Reflection Room Co-ordinator

As Hasting’s highest-performing secondary school, Ark Helenswood is quickly improving and has put outstanding, well-supported staff with access to excellent CPD at the heart of its plan for the future.

Ark Helenswood Academy strives to provide an excellent quality of provision in which every student has the potential to succeed. High expectations, a broad and relevant curriculum and inspirational teaching mean students will leave well educated, confident and ambitious; students have an excellent understanding of the world they live in. Excellent academic standards allow students to flourish onwards to university or the career of their choice.

We know that our students cannot reach their full potential without great teachers who are supported throughout their career. From day one at Ark Helenswood, staff are offered regular training and support to help them develop their career and practice – through Teaching Leaders’ and Future Leaders’ programmes, direct and regular mentoring with an experienced line manager and co-planning sessions for trainees and NQTs. The school also has dedicated CPD sessions and further staff training every Wednesday.

The school recognises that good behaviour and academic achievement go hand-in-hand and has established a strong ‘Behaviour for Learning’ policy, meaning that teachers can really focus on teaching.

As a member of staff at a school with a well-established performing arts specialism, staff have the opportunity to participate in Hastings’ thriving art scene – from dance students performing when the Olympic Torch arrived in the town to Hastings’ acclaimed festivals.

Staff regularly get together to celebrate outstanding practice with its weekly “Songs of praise”, in which staff who have gone above and beyond are applauded in staff briefings, and “Wine of the week”, in which the Principal awards a member of staff with a bottle of wine for

Curriculum

All young people need an excellent command of English and Mathematics to ensure their  success in all areas of the curriculum.  To support this we dedicate extra time to these two areas: giving students additional support for literacy and numeracy where required.

In Key Stage 3 students will study core subjects in depth to allow students to secure firm foundations in English and Mathematics, so that they find the rest of the curriculum far easier to access.

To fully support our students’ achievement in Mathematics, we follow the English and Mathematics Mastery Curriculum, a highly-effective curriculum and teaching approach inspired by pupil success in Singapore and endorsed by OFSTED.

At Key Stage 4, all students study the core subjects and select a varying number of options depending on their pathway.

Ofsted

“Externally verified information about standards in Years 10 and 11, and Year 10 work seen during the inspection, confirm that more effective teaching has generated a dramatic shift in standards and progress this year. Ark consultants have contributed to this. Disabled students and those with special educational needs are now achieving well. Stronger and well organised arrangements for their well-being and academic progress are in place.” 

View Ark Helenswood Academy’s latest Ofsted report

The Ark network 

Ark Helenswood Academy is part of Ark, an international charity transforming lives through education. Ark has 38 schools across the UK in Birmingham, Hastings, London and Portsmouth. Ark exists to give every young person, regardless of their background, a great education and real choices in life. Ark schools are all non-selective and in areas where they can make the biggest difference.  

Read more about Ark: http://arkonline.org/