Ark Charter Academy (formerly St Luke's CofE VA Secondary 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 ...

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

secondary 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 ...

. The school is located in the

Landport Landport is a district located on Portsea Island and is considered the city centre of modern-day Portsmouth, England. The district is centred around Commercial Road and encompasses the Guildhall, Civic Centre, Portsmouth and Southsea Statio ...

area of

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

in the English county of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

History

St Luke's School was first established in 1865 as a sunday school for boys. It began to offer more general secondary education for boys and girls in 1922. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, pupils attending the school were largely evacuated to the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

, however the school remained open for the remaining students. The school buildings suffered from extensive bomb damage during the war, and new buildings were constructed during the 1960s. This allowed for a significant expansion in the schools capacity. St Luke's went through a period of decline during the 1990s and 2000s, with pupils continuously achieving some of the poorest results in the UK. The school was put into special measures by Ofsted, and the school was threatened with closure. St Luke's was reopened as Charter Academy in September 2009, becoming one of the first schools to become an

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

. The school brought in a head teacher with experience of tackling poor achievement and behaviour in London schools. They also recruited a team of ex Royal Navy sailors as pastoral support to provide discipline. Results at the school have significantly improved from being to in the bottom 3% of schools nationally with no pupils achieve 5 A*-Cs to 68% of its pupils now achieving those grades placing it above the national average and making it one of the top three schools in the city. The school was later rebranded Ark Charter Academy

The school today

Ark Charter Academy is sponsored by

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'' * ...

and the Anglican Diocese of Portsmouth. Though it is a Church of England school, Ark Charter Academy operates a non-selective intake policy from a catchment area rather than selecting on religious background. The school offers

GCSEs The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

, BTECs and

OCR Nationals OCR Nationals are vocationally related qualifications which were officially launched by the OCR Board in September 2004. The qualifications are designed to meet the needs of those seeking vocational education in place of the traditional, theory-i ...

as programmes of study for pupils, while students in the sixth form have the option to study from a range of A-levels. The school also has specialisms in mathematics and performing arts.

References

External links

Ark Charter Academy official website
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1865 1865 establishments in England Secondary schools in Portsmouth Church of England secondary schools in the Diocese of Portsmouth Academies in Portsmouth Ark schools