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Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Jacqueline Bowen Headteacher The East Manchester Academy 60 Grey Mare Lane Beswick Manchester M11 3DS

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Ofsted visit to The East Manchester Academy

Following my visit with Linda Emmett, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 9 December 2020, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the visit’s findings. Thank you for the time you made available to discuss your actions since September 2020, when the government expected all schools to open fully to all pupils.

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Ofsted visit to The East Manchester Academy

This visit was conducted under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 (as amended) and in accordance with Ofsted’s published procedures for visiting schools while routine inspections are temporarily suspended.

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Ofsted visit to The East Manchester Academy

Ofsted’s visits to schools during the autumn term are not inspections. We are not giving graded judgements. We did not undertake the usual range of inspection activities and were unable to check other sources of evidence, such as visits to lessons or looking at pupils’ work. The content of this letter gives an overview of our discussions about what has happened in your school this term.

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Ofsted visit to The East Manchester Academy

During the visit, we spoke with you and members of your senior leadership team, one of whom is also the designated safeguarding lead, the deputy designated safeguarding and attendance lead, and the curriculum leader for mathematics. We did not speak to pupils because of the protective measures in place.

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Context

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills is leading Ofsted’s work into how England’s education system is managing the return to full education for pupils, following an extended break in formal schooling due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

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Context

In undertaking this focused work, HMI are visiting a broad range of schools. HMI will visit a sample of:

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Context

 approximately 1,200 schools across all Ofsted grades (outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate)  maintained schools, academies and free schools, special schools and centres of alternative provision, including those in cities, and coastal, town or rural communities.

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Context

The information from this visit will feed into Ofsted’s national reporting so that the insights can be shared with the government and the education sector. We did not find any significant concerns during the visit. In such a case, an inspection report would be published on our website and available to parents and carers.

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Context

We did not consider your response to COVID-19 during the spring and summer terms 2020, when the school was not open to all pupils.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

 Since September 2020, two thirds of pupils at the school have learned from home for a short period of time.  As a result of COVID-19, you said that all pupils need additional support with their health and well-being. You have amended the content and the order in which teachers deliver the personal development curriculum. For example, you have prioritised careers education to help pupils make decisions about their future.  You explained that, in everyday lessons, teachers use a range of assessment strategies to check on what pupils know and can do. For example, in mathematics, you said that pupils are less confident in putting negative numbers and fractions in the correct order. Teachers are adapting their curriculum plans to match pupils’ new starting points.  In Years 7 to 9, pupils are studying the full range of their usual curriculum subjects. You have also made time for all pupils to have an enrichment lesson

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

during the week, such as Portuguese. You said that this is to address the loss of some extra-curricular activities.  Pupils in Years 10 and 11 continue to study all their examination subjects. Each week, they now have additional lessons in English and science to help them catch up on missed curriculum content. You envisage that, across the school, your usual curriculum will resume by the summer term 2021.  You described your approach to remote education. You explained that, in all year groups, pupils have access to both paper-based study packs and online resources. You said that pupils follow their usual timetable when they need to self-isolate.  You explained how teachers have found ways to deliver practical activities remotely. For example, in science, teachers are recording practical demonstrations or using computer animations. This is so that pupils can access scientific experiments while learning at home.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

Thank you again for contributing to this important national work. The views and experiences you have shared will help to inform future policy.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

I am copying this letter to the chair of the interim management group, the chair of the board of trustees, the executive headteacher of the Education and Leadership multi-academy trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Manchester. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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