Bishop Kenneth has welcomed plans to launch a new era at St Luke’s School in Portsmouth.

Educational charity ARK Schools hopes to sponsor the diocese’s only Church of England secondary school so it can become one of the government’s new academies.

Schools minister Ed Balls has now approved ARK’s expression of interest in creating an academy, and confirmed that up to £1m will be made available to St Luke’s via the National Challenge programme. The school’s governors and the Anglican diocese of Portsmouth had already approved the academy bid.

Academies are state funded but governed independently of the local authority. Although ARK Schools has no religious affiliation, the continuing link with the Church of England would ensure that the Christian ethos at St Luke’s would remain. Pupils from all faiths and of none would still be admitted.

The switch to academy status is planned for 2010 although it may happen sooner if all the partners agree. The philanthropic co-operative already runs six schools in London, including one C of E school, and hopes to have 12 running by 2012.

Bishop Kenneth said: “The committed team at St Luke’s have been doing a tremendous amount of good work. But the switch to academy status could give them the resources they need to make even more of a difference in the lives of those children.”

ARK (Absolute Return for Kids) was set up in 2002 by a group of successful business people who want to transform the lives of children. It runs programmes to treat and prevent HIV/Aids in southern Africa, helps orphans in Bulgaria and Romania, and runs academies in the UK, often in areas of social deprivation. The success of its programmes in Africa and Eastern Europe has been the catalyst to unlock government support and the spur for policy changes in these vital areas.

It is the largest non-governmental provider of programmes to treat HIV/Aids in South Africa. Without the life-saving drugs given to their mothers and caregivers, 20,000 children would otherwise have been orphaned over the past three years.

ARK also supports work in Bulgaria and Romania to find family homes for orphans who would otherwise live in overcrowded institutions. In four years, they have found new homes for 1,700 Romanian children.

In 2004, ARK Schools was created to help children in the UK break the cycle of underachievement. Its vision is to provide every pupil with the support needed to achieve high academic standards, so each pupil leaves school with the option of higher education or a career of their choice.

Its target is for 80 per cent of pupils to achieve five A*-C grades at GCSE, including English and maths.

Lucy Heller, managing director of ARK Schools, said: “We’re a children’s charity, and it’s our ambition to release the potential of all the children we teach. We could see that there was scope for improvement in the educational achievement at St Luke’s and that is why we were keen to work with the diocese.

“Although we have no religious affiliations our schools have a strong moral culture. The ethos of the Church of England complements our expectations about behaviour and aspirations. There would be diocesan and local authority representation on the governing body.”

There will now be consultation with parents, pupils, staff, feeder schools and community groups about the academy bid. A brochure will be released and a series of public meetings held.

Tony Blackshaw, director of education for Portsmouth’s Anglican diocese, said: “We have been impressed with ARK’s track record, its desire to improve standards, and its willingness to work alongside both the diocese and the local education authority. Our Board of Education wants to move forward with this. And, as far as we’re concerned, the sooner the better.”