Ark Kings Academy

Coordinates: 52°23′54″N 1°55′53″W / 52.39833°N 1.93139°W

Ark Kings Academy

Motto	Aspire. Expect. Achieve. Together.
Established	1967 (as Primrose Hill Secondary School)
Type	Academy
Acting Principal	Roger Punton
Chair of Governors	Guy McEvoy
Location	Shannon Road Kings Norton West Midlands B38 9DE England
Local authority	Birmingham
DfE URN	137578 Tables
Gender	Mixed
Ages	11–16
Colours	Grey and purple
Website	ARK Kings Academy

Ark Kings Academy (formerly Primrose Hill Secondary School from 1967-1993 and Kings Norton High School from 1993-2012)^[1] is a mixed secondary school within the English Academy programme, located in Kings Norton, Birmingham.^[2]

The school is funded by the Department for Education and operated by Ark schools, a registered charity under English law and sponsored by parent charity Ark.^[3]

On this site, Primrose Hill Senior School was founded in 1967 and was renamed in 1993 as Kings Norton High School, to avoid confusion with nearby Primrose Hill Primary School.^[4] The school reopened as an academy in September 2012,^[5] with the staff and pupils from Kings Norton High School. A sixth form is expected to open in September 2017.^[6]

In 2010, plans were announced to merge the school with Baverstock School to form a new 1,000-pupil school.^[7] Although a Statement of Intent was signed by Michael Gove, then Secretary of State for Education, this was later withdrawn.

GCSE results

The school has generally had low average percentage for 5+ GCSEs (or equivalent) A*-C incl. English & Maths in the past, with the lowest being 7% back in 2006. Since 2006 however, the average percentage has been either been going up or decreasing by 1% each year. However, before the school turned to an academy in September 2012, the school had a percentage of 41% for the final year as Kings Norton High, beating the previous record of 32% in 2010. However, for the first year of the academy in 2013, the school had a drop to 24% which had been the lowest in 4 years compared to 23% in 2009. This was also the lowest percentage compared to the rest of the ARK network. However, in 2015 Kings achieved 51% which was their highest results percentage ever recorded. This made Kings the most improved academy in the country over two years.^[8]

Track record:	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
5+ GCSEs (or equivalent) A*-C incl. English & Maths[9][10][11][12][13]	14%	21%	13%	14%	11%	16%	7%	13%	12%	23%	32%	31%	41%	24%	46%	51%
National figures for pupils gaining 5+ A*-C GCSE grades[14]	49.2%	50.0%	51.6%	52.9%	53.7%	56.3%	58.5%	60.3%	65.3%	70.0%	75.4%	79.6%	81.1%	63.8%

Notable former alumni

• Clive Wedderburn, Actor - Student (Primrose Hill Secondary School)^[15]
• Zoë Tyler, Singer - Student (Primrose Hill Secondary School)^[16]
• Dene Cropper, Footballer - Teacher (Kings Norton High School/ARK Kings Academy)^[17]

See also

• Ark schools

References

1. "Kings Norton High School history". Retrieved 2013-05-03.
2. "Contact Details". Retrieved 2013-05-03.
3. "ARK charity details". Retrieved 2013-05-03.
4. "Name history". Retrieved 2013-05-03.
5. "Ark Kings Academy". Ark. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
6. "Curriculum Overview". Ark Kings Academy. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
7. Savvas, Christina (29 January 2010). "New school proposed to serve Kings Norton and Druids Heath". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
8. "MOST IMPROVED ACADEMY IN THE COUNTRY!". Retrieved 2 December 2015.
9. "GCSE results". Retrieved 8 August 2013.
10. "GCSE results (2004-2007)". BBC. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
11. "GCSE results (2003-2000)". BBC. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
12. "Results for 2012/2013". ARK Schools. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
13. ARK Kings Academy
14. "National Average for GCSE grades (5+ A*-C)". Retrieved 26 August 2013.
15. "Notable alumni - Wedderburn". Retrieved 2013-05-03.
16. Graham Young (24 April 2009). "Singing coach Zoe Tyler's looking for talent in Birmingham". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
17. "Staff List". Retrieved 2013-05-22.