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Ark Schools today welcomed the DCSF’s approval of its expression of interest in sponsoring the St Luke’s academy in Portsmouth.
Lucy Heller, managing director of ARK Schools, said: “We’re delighted that the Schools Minister has approved ARK Schools bid to sponsor St Luke’s transition to academy status. We’ve worked with the St Luke's senior team, the governors and diocese, and Portsmouth City Council to develop a proposal for the academy to carry forward recent improvements and to bring additional clarity, commitment and resources to the school to help raise attainment. Our ambition is for every child in every one of our academies to fully realise their potential and we know that’s an ambition shared by everyone currently involved with St Luke’s”.
Over the next few months, parents, pupils, staff, feeder schools and community groups will be consulted over the academy proposals and be invited to public meetings to hear more about the plans.
ARK Schools was created in 2004 to help children in the UK break the cycle of underachievement. Its vision is to provide every pupil with the support needed to achieve high academic standards, so each pupil leaves school with the option of higher education or a career of their choice. Its target is for 80 per cent of pupils to achieve five A*-C grades at GCSE, including English and maths. It is part of the international children’s charity ARK which runs health, welfare and education programmes in Southern Africa, Eastern Europe, the UK and India.
It runs six academies in London and has two further projects under development in addition to St Luke's.
St Luke's is a very long established secondary school close to the centre of Portsmouth and it is hoped that the academy proposals will make a strong positive contribution to the regeneration of this area of the city and to local educational provision.
Lynda Fisher, Strategic Director at Portsmouth City Council, said: “I welcome the news that the DCSF have agreed to release funding so that Portsmouth City Council, together with ARK and Diocese of Portsmouth can develop plans to establish St Luke’s School as an Academy.
“St Luke’s becoming an Academy is one of the governance arrangement changes for secondary schools agreed under the Building Schools for the Future programme. This change offers an opportunity to build on existing improvements and to contribute to further transformation of the learning opportunities for the pupils at St Luke's."
In common with all ARK academies, the new academy will have a specialism in mathematics. ARK is proposing a second specialism in the performing arts which will be explored with other partners.
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