Primary School House System
All children in Ark Academy are allocated a “house” to belong to. Children can earn house points for their house and take part in competitions throughout the year.
The houses are named after universities:
All children and staff, except for the head and deputy, are allocated a house. Children are encouraged to foster a sense of “healthy competition” for their behaviour, academic and non-academic achievement. All houses will take part in a termly house assembly, led the by the head of house near the start of each term. In these assemblies, goals are set, achievements celebrated and a core purpose and togetherness established, based around the schools core values.
House points are awarded for rewarding our core values, good behaviour or progress. These are tallied each week and celebrated in Thursday’s assembly. The house points should be tallied and checked by selected Year 6 pupils before taking to the office, who will collate the winners and record the weekly winner.
During the year, children will take part in house competitions, examples of which, are given below:
- Autumn Term - Spelling Bee and Mental maths / times tables
- Spring Term - Ark’s Got Talent
- Summer Term - Sports Day
Secondary School House System
Our house system helps to drive the four core values of Ark Academy:
EXCELLENCE, PARTICPATION, PERSISTENCE & CIVITAS
House membership supports our commitment to knowing every pupil individually; providing a wide range of opportunities to showcase talents that may not be seen in the classroom setting.
There are four Houses at Ark Academy:
House meetings [assemblies] take place once per half term. Heads of House, get to know students in a unique way, as they foster team spirit, responsibility, care for others (CIVITAS in action), charitable giving and, of course, a strong sense of healthy competition.
Each half term the pupils enjoy different House Competitions which really bring out their many talents. These events cover every type of interest, from art, drama, music, spoken word and sport to our half termly maths competitions which supports and reinforces our maths specialism. All House competitions are hotly contested! The enthusiasm of our pupils for their chosen house charities is also fantastic.
Each house achievement builds up points for the House towards the overall House Cup Competition. In addition, individual pupils gain points for their house through their commendations, or 100% attendance awards, or as 'reader of the term' (or any other accolade). This helps create the lively and dynamic atmosphere that we have in Ark Academy.
Each pupil will stay in their House until they leave to go to university or fulfil other ambitions. This enables students to work alongside other students from different age ranges within the House and develops a strong sense of nurturing younger pupils for the good of the House.
There are, of course, very important roles of responsibility for pupils as house members, notably House Captain and Sports Captain. We look forward to students developing these roles and who knows, one day, they might be Head girl or boy - the height of student success in Ark Academy.
The pupils clearly love the house system and are very proud of their house and we know will remember their houses long after they leave school.