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

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Mrs Liza Leung Executive headteacher The Eastbourne Academy Brodrick Road Hampden Park Eastbourne East Sussex BN22 9RQ

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Serious weaknesses monitoring inspection of The Eastbourne Academy

This letter sets out the findings from the monitoring inspection that took place on 10 September 2025 on behalf of His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills. The monitoring inspection was carried out under section 8(2) of the Education Act 2005 and was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to have serious weaknesses following the graded (section 5) inspection that took place in January 2025.

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Serious weaknesses monitoring inspection of The Eastbourne Academy

The purpose of a monitoring inspection is not to grade the school's key and (where applicable) provision judgements, but to identify and report on the school's progress. It is to highlight to the school and parents any improvements that school leaders have made since the school's previous graded inspection.

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Serious weaknesses monitoring inspection of The Eastbourne Academy

During the inspection, I was joined by Shazia Akram and Tash Hurtado, His Majesty’s Inspectors. We discussed with you, your senior leaders, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the trust and other staff, the actions that have been taken to improve the school since the most recent graded inspection. We discussed the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also visited lessons, looked at pupils’ work, held meetings with pupils and other staff, visited breaktime and lunchtime and scrutinised records of governors’ and trust meetings. I have considered all this in coming to my judgement.

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Leaders have made progress to improve the school, but more work is

necessary for the school to no longer be judged as having serious weaknesses.

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Since the previous inspection, you have continued to embed the leadership structure introduced in January 2025, further strengthening the capacity of the senior leadership team. You and your wider team have worked in collaboration with local schools to develop your monitoring systems and processes and this is having a positive impact. The Department for Education are seeking a new multi-academy trust to sponsor the school. This change appears to be imminent. This academic year has started well. You have a full complement of staff and the number of pupils on roll appears to have stabilised.

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As you have correctly identified, leaders have made progress towards the essential improvements needed in the school. However, you rightly recognise that there is still more to do. On this first monitoring visit, we focused on checking the impact of leaders’ actions to improve the curriculum, behaviour and attendance. It is clear that your focus on improving attendance is having a positive impact. Pupils’ attitudes have improved and this now means more pupils feel safe in school. Behaviour in lessons is improving, although there is more work to do here as we discussed. Improvements to the curriculum continue to be the main focus.

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In most subjects, the curriculum is sufficiently well-sequenced to ensure that pupils’ learning builds over time. The introduction of the ‘house style’ handbook has helped to build a consistent approach to how teachers construct lessons and promote effective learning. However, as you rightly identify, there is still too much variability in the implementation of these strategies. Middle leaders are receiving coaching to develop pedagogy further. Teachers continue to benefit from individualised continual professional development (CPD) to support improvements in this area. This is beginning to reduce in- school variability. In lessons, teachers present information clearly, but not all teachers check that pupils know and remember new knowledge effectively. Typically, teachers know the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). You rightly recognise that teachers now need to use this information to adapt the curriculum

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more effectively, so that pupils with SEND achieve the best possible outcomes.

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Improving pupils’ reading continues to be a strong focus of the school. Pupils who have fallen behind receive effective individualised support and this is helping them to catch up quickly. However, you correctly identify that embedding the schools’ own literacy strategies across the curriculum requires further work. The impact of the curriculum is still too variable. In some lessons, teachers engage pupils in activities that help them remember key knowledge and skills, but this is embryonic in most subjects and most year groups. Staff value the enhancements to the curriculum and recognise that bespoke CPD is helping to improve their own practice.

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The school has made a strong start to improving behaviour. Lessons are now typically calm, with minimal low-level disruption. Corridors are more orderly, behaviour at breaktimes and lunchtimes is improving. However, the school still has more work to do to further improve the behaviour of a minority of pupils. Inspectors identified that in a high proportion of lessons, pupils comply with teachers’ expectations but demonstrate passive learning behaviours. This means that pupils do not actively engage in your chosen pedagogical approaches to learning. Too many activities in lessons focus on teacher-led activities, so pupils do not practice how to acquire and use new knowledge and skills. The vast majority of pupils told inspectors that they think behaviour has improved considerably since the last inspection. Most pupils feel safe in school. You have taken appropriate steps to improve your response to bullying, including improved

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communication so that parents and carers, and pupils are aware of your robust approach to dealing with bullying allegations. However, some pupils report that there is still an issue with prejudicial language and sometimes unkind comments remain unaddressed. Inspectors saw some behaviour at breaktimes and lunchtimes that falls short of leaders’ high expectations.

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Attendance has improved. More pupils attend school more regularly. The school remains resolute in further engaging with hard-to-reach families and building pupils’ sense of belonging at the school. There is further work to do on attendance as you rightly recognise. Punctuality remains poor for too many pupils. This includes both punctuality to school and to lessons. Too many pupils still miss the start of lessons once they are in school. Although you have increased the number of staff available to support pupils getting to lessons on time, this remains a key priority. Too many pupils with SEND are persistently absent and the number of pupils who have severe absence is too high. Inspectors noted that the improvements you have already made are sustainable and you should continue your strong focus in this area.

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You have been proactive in seeking support to help the school continue to improve. The trust continues to provide extra leadership capacity to the school. This has enabled leaders to focus on vital school priorities. You and your senior leaders have an accurate understanding of the progress you are making towards your key priorities. Governors provide appropriate support and oversight, helping you to make the required improvements. The school improvement plan is fit-for-purpose and focuses on the areas identified by inspectors that require further improvement in this next stage of your development. You continue to be outward looking and collaborative in your approach to school improvement.

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I am copying this letter to the chair of the board of trustees and the CEO of Swale Academies trust, the Department for Education's regional director and the director of children's services for East Sussex. This letter will be published on the Ofsted reports website.

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