Ark Greenwich Free School 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 ...

secondary Secondary may refer to: Science and nature * Secondary emission, of particles ** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products * The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...

free school located in the

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...

area of the

Royal Borough of Greenwich The Royal Borough of Greenwich (, , or ) is a London borough in southeast Greater London. The London Borough of Greenwich was formed in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. The new borough covered the former area of the Metropolitan Borough ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England. The school opened as Greenwich Free School in September 2012 with an initial intake of 11-year-old pupils (academic year 7), with the school expanding admissions every year to eventually become a full secondary school with a

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 ...

. The initial headteacher left in 2013 and the school was visited by Ofsted in 2014. Changes were made, and in 2018 the founders relinquished control to the ARK multi-academy trust.

History

The school was co-founded as Greenwich Free School by Jonathan Simons, head of education at the think-tank

Policy Exchange Policy Exchange is a British conservatism in the United Kingdom, conservative think tank based in London. In 2007 it was described in ''The Daily Telegraph'' as "the largest, but also the most influential think tank on the right". ''The Washing ...

, and Tom Shinner, a policy adviser at 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 ...

. Jonathan Simons was the chair of governors. The school was advised by

Dr Challoner's Grammar School Dr Challoner's Grammar School (also known as DCGS, Challoner's Boys or simply Challoner's) is a selective grammar school for boys, with a co-educational Sixth Form, in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England. It was given academy status in January ...

, where Tom Shinner had been a teacher. Greenwich Free School offered 100 places per year group, with 97 places being filled for year 7 in 2012. In March 2013 it received 640 applications for its 100 places for year 7. It initially operated an extended school day from 7:50am to 5:30pm, which included a homework hour and compulsory extra-curricular activities. In December 2013, Lee Faith, the school's first headteacher resigned. The first

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...

inspection, made in April 2014, assessed that the school required improvement, with strong criticism of the school’s teaching of lower-ability, special needs and disabled pupils. Oliver Knight was appointed as the new headteacher on 1 June 2014. At the Ofsted inspection on 17 May 2016, the school's overall effectiveness was judged to be "Good" in all areas. Ark Greenwich Free School

In August 2018 the founders decided to hand the school over to the larger

multi-academy trust Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) or school trust is an academy trust that operates more than one academy school. Academy schools are state-funded schools in England which are directly funded by the Department for Education and independent of local autho ...

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'' * ...

when it opened for the new school year in September, citing onerous demands on governors and trustees, and was renamed Ark Greenwich Free School.

Description

The school operates an open catchment area, but offers places according to the Fair Banding System operated in Greenwich. The system places pupils in one of the five bands based on their score in tests taken in primary school. The school then allocates 20% of places to pupils in each band. In the event of over-subscription for places, priority is given to pupils living nearest to the school. From September 2018 it ran a conventional school day from 8:05am to 3:30pm, with an extra hour on Mondays and Tuesdays and Wednesdays from the start of the new academic year (2019) - similar to all Greenwich schools. The school operates a strict discipline policy, which includes a ban on pupils having mobile phones and sweets on school grounds.

References

External links

School website2016 Ofsted Report
rated good/ {{authority control Free schools in London Educational institutions established in 2012 Secondary schools in the Royal Borough of Greenwich 2012 establishments in England Ark schools