ARK Schools Working with Charities

Thank you

Who we are

• A family of schools with the same vision

... to create a network of outstanding schools so that every pupil has the opportunity to go to university or pursue the career of their choice.

• Founded in 2004 and first school (Burlington Danes Academy) opened in 2006

… a part of ARK

Where we are

More to come

We are keen to grow from 18 to 50 schools by 2016 or from 9,000 to 20,000 pupils – in order to be sustainable – in order to meet the demand and

support more schools in challenging circumstances.

We don’t shy away from challenges;

42% (15%) of ARK pupils are on Free School Meals, the highest of any academy group.

37% (10%)of ARK pupils have English as an Additional Language.

What has been achieved so far?• GCSE improvement rate and primary rates

of progress at KS1 and KS2 are impressive• Innovation and wider impact (Teaching

Leaders, Future Leaders, Maths Mastery) • Eight of nine academies inspected so far

are good or outstanding according to Ofsted

ARK sponsorship, charities and fundraising

ARK Board

ARK International

ARK Schools

ARK UK Programmes

Charities

Sponsors, trusts and

foundations

Sponsors, trusts and foundations

Govern

ance

and fu

nding Governance

funding

Governance funding

Interaction

Charities Charities Sponsors, trusts and

foundations

Charities

Case Study: The ARK Schools Oral Language Programme• To develop the communication skills of all

pupils• To develop the vocabulary and story-telling

skills of pupils with deprived language• To provide support strategies to parents of

children who start school with deprived language

• To raise teacher and parent awareness of the importance of children’s language and communication development

3 strands

Training teachers &

accreditation of communication friendly practice

in schools

Resources & training for LSAs

to deliver booster

language interventions

Resources & training to

support parent workshops in

school

Phase Activity Input Partnership BenefitsPre-planning • Produce operational plan and funding

application to cover start-up costs• Recruit Early Language and

Communication Advisor (ELCA) to deliver the programme

ARK Schools staff:• SL&C Lead• UK Programmes Director• HR & recruitment

ICAN Consultancy

In-house resources at ARK Schools

Free consultancy from ICAN

Staff training • Obtain training licenses in-house• Deliver training to staff in schools• Validate good practice

ARK Schools staff:• ELCA

ICAN tutor licenses, training materials & accreditation fee

ARK School start-up funding to cover ELCA costs, training materials and accreditation fee

ICAN bursary to cover licence fees and subsidise training materials

Booster groups

• Obtain intervention licenses in-house• Train LSAs in schools to deliver

programme• Provide intervention materials for

schools

ARK Schools staff:• ELCA

ICAN tutor licences and intervention manuals

ARK School start-up funding to cover ELCA costs, licence fees and intervention manuals

ICAN bursary to subsidise intervention licence fees and intervention manuals

Parent workshops

• Train school staff / parent volunteers to give key messages on communication development

• Provide communication-supportive resources for families

ARK Schools staff:• ELCA

Resources for parents

ARK School start-up funding to cover ELCA costs and resources for parents

Programme development

• Evaluate impact• Produce funding and operational plan

for programme expansion

ARK Schools staff:• ELCA• SL&C Lead

In-house resources at ARK Schools and start-up funding to cover ELCA costs and resources for parents

Going forward • The aims of ARK Schools must come

first • Projects must not overload or distract

schools • Fundraising is complicated– eg GLA

funding only for a new project or relationship

• Fundraising is expensive • Our academies rely on additional

income and programmes from external providers

• The future is complicated...