Press Releases

March 30 2009

Local school children help mark start of work on new academy

A ceremony was held on Friday to mark progress on the site of The East Manchester Academy in Beswick, east Manchester. The traditional breaking of the ground to mark the start of construction is to be performed by Principal Designate Guy Hutchence, Councillor Sheila Newman, Manchester City Council’s Executive Member for Children’s Services, and pupils from local primary schools. 

The East Manchester Academy will open in September 2010 to provide a state-of-the-art learning environment, initially with 180 places for Year 7 only, gradually building up to 900 pupils over the next five years.  The academy will include a purpose-built area for post-16 provision and will also house the new district library.  

The East Manchester Academy is sponsored by Laing O’Rourke and Bovis Lend Lease, as well as co-sponsors New East Manchester on behalf of Manchester City Council, and The Manchester College.

Principal Designate Guy Hutchence for The East Manchester Academy said: "The East Manchester Academy gives us the chance to lead the way in education in this part of the City and deliver a first-class high school, something that we have been planning to bring to our community for sometime. Together with a district library, we will have a superb resource for learning and teaching and an excellent community amenity."

Councillor Sheila Newman, Executive Member Children’s Services, Manchester City Council, says: “The Manchester Academies programme is about more than building new schools, it will transform how we educate children across the city. The East Manchester Academy will be a wonderful addition to the community and an exciting place to learn with a wide and varied curriculum that will nurture the motivation, aspirations and achievements of all pupils.”

Eddie Smith, Chief Executive on New East Manchester said: “Raising attainment levels is a key priority for us at New East Manchester. The new academy in Beswick will offer first class facilities enabling our young people to get the best possible education. We recognise that education is the key to a better future for local people and investing in this new school will reap rewards for generations to come. Today therefore marks an important milestone in the regeneration of the area”.

The academy sponsors, Bovis Lend Lease and Laing O’Rourke said “As well as a new school and library, this will be a fantastic new community hub for the whole of east Manchester and we are immensely proud to be part of it. We are really pleased with the progress on the academy so far. It is exciting to see the project coming together and everything we have all worked towards over the last few years coming to fruition.”

Pre-construction work started on site in January to prepare the site. This first project milestone will be followed by the erection of the steel frame which begins mid-April.