Latest blogs

Josh MacAlister
Wednesday 1st February 2017

Josh MacAlister is the Chief Executive at Frontline. A former teacher, he taught in secondary schools across Greater Manchester and was a head of department before leaving the profession to set up Frontline. As the charity releases its first annual report, Josh reflects on the situation facing social workers today and the challenges ahead for his team.

Camilla Oscroft and Jo O'Byrne
Friday 13th January 2017

In the next installment of the Ark Teacher Blog series, Joanna O'Byrne and Camilla Oscroft from Ark Academy in Wembley speak to us about completing the National Professional Qualification for Senior Leadership (NPQSL)  run jointly by Ark and Ambition School Leadership. The year-long programme is a blend of face-to-face workshops and in-school impact initiative projects that focus on developing leadership skills and raising student attainment.

Monday 28th November 2016

Recognising the stark and growing educational achievement gap between rich and poor, governments and policy makers around the world are experimenting with innovative schooling models that aim to bring together the best of the public and private sectors in charter school or academy frameworks. The government of the Western Cape recently launched Collaboration Schools, a bold new experiment aiming to give learners in some of South Africa’s most dysfunctional schools a great education and better chances in life.

Friday 18th November 2016

Jake, former Ark Putney Academy student, is studying Astrophysics at University College London. This summer, he moved to Pasadena, California to work at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. NASA JPL is the leading centre in America for the robotic exploration of the solar system.
Here Jake talks about this incredible experience and looks back on how his school and the Reuben Scholarship helped make this possible. 

Doug Lemov, Erica Woolway and Maggie Johnson
Thursday 27th October 2016

Teachers from the Ark network recently attended a two-day Reading Reconsidered workshop facilitated by Doug Lemov (author of Teach like a Champion), Erica Woolway and Maggie Johnson from Uncommon Schools.
The workshop aimed to provide teachers with the tools to deliver high quality literacy teaching and help drive results. We sat down with Doug, Erica and Maggie to talk about their new techniques for teaching reading, many of which we will be implementing in Ark schools. 

Tuesday 18th October 2016

Next up in our series of Ark teacher blogs, Jonelle Monte, Deputy Head Teacher at Ark Bentworth Primary Academy, discusses the challenges and triumphs she has faced in her first year of leadership.
 
Little over a year ago, I was a Year 6 teacher at Ark Bentworth - 12 months later and I’m about to begin my second year as Deputy Head. I always aspired to be a leader but never expected it to happen in such a short space of time.

Thursday 6th October 2016

Richard Welsh is a Year Two teacher at Ark Conway Primary Academy, who graduated from the Ark Teacher Training programme in 2014. He has recently returned from a two-week visit to South Africa as part of the Ark Global Teaching Fellowship.

Teachers testing comparative judgement
Monday 3rd October 2016

Comparative judgement is an approach where teachers are presented with pairs of student work. They are asked to choose which of the two is better.
After several teachers’ judgements are made, an algorithm uses these judgements to provide a score for each student. Ark is piloting this approach with the help of Dr Christopher Wheadon, the founder of No More Marking, an online comparative judgement engine.

Ark Academy - enrichment
Wednesday 28th September 2016

In the first of our new series of blogs from teachers across the Ark network, we hear from Tom Sawbridge, Assistant Principal at Ark Academy. Here, Tom discusses building character amongst sixth formers using a tool of his own design, the Ark Diploma.
I’m Tom Sawbridge, Assistant Principal (Sixth Form) at Ark Academy in Wembley, West London. When I joined in September 2015, I was put in charge of the personal development of our post-16 pupils.

Daisyu Christodoulou
Monday 19th September 2016

Daisy Christodoulou, Head of Assessment at Ark, explains the new GCSE accountability measures and what they mean for schools.
As of summer 2016, schools in England are being judged by four new accountability measures.

Pages