Head of English

Ark William Parker Academy is an all-boys' secondary school in Hastings. The school joined the Ark network in September 2013, along with its sister school, Ark Helenswood Academy. The two schools have a joint sixth form - Ark 6th Form East Sussex.  

Ark William Parker is a church school with a Christian ethos and is proud to be a part of the network of church schools in the Chichester Diocese. The school’s rich history and many traditions are based on Christian values and our church school status is very important to us. 

With a strong history and a bright future – working at Ark William Parker is about more than being part of a school, it is about being part of a community.    At Ark William Parker, professional development and progression is built into the very fabric of the staff body – the school gives extensive and meaningful support to staff members who wish to gain further professional qualifications such as the NPQSL.  As well as twice as many training days as standard, staff also have access to one dedicated CPD session per week and further staff training every Wednesday. Strong line management and a culture of coaching and collaboration means that staff are constantly supported and developed

As a school, our focus is always on the best possible outcomes for our young people. That is why we are constantly reviewing our practices to ensure that teachers can concentrate on teaching and students on learning. This includes a rigorous behaviour policy that encourages every member of the school community to take responsibility for their actions.    

Support with workload is built into everything we do. We run a four period day, instead of five allowing us to really offer our young people real depth in their subjects, whilst cutting down on administration for teachers – meaning you plan 20 lessons per week, not 25. The structure of our school day is designed to try and cut down on the amount of work teachers do at home and provide flexibility where possible.

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 endorsed by Ofsted.

Read our latest Ofsted report here. 

We're looking for strong middle leaders to join our school. Find out more about unique and exciting opportunities at our school and get in touch now for more information - Middle leadership programme at Ark William Parker Academy.pdf 

The Ark network 

Ark William Parker 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/