Absolute Return for Kids (ARK), is an international children's educational charity based in London, UK. Ark is a

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...

under English law. In its reporting year 2017–18, excluding its few subsidiaries, it saw gross income of £14.66 million and had 42 employees. Ark is the parent organisation of Ark Schools, a separate legal entity that is a multi-academy trust in the English education system, with 39 schools (as of 14 October 2022) and nearly 30,000 pupils.

History

Ark was founded in 2002 by a group of

hedge fund A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that trades in relatively liquid assets and is able to make extensive use of more complex trading, portfolio-construction, and risk management techniques in an attempt to improve performance, such as ...

financiers including Paul Marshall and Ian Wace of

Marshall Wace Marshall Wace LLP is a hedge fund based in London, founded by Paul Marshall and Ian Wace in 1997. Marshall serves as chairman and chief investment officer, and Wace as a chief executive officer & chief risk officer. The company is recognized as ...

– and

Arpad Busson André Arpad Busson (born 27 January 1963) is a French financier. Busson starting working in hedge funds in 1986 working in New York. He is the founder and chairman of the EIM Group, a fund of funds company. Busson is also active in a number o ...

of EIM Group, founding chairman of the charity's board of trustees. Its aim is to invest

philanthropy Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

(benevolence, gift-giving) to improve, greatly, the life chances of children. Since 2014, the charity has been known as Ark or ARK. Its charitable objects are: "to make sure that all children, regardless of their background, have access to a great education and real choices in life. ark incubates, launches and scales ventures that share our mission and values."

Activities

Ark operates in the UK, South Africa, Zimbabwe and India. In the US, it is affiliated to Absolute Return for Kids US, Inc. (Ark US), a US philanthropic organisation which shares Ark's mission, and which supports the work of Ark through grants.Ark: Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2018. Ark works in education, health and child protection.

Schools

In England, its subsidiary Ark Schools is a multi-academy trust responsible for the schools that Ark runs which, typical of its class, has exempt charity status since 2011.) Ark Schools was created in 2004 to work with 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 Departme ...

and local authorities to create new schools for inner cities through the academies programme. Its aim is to help close the achievement gap between children from disadvantaged and more affluent backgrounds. Its academies focus on raising attainment with the aim of every pupil going into

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after compl ...

when they complete school. The schools are frequently held up by the government as an example of a successful multi-academy trust, where at least seven others were failing.

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted is responsible for inspecting a range of educational institutions, incl ...

chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw stepped down in 2016 and was replaced by Amanda Spielman, the founder of Ark Schools and an accountant. As of 2019, Ark runs 36 schools in the English education system, and plans to grow further. It has been, by a sector analyst of a periodical, criticised or seen as unusual for a record of running some schools, as at before 2020 at a deficit, relying on internal loans. In 2022, the Birmingham school Ark Kings Academy 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."

List of Ark schools in England

Primary schools

*Ark Atwood Primary Academy,

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

*Ark Ayrton Primary Academy,

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 d ...

‡ *Ark Bentworth Primary Academy,

Hammersmith & Fulham The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham () is a London borough in West London and which also forms part of Inner London. The borough was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former Metropolitan Boroughs of Hammersmith and Fulham. The bor ...

*Ark Blacklands Primary Academy,

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

‡ *Ark Brunel Primary Academy, Kensington and Chelsea *Ark Byron Primary Academy,

Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was his ...

*Ark Castledown Primary Academy, Hastings‡ *Ark Conway Primary Academy, Hammersmith & Fulham *Ark Dickens Primary Academy, Portsmouth‡ *Ark Franklin Primary Academy, Brent *

Ark John Archer Primary Academy Ark John Archer Primary Academy (formerly High View Primary School) is a co-educational primary school and Grade II listed building located at Plough Road in the Battersea area of London, England. History The school was built in a Flemish Re ...

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its nam ...

*Ark Little Ridge Primary Academy, Hastings‡ *Ark Oval Primary Academy,

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an exten ...

*Ark Priory Primary Academy, Ealing *Ark Swift Primary Academy, Hammersmith & Fulham *Ark Tindal Primary Academy, Birmingham‡

Secondary schools

* Ark Acton Academy, Acton, Ealing *

Ark Alexandra Academy Ark Alexandra, previously known as Hastings Grammar School, William Parker School, William Parker Sports College, and later as Ark William Parker is a secondary school in Hastings, East Sussex in the United Kingdom. It was the only male single-s ...

, Hastings‡ * Ark All Saints Academy,

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

*Ark Blake Academy, Croydon *Ark Bolingbroke Academy,

* Ark Boulton Academy, Birmingham‡ * Ark Charter Academy, Portsmouth‡ * Ark Elvin Academy,

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

, Brent *

Ark Evelyn Grace Academy Ark Evelyn Grace Academy is a non- selective, coeducational secondary school within the English Academy programme, in Brixton, London. The Academy opened in September 2008 in temporary accommodation admitting its first 180 pupils in year 7. In ...

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area e ...

Ark Greenwich Free School Ark Greenwich Free School is a Mixed-sex education, co-educational Secondary school, secondary Free school (England), free school located in the Woolwich area of the Royal Borough of Greenwich in London, England. The school opened as Greenwich F ...

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

*Ark Pioneer Academy, Barnet *

Ark Putney Academy Ark Putney Academy (formerly Elliott School) is a co-educational secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located in the Putney Heath area of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. History It was first established as Southfiel ...

, Wandsworth *

Ark St Alban's Academy Ark St Alban's Academy is a mixed secondary school and sixth form located in the Highgate area of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. Previously administered by Birmingham City Council, the school converted to academy status on 1 September 20 ...

, Birmingham‡ *Ark Soane Academy, Acton, Ealing * Ark Walworth Academy, Southwark

All-through schools

* Ark Academy, Brent * Ark Burlington Danes Academy, Hammersmith & Fulham *

Ark Globe Academy Ark Globe Academy (combining the former Geoffrey Chaucer Technology College and Joseph Lancaster Primary School) is a mixed all-through school located in Southwark, London, England. The school caters for children from Reception age through to ...

*Ark Isaac Newton Academy, Redbridge * Ark John Keats Academy, Enfield * Ark King Solomon Academy, Westminster * Ark Kings Academy, Birmingham‡ *Ark Victoria Academy, Birmingham‡

Boards of Trustees

As of November 2018 the Ark Schools trustees are Ian Wace (Chairman), Lord Fink, Sir Paul Marshall, Anthony Williams and Anthony Clake.

sits on the global board and is chairman of Absolute Return for Kids, US, Inc.

References

External links

Ark website

Ark schools website
{{authority control Educational charities based in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 2002 2002 establishments in England Charities based in London Founders of English schools and colleges Multi-academy trusts