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SPARK Schools
SPARK Schools Logo
Location
South Africa
Information
TypeSchool Network (Independent)[1][2]
MottoService ₪ Persistence ₪ Achievement Responsibility ₪ Kindness
Established2012
FounderStacey Brewer (RSA)[3][4]
Ryan Harrison (RSA)[5][6]
Bailey Thomson (USA)[7]
Caitlin Burkholder-Travis (USA)
GradesR–11
EnrollmentOver 14,000 scholars
Education systemBlended Learning[1]
Hours in school day8 (Grade 1 - 7)
Colour(s)  Royal Blue
  Lime Green
  White
Tuition+- R28,050 p/a (Primary School)
(as of January 2022)[8]
AffiliationsISASA
eAdvance Group
Pearson (PALF)
Omidyar Network
Good Schools Fund
Websitewww.sparkschools.co.za

SPARK Schools is an independent school network in South Africa.[1][9] SPARK Schools was founded by Stacey Brewer and Ryan Harrison in 2012. Their schools use a blended learning model with adaptive software and individualised learning to accelerate learning and increase student achievement.[10][11] SPARK Schools uses a hybrid funding model, having attracted funding from both non-profit foundations focused on high impact philanthropy and from for-profit[12] impact investors.

There are 21 primary schools and 5 high school in the SPARK Schools Network.[13]

History

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SPARK Schools was started to provide internationally competitive high quality academic achievement to South African communities.[14] The original motivation and concept for SPARK Schools was developed at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) where Stacey Brewer, Bailey Thomson and Ryan Harrison are alumni.[14] South Africa is consistently ranked among the worst performing education systems in the world.[15] SPARK Schools was built on the belief that quality and affordability are not mutually exclusive when it comes to excellent education. SPARK Schools emerged as a pioneer of blended learning in Africa and implemented the first blended primary school model in Africa.[1][16]

SPARK Ferndale was launched as the first SPARK school in 2013.[11] SPARK Schools became an ISASA full member and accredited network in 2013.[17]

SPARK core values

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SPARK is an acronym for the schools' core values: Service, Persistence, Achievement, Responsibility and Kindness.[18] The name of the network also took inspiration from the quotation often misattributed to William B. Yeats quote; "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire". While this quotation is often attributed to the Irish poet W.B. Yeats there is no evidence that he ever wrote or said those words.

Founding team

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The founding team consisted of Stacey Brewer[3] (Executive Director & Founding Principal), Ryan Harrison (Non-executive director), Bailey Thomson (Director of Leadership and Development)[7] and Caitlin Burkholder-Travis (Director of Student Achievement).

Education model

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Foundation phase

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SPARK Schools uses a lab rotation blended learning model that combines classroom instruction with adaptive software intended to accelerate learning and increase student achievement.[19][20] SPARK Schools uses a lab rotation blended learning model,[1] that was pioneered by Rocketship Education.

The blended education model allows for a high level of individualised learning as student receive instruction in the classroom as well as through adaptive education technology.[15][21]

Intermediate phase

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SPARK Schools uses a flex model for students in Grade 4–7 (intermediate phase). At this level, scholars are in ability groups based on their own individual performance in the subjects. This allows for an even more individualised form of education.

High school

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SPARK Schools launched their first high school in January 2019. SPARK Randburg High School is located in Ferndale, Randburg, and focuses on academic development that prepares scholars for matriculation and beyond.

Academic performance

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Ambitious claims are made for SPARK Schools as a high performing school network,[22] with internationally relevant rigour and benchmark assessment.[23]

Media coverage

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SPARK Schools has been featured in various media outlets including, the Economist,[12][24] the Mail & Guardian,[15] Forbes,[10] the Sunday Times,[25] the Sowetan,[26] The Sunday Independent, and Finweek[27] SPARK Schools has also been covered on various Radio and Television shows including, Talk Radio 702,[11] Classic FM,[28] iGIBS,[20] and CNBC Africa.

SPARK Schools has also been featured in various academic publications such as Focus (Helen Suzman Foundation)[6] and Acumen[14] as well as various international blogs, such as Getting Smart,[29] LeadSA,[30] Daily Maverick[31] The New Game[23] and EdSurge.[32]

SPARK Schools has been profiled in various forums and reports by ISASA, the Centre for Development and Enterprise[33] and the Clayton Christensen Institute.[34]

The earliest record of SPARK Schools can be found in the Sowetan Newspaper in an article titled: Low Cost Private Education Initiative.[26]

List of SPARK Schools

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As of January 2022 there are currently 20 schools in the SPARK Schools network.

SPARK primary schools[35]

Gauteng, South Africa

  • SPARK Bramley
  • SPARK Carlswald
  • SPARK Centurion
  • SPARK Cresta
  • SPARK Ferndale
  • SPARK Kempton Park
  • SPARK Midrand
  • SPARK Randpark Ridge
  • SPARK Riversands
  • SPARK Rivonia
  • SPARK Rosslyn Hub
  • SPARK Rynfield
  • SPARK Silver Lakes
  • SPARK Soweto
  • SPARK Theresa Park
  • SPARK Turffontein
  • SPARK Weltevreden Park
  • SPARK Witpoortjie

Western Cape, South Africa

  • SPARK Lynedoch

SPARK High Schools

  • SPARK Randburg High School

Funding

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SPARK Schools has received funding both from foundations focused on high impact philanthropy[15] and from for-profit impact investors.[36][37][38] Funders/investors including CREADEV, Finnfund, Omidyar Network, Pearson Education (Pearson Affordable Learning Fund),[39][40][41] the Good Schools Fund,[15] Imaginable Futures and various high-net-worth individuals.

Notable achievements

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SPARK Schools was invited to the 2013 Skoll World Forum to present alongside Salman Khan (Khan Academy), Sandy Speicher (IDEO) and Debra Dunn (Stanford University) on the panel, Blended Learning: The Proof and the Promise.[22][42]

SPARK Schools was recognised by the Accenture Innovation Index Awards as "an innovation that changes the way the world works"[43] and placed as a finalist in the 2013 innovation index.[43]

Awards

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  • 2014 Accenture Innovation Index Awards Finalist
  • 2015 South African Employer of Choice (<1000 employees)[44]
  • 2015 FNB Innovation Awards Finalist[45]
  • 2015 Elle Boss Awards[46]
  • 2015 Standard Bank Top Women Awards
  • 2016 EOY Innovator of the Year Award[47]
  • 2016 Acer for Education - Innovative School
  • 2016 All Africa Business Leader Award (AABLA) - Innovator of the Year
  • 2017 EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women
  • 2022 Financial Times - Africa's fastest-growing Education company

Relationship with eAdvance Group

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eAdvance Group provides centralised business functions such as procurement, IT services, media and financial management to the SPARK Schools network.[6] It also provides specialised education services such as education model innovation, curriculum development and educator development; such as training and leadership development.[14][25][48]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Blended Learning Profile: SPARK Schools". Christensen Institute. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  2. ^ "Can we afford not to privately educate our children?". Daily Maverick. 5 August 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Who's Who Profile: Stacey Brewer". Who's Who Southern Africa. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
  4. ^ "Africa: Low-Fee Private Schools On the Rise". allAfrica. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  5. ^ "Spark of light in affordable schooling". Look Local. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  6. ^ a b c Brewer, Stacey; Ryan Harrison (2013). "Blended Learning in South Africa". Focus: Education: Overcoming & Innovation. 68: 62–67. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
  7. ^ a b "Preparing Young Minds for Innovation". TEDx: College of William & Mary. 21 May 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  8. ^ "Application Process". Spark Schools. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
  9. ^ "Affordable Private Schools in South Africa" (PDF). CDE Insight. CDE. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  10. ^ a b "Education Finally Ripe For Radical Innovation By Social Entrepreneurs". Forbes. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  11. ^ a b c "Shape Shifters". Talk Radio 702. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
  12. ^ a b "Class action". The Economist. 26 October 2013. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  13. ^ "Finnfundin rahoittaman SPARK Schoolsin kustannustehokas oppimismalli tuo perusopinnot yhä useamman ulottuville Etelä-Afrikassa". News Powered by Cision (in Finnish). 12 March 2021. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
  14. ^ a b c d James van den Heever (2012). "Breaking the Education Mould". Acumen. pp. 31–33.
  15. ^ a b c d e "Low-fee schools on the rise". Mail & Guardian. 7 September 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
  16. ^ "Keeping Digital Innovation Alive in Schools". Rebuilding the Roof. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  17. ^ "ISASA Schools Directory". Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa. Archived from the original on 23 April 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  18. ^ "Core Values". Spark Schools. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
  19. ^ "Academic Programme". Spark Schools. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  20. ^ a b "Bruce Whitfield chats to Stacey Brewer, Founder of eAdvance". iGIBS. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  21. ^ "Individualised Learning". Spark Schools. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  22. ^ a b "Blended Learning: The Proof and the Promise". Skoll World Forum. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  23. ^ a b "High quality education will ensure that South Africa's "Born Free" generation does not become a lost generation". The New Game. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  24. ^ "Class action: Why poor parents increasingly send their children to private schools". The Economist. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  25. ^ a b Tina Weavind (27 January 2013). "Business Classrooms". Sunday Times. p. 1.
  26. ^ a b Tebogo Monama (28 March 2012). "Low-cost private education initiative". The Sowetan. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  27. ^ Buhle Ndweni (19 July 2012). "Can Cheap Private Schools Save SA?". Finweek. pp. 8–12.
  28. ^ "State of Education in South Africa and the Plight of Our Youth". Classic FM. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
  29. ^ "Good Schools Worlds Poor". Getting Smart. 26 July 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  30. ^ "Johannesburg graduates set to launch new education scheme". LeadSA. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  31. ^ Paul Berkowitz (5 August 2013). "Can we afford not to privately educate our children?". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
  32. ^ "Blended Learning Sparks In South Africa". EdSurge. 29 January 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  33. ^ "Affordable Private Schools in South Africa". Centre for Development and Enterprise. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
  34. ^ "Blended Learning Profile: SPARK Schools". Christensen Institute. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  35. ^ "Primary School locations". SPARK Schools. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
  36. ^ Hasenfuss, Marc (22 May 2014). "UK's Pearson targets SA's education sector". Business Day. Business Day. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  37. ^ Duma, Philile (22 May 2014). "Chain of low fee schools set to be built". The New Age. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  38. ^ Articles, S. A. T. (2021-03-10). "SPARK Schools Raises Series C Capital as it Aims to Expand its Footprint in South Africa". South Africa Today. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
  39. ^ Whitfield, Bruce (27 May 2014). "Low Cost Private School Chain In South Africa". PriMedia Broadcasting. 702 Talk Radio. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  40. ^ "Global Learning Leader Increases Access and Quality of Affordable Education in South Africa and India". Yahoo Finance. Yahoo Finance. 20 May 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  41. ^ "Pearson Invests in Blended Learning in South Africa, India". EdSurge. 20 May 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  42. ^ "Blended Learning: The Proof and the Promise - Salman Khan, Sandy Speicher, Stacey Brewer, Debra Dunn". Skoll World Forum 2013. Skoll Foundation. 5 July 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  43. ^ a b "SA needs redesigned education model". IT Web. 11 October 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  44. ^ "Vodacom, SPARK Schools and Mhlathuze Water are South African Employers of Choice". BizCommunity. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  45. ^ "FNB Business Innovator of the Year Revealed". South Africa The Good News. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  46. ^ "Meet our 2015 ELLE Boss Winner". ELLE. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  47. ^ "Education company named innovator of the year in national entrepreneurial competition". EOY. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  48. ^ "Overview of eAdvance". eAdvance. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
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