Ark Kings Academy is a

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

all-through school and

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

located over two sites in the

Kings Norton Kings Norton, alternatively King's Norton, is an area of Birmingham, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Worcestershire, it was also a Birmingham City Council ward (politics), ward within the Government of Birmingham, Engl ...

area of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The school is funded by the

Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for child protection, child services, education (compulsory, further and higher education), apprenticeships and wider skills in England. A Department ...

and operated by Ark Schools, a registered charity under English law and sponsored by parent charity

Ark Ark or ARK may refer to: Biblical narratives and religion Hebrew word ''teva'' * Noah's Ark, a massive vessel said to have been built to save the world's animals from a flood * Ark of bulrushes, the boat of the infant Moses Hebrew ''aron'' * ...

History

Secondary school (Shannon Road)

The Shannon Road site was established as Primrose Hill Senior School in 1967 and was renamed in 1993 as Kings Norton High School, to avoid confusion with nearby Primrose Hill Primary School. In 2010, plans were announced to merge the school with Baverstock School to form a new 1,000-pupil school. Although a Statement of Intent was signed by Michael Gove, then

Secretary of State for Education The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. The incumbent is a member of the C ...

, this was later withdrawn. The school converted to academy status in September 2012 and was renamed Ark Kings Academy. A sixth form provision was opened in September 2017.

Primary school (Tees Grove)

The Tees Grove site was originally established as Primrose Hill Primary School and was later renamed Primrose Hill Community School. In September 2012 the school converted to academy status and was renamed Ark Rose Primary Academy. As both schools were part of the Ark Schools trust, in September 2017 Ark Rose Primary Academy formally merged with Ark Kings Academy, thereby sharing an amalgamated senior leadership and administration team.

Ofsted warning

In 2022, the school was given a funding warning after being found inadequate during an Ofsted inspection. The Ofsted report, published in May 2022, following an inspection in February 2022, said: "Some pupils, particularly those who identify as

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

, experience repeated name-calling and prejudiced behaviour. This means that pupils do not feel safe in the school."

GCSE results

The school has generally had low average percentage for 5+ GCSEs (or equivalent) A*-C incl. English & Maths in the past, with the lowest being 7% back in 2006. Since 2006 however, the average percentage has been either been going up or decreasing by 1% each year. However, before the school turned to an academy in September 2012, the school had a percentage of 41% for the final year as Kings Norton High, beating the previous record of 32% in 2010. However, for the first year of the academy in 2013, the school had a drop to 24% which had been the lowest in 4 years compared to 23% in 2009. This was also the lowest percentage compared to the rest of the ARK network. However, in 2015 Kings achieved 51% which was their highest results percentage ever recorded. This made Kings the most improved academy in the country over two years.

Notable former pupils

Clive Wedderburn Clive Wedderburn (born 10 January 1967) is an English actor best known for his role as Police Constable Gary McCann in ''The Bill''. He was born in Reading, Berkshire in 1967. In 1972 his parents moved to Birmingham, where he was to spend the ...

, Actor – Student (Primrose Hill Secondary School) *

Zoë Tyler Zoë Tyler (born 7 July 1970) is an English singer, actress, voice coach, West End performer, and reality television show judge. She is also a soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Early career Tyler was born in Birmingham and educat ...

, Singer – Student (Primrose Hill Secondary School)

Notable former staff

Dene Cropper Dene Cropper (born 5 January 1983) is an English former professional footballer who notably played in the Football League for Lincoln City and Boston United after starting his career with Sheffield Wednesday. He has also played for Worksop To ...

, Footballer – Teacher (Kings Norton High School/ARK Kings Academy)

References

External links

* {{authority control Secondary schools in Birmingham, West Midlands Educational institutions established in 1967 1967 establishments in England Academies in Birmingham, West Midlands Kings Academy Primary schools in Birmingham, West Midlands