UK schools Ark Ventures About us Our Covid-19 response Careers News Contact us Search Language Tel: 020 3116 0800 About us Transforming lives through education Ark is an education charity that exists to make sure that all children, regardless of their background, have access to a great education and real choices in life. We started with one school, fourteen years ago We’ve always believed that, with the right approach, every school has the potential to succeed - even those in the most challenging circumstances. Nothing should be a barrier to children achieving. From working with just one school, Ark has since grown into a network of 39 schools in the UK - and is now recognised as one of the highest achieving academy groups in the country. We still only work in the communities where we can make the biggest difference to children’s lives, and all our schools are non-selective. As our network has grown, so have our ambitions We want to change the lives of children everywhere, not just in our own schools. So we create and incubate ventures designed not only to help pupils in Ark schools, but also to improve education systems as a whole. These ventures tackle some of the most intractable problems facing children – including poor numeracy, inadequate support for dyslexic pupils, and the lack of quality social workers. We innovate, learn and adapt - and then we share it Things can only be changed through hard work, high expectations and evidence-driven approaches. In some cases, it could be about tweaking the way a lesson is taught; in others, it's changing the way we think about training teachers. For instance, in the UK, our structured approach to teacher training and professional development is helping to embed outstanding teaching in our schools– for trainee teachers right through to executive headteachers. And we don't stop at training our own teachers. Programmes such as the Ambition Institute and Mathematics Mastery are now training teachers and school leaders in hundreds of schools across the UK. Working in partnership is key to everything we do, locally and globally We can have a bigger impact when we work with others, such as governments and education organisations, as well as people at a local level too. From having key members of the community as governors, to engaging parents and taking part in local events, our schools work with others to create happy, safe communities. Working in partnership has also allowed us to extend our impact to other countries – spreading our expertise through initiatives designed to improve entire education systems. Through Ark’s Education Partnerships Group, we’re working to bring governments and education organisations closer together to create better schools. In India and Uganda, this involves implementing new ways of tracking and improving school quality and student performance. In Kenya and South Africa, we're developing low-cost school information systems to drive student progress through better use of data. Working together is key to everything we do: whether that’s teachers sharing resources across countries, or children from different schools helping each other to perform a song on stage. Our work has greater impact when we share knowledge and expertise. We are driven by the belief that every child can succeed if they have the right opportunities Over recent years, we have seen some life-changing results. However it is only the beginning. We're committed to transforming even more lives through education. Download 'About Ark' (PDF) Contact us Privacy & Cookie Policy Diversity & Inclusion statement Facebook LinkedIn Twitter YouTube Sign up to our newsletter Ark Schools Registered in England as a company limited by guarantee number 05112090 © Absolute Return for Kids (Ark) Registered in England as a company limited by guarantee number 04589451. Registered charity no 1095322 Registered offices for Ark Schools and Ark: The Yellow Building, 1 Nicholas Road, London W11 4AN By continuing to use this site, you consent to the use of cookies on your device. Find out more