read about the academy's first term here . 30 November 2011 Sir Michael Wilshaw lecture Sir Michael Wilshaw, outgoing Director of Education for ARK Schools, delivered a lecture on 29 November entitled 'Great schools for all: an impossible dream?'. Click here to dowload the text.
ARK Schools picks up two prizes at EducationInvestor Awards ARK Schools was named school operating group of the year at the 2011 EducationInvestor awards last week. In a double victory for ARK, Burlington Danes Academy won the award for academy of the year.
11 October 2011 11Tweet ARK SCHOOLS MATHS MASTERY PROGRAMME WINS MAJOR GRANT FROM EDUCATION ENDOWMENT FOUNDATION
ARK Schools has been awarded a major grant by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) to further develop and roll out its Mathematics Mastery programme, an innovative and highly effective approach to teaching children maths based on Singapore maths teaching. The £600,000 grant will enable ARK to launch the programme and related professional development training to improve maths teaching in at least 50 disadvantaged primary and secondary schools. The funding will enable ARK Schools to write a UK mathematics mastery programme based on the experience of teaching the pilot programme in ARK’s academies. ARK intends to complete the development of its primary modules for use from Sept 2012 and its secondary modules for use from September 2013. In parallel ARK is developing professional training and implementation support for schools outside the ARK network. The Mathematics Mastery programme is a new approach to teaching mathematics from reception through to Year 9. It is based on the curricula principles of the most consistently high performing nations over the past 30 years, adapted by ARK to the needs of its pupils. ARK’s pioneering approach is designed to ensure that every child can achieve excellence in mathematics. It will ensure that pupils are well prepared to be highly successful in their Key Stage 4 and beyond. 25 August 2011
CLOSING THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP - ARK NETWORK CELEBRATES IMPROVEMENT IN GCSEs Average 11 percentage point increase from 2010 across network
ARK Schools has secured a fifth year of improved GCSE performances across its academies. ARK’s five academies with GCSE results achieved an average rise of 11 percentage points over last year. Since each school opened as an ARK academy the average annual increase in pupils achieving five GCSEs at A*-C including English and mathematics is also 11 percentage points. Initial data shows that 62% of ARK pupils have achieved five A*-C grades including English and maths. This compares to an average of 19% in the predecessor schools six years ago and a national average of 55% in 2010 (2011 figure not yet available). Download the full press release with results table HERE.
5 July 2011
Bolingbroke Academy appoints principal designateARK Schools has appointed Claire Edis, current deputy headteacher of Parliament Hill School, London, a girls’ comprehensive, as principal designate of Bolingbroke Academy which will open in September 2012 in Wandsworth.
Ms Edis has been deputy head teacher of Parliament Hill School since 2006. She has lead responsibility for the school’s technology college specialism and for raising attainment in maths and science and design technology. She has also played a leadership role in the key stage 3, 4 and 5 curriculum and in managing behaviour and in the school’s provision of careers guidance and support, all areas in which the school was highly rated when the school achieved its recent Ofsted “Outstanding” grade. She has also been responsible for teaching and learning and for assessment and reporting and the gifted and talented and literacy support programmes. ARK’s Director of Education, Sir Michael Wilshaw, said: “Claire has tremendous experience across all the areas that are key to creating and maintaining high standards across a school. Ofsted made clear in their inspection in November that Parliament Hill’s leadership team was crucial to achieving its outstanding rating and fully recognised the part Claire played in that achievement. I have worked with Claire as she’s sought to develop her career and I think she will make an exceptional principal for Bolingbroke Academy and make it a high achieving and successful school for local children.” Claire Edis said: “I am delighted to be appointed to lead Bolingbroke. It is an extraordinary privilege to help create a new school and even more so to do so with the support of parents and ARK as the school’s sponsor. We have an exceptional opportunity to create a really great school that will give local children from every background the chance to succeed academically and realise their ambitions. “I am looking forward to welcoming our first pupils in September 2012 and to Bolingbroke Academy playing a real part in the local community – just as it did when it was a hospital.” ends
June 2011: ARK academies in the newsKing Solomon Academy primary featured on Channel 4 News on 16 June in an item that reported that “the vast majority of pupils here are doing better than the national average.”
On 21 June The Times reported on the visit of Dr Yeap Ban Har – Singapore's leading expert in maths teaching - to ARK Schools where he led a training day for teachers and to King Solomon Academy where he taught year 2 and year 7 pupils. 24 May 2011 Obama and Cameron visit ARK Globe AcademyPresident Barack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron visited ARK Globe Academy on Tuesday 24 May, as part of the President's state visit to the UK.
The President and Prime Minister had a mini-tour guided by head boy Farid Sarwari and head girl Durga Abdi. After meeting Principal Jason Baigent and Chair of Governors, Paul Marshall, our guests met year 5 primary school pupils who demonstrated their knowledge of the solar system following a recent project on the planets. They then met the year 10 winners of the Virtual Ventura Design Award who showed them their ground breaking Dish Dash lunch box. The president and prime minister chatted with pupils and with Miss Fernandes and Miss White before rashly taking on the school’s table tennis players.
President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron played at several tables then had a doubles match with two year 11 pupils. The politicians gained one point but were no match for the Globe players. Click here to see photos from the day.
And follow this link to see pupils telling CBBC Newsround about the visit
12 January 2011
GCSE FIGURES CONFIRM ARK SCHOOLS AS TOP ACADEMY GROUPAverage 12 percentage point increase from 2009 across networkOfficial GCSE figures out today confirm that leading academy group, ARK Schools, has secured a fourth year of improved GCSE performances across its academies.
ARK’s five academies with GCSE results achieved an average rise of 12 percentage points over last year’s results. Since each school opened as an ARK academy the average annual increase in pupils achieving 5 GCSEs including English and mathematics is now 10 percentage points - up from 7.8 percentage points last year - which makes ARK Schools the most successful academy group for GCSE improvement.
*Predecessor school ARK Schools managing director, Lucy Heller, said: “I am delighted that these results confirm ARK as the top performing academy group for GCSE improvement. The progress seen across the network is testament to the hard work and dedication of our staff and pupils and means our schools are in a strong position to build on this success in 2011.”
Ends
6 September 2010 Government gives ARK the green light to open two London primary academies in September 2011. Education Secretary, the Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, has announced the approval of proposals for ARK primary academies in North Westminster and North Hammersmith. In Hammersmith the local parent group has identified a potential site in the former Wormholt Library in North Hammersmith. ARK Schools and Hammersmith Council will now undertake a detailed feasibility study with a view to admitting the first pupils in September 2011. In Westminster ARK Schools is working with the council and local parents on the feasibility of potential sites, and is committed to admitting pupils in 2011. Both academies will be open to local pupils of all abilities and be non-denominational, mixed schools. ARK Schools Primary Director, Sophy Blakeway, commented: "We are delighted to have passed the first stage in developing these two new primary academies. It's great news for local children and their parents who have campaigned hard for extra school places. We look forward to creating two outstanding primary schools." Westminster Chronicle - "Free School to open in Westminster" Fulham Chronicle - "Free School projects approved in H&F"
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