How Ark's governance works
Every school in the Ark network is the legal responsibility of the Ark Schools Board. This board focuses on statutory duties and delegates most day-to-day responsibilities to each school’s individual Local Governing Body (LGB).
This means that our Academy's governors are able to concentrate on the things that really matter – educational strategy, school outcomes and aspiration.
The Ark Schools Decision Making Framework outlines where responsibility and accountability sits for the key functional areas within Ark Schools between the ‘tiers’ of governance.
Our Local Governing Body
Our Local Governing Body (LGB) is made up of 6-10 members – usually people with a local connection or interest who are committed to supporting educational opportunity in the area. The board generally includes:
- Academy Principal
- Up to two Parent Governors
- One Teaching Staff Governor
- One Non-teaching Staff Governor
- One Local Authority representative
We aim to create a balanced group that will have the right skills, connections and dynamic for the LGB to work well and support the school in achieving exceptional performance. Attributes we look for include:
- Good insight into the specific challenges at the school and the general challenges of operating top-quality schools
- Excellent community links
- Specific skills as needed by/relevant to the school
- A link to the senior executive team of Ark Schools
All appointments are made by the Director of Governance for Ark Schools. The term of a governor is three years, except for the Principal, who remains a governor for the duration of his or her time in post. Governors may be reappointed for further terms.
The LGB meets four times a year.
Becoming a governor
If you have an interest and commitment to improving education, and would like to make a difference within your community, please register your interest in becoming a governor by completing our online Governor Application Form. If you have any questions about a governor’s role or responsibilities please contact us at governance.team@arkonline.org
A full programme of induction, training and support is provided. You can see more information, including role specifications here.
Contacting the governors
The current Clerk to Governors is Cathi Hughes (Catherine.Hughes@arkonline.org). Please contact them if you have any governance-related queries, or would like to contact one of the governors.
Our Governors
Adam Small
Adam Small is a Senior Parliamentary Assistant to a Shadow Minister in the UK Parliament. Originally training and working as a theatre director and producer, he is a highly creative and analytical professional with a diverse experience and passion for greater opportunity and social equity. He is committed to empowering all young people to seize their passions and build fulfilling independent lives.
Moqi Groen-Xu
Dr Moqi Groen-Xu is a Senior Lecturer for Finance at School of Economics and Finance at Queen Mary University of London. She specialises in empirical work on Corporate Finance and Corporate Governance. Groen-Xu joined Queen Mary in 2020 and worked previously at the LSE. She has a PhD from INSEAD, France. Prior to her academic career, she worked as a consultant with McKinsey. Dr Groen-Xu has two daughters, born 2015 and 2017. She is passionate about education and equality of opportunities. She blogs on moqixu.com and tweets @moqixu.
Miada Hassan
Miada is an active member of the local community. She went to university and obtained a masters in engineering in Chemical Engineering, after graduating she went on to work for technology departments as a product manager helping companies identify and resolve issues with in their offerings and helping them by creating revenue generating opportunities.
Miada went to one of the local state schools in the borough and attributes a lot of her life achievements to teachers that believed in her, and the local community who held the schools accountable and is hoping that she can meaningfully contribute to other children's journeys.
Joanne Kilpatrick
Jo is the Primary Music Specialist for the Ark Central Music Team and joined Ark in April 2021. She has been a primary teacher for 20 years, working various schools across London as well as seven years as Director of Primary Music at the British School in the Netherlands. She was appointed as a teacher-governor at Betty Layward School in Hackney where she worked for just under a decade as a class teacher across KS1 and KS2, became the music specialist and also stepped up as Assistant Head.
Natalie Nowack
After teaching English as a Foreign Language in Germany and Switzerland, Natalie returned to the United Kingdom to work for Ark after learning of Ark’s paid teacher trainee program. More so than its outstanding rated training, it was the mission that every pupil has a right to excellent education, regardless of background, that struck a chord with her and from that moment she has shared this commitment. Since working at Priory, she has taught predominantly in year 6 and supported pupils in achieving their full potential in their primary school learning. Additionally, she supports pupils in understanding the Ark Priory child characteristics so that they grow to become the best possible versions of themselves. Natalie is committed to ensuring that Ark Priory is an outstanding school for the pupils.
Tom O'Beirne
Tom is a Teach First alumni and former maths teacher who has worked in education for the last 10 years, including with Ark Ventures. Tom believes passionately in the potential for technology to support teachers in the classroom and help to provide equality of education and opportunity for all.
Ms Daniela Grasso
Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead