News20th January 2017
Ark King Solomon Academy, a non-selective school near London’s Edgware Road has been ranked in the top five schools in the country – higher even than any selective school, according to league tables released by the government.
For the first time, the league tables recognise the progress made by students from year 7 to year 11, as they are based on the government’s new performance measure, Progress 8. King Solomon Academy was placed fifth in the league with a Progress 8 score of +1.08, well above the national average of 0. The best performing selective school was ranked 14th with a score of +0.82.
Ark St Albans is also celebrating as, at +0.76, it has the highest Progress 8 score for a school in Birmingham and sits in the top 1% of all schools in the country (alongside Ark King Solomon Academy). Principal Mark Gregory said, “I’m delighted to see the progress made by our students reflected in these latest league tables. We have such high expectations of our students – we truly believe they can succeed. And because of that we do everything in our power to ensure they reach their goals. I’m so proud of what they have achieved.”
Seven Ark schools sit in the top 25% in the country for disadvantaged students – Ark Academy, Ark Charter Academy, Ark Globe Academy, Ark Burlington Danes Academy, Ark Kings Academy, Ark King Solomon Academy and Ark St Albans Academy.
Ark’s Director of Education, Brian Sims, remarked, “The league tables show that we remain one of the country’s top performing academy networks at key stage 4. This is despite the fact that last year over half of our pupils at GCSE were eligible for the pupil premium, almost twice the national average of just 28%. Over a fifth of our pupils started secondary school behind expected levels, and nearly three times as many spoke English as an additional language. These results are testament to the hard work of our staff and students.”
What is Progress 8?
As of summer 2016, schools in England are being judged by four new accountability measures.
• Percentage achieving A* – C in the five English Baccalaureate subject areas
• Percentage achieving A* – C in both English and mathematics
• Attainment 8: average attainment by each pupil in their best eight subjects
• Progress 8: progress made by each pupil in the same eight subjects.
The first two measures are similar to those used previously and are fairly straightforward to understand. But Attainment 8 and Progress 8 are significantly different and more complex.
Daisy Christodoulou, Head of Assessment at Ark, explains the new measures in this short film:
Spotlight on Nadia, student at King Solomon Academy
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Nadia Ezbakh studied her GCSEs at Ark King Solomon Academy in London. Nadia received 10 A*s and an A after enduring sleepless nights waiting for her results.
“I was so surprised. I didn’t think I’d do that well. I’m really proud of these results and excited about what this means for my future. I’m really grateful to King Solomon Academy and all my teachers for the support that they’ve given me.”
Principal Max Haimendorf said, “Our high progress 8 score is very much linked to the quality of our teachers. We’ve just had our first cohort of kids going off to university. Our mission is to make it possible for every child to go to university and be successful, regardless of their background or prior attainment.”