Rated a 'Good' school by Ofsted in February 2023

Summer GCSE Exam Schedule

The GCSE examination season is upon us. Please view and download the exams schedule here

Upcoming Events at Ark Acton Academy

Welcome to Year 7 Evening at 6:30pm (for all Year 6 students starting in September). Please confirm your attendance here

 

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Intro

Our mission is a simple one, to ensure that all Ark Acton students thrive at university or a real alternative and therefore live a life to be proud of.

In order to make this happen we focus intently on two main areas of school life. Our academic curriculum and our extensive co-curricular programme.

 

Results

The majority of our students secure places at top third and Russell Group universities. These courses span the entire subject range from Medicine and Engineering through to History and Psychology.

Jayden secured a place at the University of Oxford to read PPE. He joins the list of Acton alumni to study at the world's best universities

Black History Month Showcase - October 2022

 

We invite you to watch highlights of our annual Black History Month Showcase

Remembrance Day 2022

The Ark Acton community came together on Remembrance Day 11/11/2022. See how we commemorated the day here

Read more at: https://arkacton.org/news/remembrance-day-2022-ark-acton 

 

Pastoral Care

Photo of Principal with students

As Principal of Ark Acton, it is my role to create an environment that is calm, scholarly, and supportive; where every child feels safe and is given the opportunity to thrive. We achieve this environment with a pastoral system that ensures no child is left behind. As a member of the Ark network of schools, we have access to a range of impactful resources and comprehensive policies carefully shaped by sector leading expertise.​

Mr. Oliver Knight, Principal Ark Acton​

Behaviour

We believe in maintaining a focus on discipline and good manners. We will recognise, encourage and reward good behaviour. We do not tolerate bad behaviour and maintain clear rules, not accepting excuses.

Inclusion

Our diverse curriculum is reflective of our community and ensures all cultures are equally represented. We have been working with Dr Robin Whitburn from UCL to ensure our curriculum tells a world view and involves global texts.

Safeguarding

Our staff and governors see safeguarding the welfare of our pupils as their number one priority. We have robust systems to ensure the safety of all our pupils, at all times, within the academy and on related school trips and other activities.

Mental health

We recognise that adolescence is a time of immense change and uncertainty; coupled with the experiences of a global pandemic and school closures. We place utter importance on offering expert care and support for our young people. We have an extensive range of mental health provision onsite from adolescent psychotherapy through to counselling and CBT.

Anti-bullying

We have a zero-tolerance approach to bullying. We adopt the attitude that ‘it does happen here’ and as such we have developed clear systems to enable any student or parent to report an issue or concern to us at any time. Our non-teaching Heads of Year ensure that every student is known to an adult and that we can intervene swiftly where required.

Physical health

We want all of our young people to lead happy and healthy lives. To help us achieve this we make full use of our outstanding sports facilities. All students complete a minimum of 2 hours per week of PE in the curriculum. We run over 50 clubs each week and every student has to take part in our compulsory co-curricular club that includes sport. We have fully qualified coaches who run sports clubs every lunchtime and after school to enable every student to take part.

Curriculum

Our purpose as a school is to ensure our young people can go out into the world and live a life of choice and opportunity. We want them to leave Ark Acton having been inducted into systems of worthwhile knowledge that enable them to participate in and shape the national discourse. Our academic curriculum sits at the heart of this.

As an Ark School we deliver the Ark Mastery Complete Curriculum Programmes in English, Maths, Science, Geography and Music. This means that every child has access to a world-class curriculum that is delivered in every Ark School.

Acquiring Disciplinary Literacy is the ability to read texts that are authentic to the subject as a means of learning substantive knowledge. Students are then able to think deeply about what they have read and write in appropriate formats.

 
 
Acton student

To ensure every child can continue to learn our curriculum at home as well as at school, every Year 7 student is issued with a Chromebook tablet. This is taken home and used to access our online learning platform.

 
 
Student using a computer

The Acton Canon is 50 great books we believe every student should have read by the time they leave Ark Acton. Each day begins with a guided reading session led by a teacher, providing space for students to immerse themselves in a good book.

 
 
Photo of student reading

A teacher affects a pupil's achievement more than any other factor.  We invest in recruiting and training the very best teachers and support staff. As part of Ark Schools, they access sector-leading training and expertise from across the network.

 
 
Teaching

Our Values

Student holding card

We have the courage to be truthful so that we all become the best version of ourselves.

Student holding card

At home and at school, we do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to succeed.

Student holding card

We do what's right, even when it is difficult, so that we are proud of who we are becoming.

Co-Curriculum

We enable all students to develop their individual interests and passions through our carefully sequenced co-curricular programme. ​

The co-curricular programme provides an array of experiences for students to build life skills – confidence, articulacy, social skills and teamwork. Over their whole time at Ark Acton, students track the development of these skills in their character passports.​

Developing strong oracy skills are central to helping our students go on and live a life of choice and opportunity. We have a co-ordinated programme of debating and public-speaking for all year groups.

 
 
Student debating

School trips form an integral part of the Ark Acton experience and we provide funding to ensure every child can attend. The trips are designed to broaden horizons, build confidence and provide experiences that our students will cherish for a lifetime.​

 
 
Student countryside trip

Our excellent sports facilities include a state-of-the-art fitness suite, dance studio, netball and basketball courts as well as extensive outside playing fields for football, rugby, tennis and hockey. We have competitive teams in 8 sports across all year groups and a wealth of after school sports clubs.

 
 
Student playing lacrosse

We support every student to complete work experience and host several employer visits per term from a range of Ark’s partner organisations. Students are given significant guidance for their University and degree options by our dedicated careers team.

 
 
Students visiting Google's offices