Manchester Academy

We have the highest expectations for all our students and seek to nurture in each and every one of them the skills, confidence and enthusiasm for learning that they need to succeed. This approach is exemplified by our mission to bring out ‘the best in everyone’ and help all our students make strong progress during their time with us.

We aim to provide a broad, balanced and exciting curriculum for our students, with a focus on academic achievement, wider experiences and opportunities to lead and build character. We also instil in our students the need to create an atmosphere of fairness, in which individual dignity is upheld and respected. In this, we nurture our young people to be unashamed about promoting values such as equality and respect for all, as well as encouraging them to have the very highest educational aspirations.

We are part of United Learning – a national group of schools which aims to provide excellent education to children and young people across the country, with a strong cluster here in Manchester. In particular, we benefit significantly from opportunities to collaborate, develop best practice teaching and learning and create innovative curricula. These partnerships likewise allow our students to access the very best experiences – from enrichment and sport to careers guidance and Higher Education access support – in addition to making use of our own excellent facilities.

We are an ambitious school – for our students and in our dedication to continuous improvement. As a staff team, we are committed to providing high-quality teaching and to creating an environment that inspires students each day to take those extra steps in their learning. Ultimately, we want all of our students to leave us equipped with the skills to become lifelong learners and valuable members of their local, national and global communities.

We firmly believe our success is rooted in our innovative curriculum, cutting-edge facilities and a nurturing environment where every student is guided to achieve high standards through inspirational teaching and stimulating learning experiences.

Across KS3, students experience an extensive range of subjects to facilitate engagement, future attainment and to support their decision for further progression/employment.All students at KS3, receive 8 hours/fortnight of English and Mathematics. Literacy and numeracy skills are crucial in accessing the whole curriculum, enabling employability and as GCSEs, they make twice the contribution of other subjects. The third core subject, Science is also taught over 6 hours/fortnight as all students will undertake the equivalent of 2 or 3 GCSEs in science.

All students in KS3 receive 4 hours/fortnight of Physical Education (promoting health and well-being). With its increasing demands and significance, all students receive 4 hours/fortnight of computing. A Technology carousel (textiles, resistant materials and hospitality and catering) is ran across KS3. The prevalence of the EBAC means that all students will undertake GCSEs in humanities and a language. As such all students will receive 3 hours/fortnight of both History and Geography then 4 hours/fortnight of either French or Spanish.
As at KS3, the KS4 curriculum at Manchester Academy enables students to acquire a breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding across a wide range of subjects.

Furthermore, the learning experiences which students undertake equips them with the skills necessary for progression onto employment or further study. The KS4 provision builds upon these subjects as students work towards Level 2 (GCSE or BTEC) qualifications.

Manchester Academy aims to secure the highest possible standards of achievement, never satisfied with past levels.The aim of the academy is to be a place for learning with a clear spiritual and moral dimension.Whilst the Christian faith is the starting point and the central focus for the ethos of the academy, the beliefs and the practices of other faiths are valued and respected. The academy welcomes those of all faiths and none.

United Learning is a group of schools which aims to provide excellent education to children and young people across the country. We seek to improve the life chances of all the children and young people we serve and make it our mission to bring out the best in everyone – students, staff, parents and the wider community. We are uniquely united across both the state and the independent sectors; we make learning and improvement our focus. Together, we are one of the country’s leading education providers, currently educating over 40,000 students and employing over 7000 members of staff including over 3000 teachers.

We provide a broad education, which prepares young people to progress in learning and to make a success of their lives. We focus sharply on the evidence of what makes it more likely that young people will progress and succeed, apply that to our practice and continue to learn and develop our schools. We make it a priority to provide teachers with excellent professional support and development, so that every child receives an excellent experience.

Through being a group, we can offer more to both staff and young people that any single school could offer alone. The growing range of outstanding group-wide activities that we can provide will mean that more young people will have truly exceptional and inspiring experiences. Already, we believe that our group contains the most developed relationships and practical interaction between independent and state schools in the country, creating benefits for all the schools involved.

We have two transition classes in Year 7, one is for pupils with SEND and the other is for pupils with English as an Additional Language. These classroom are primary based and have a foundation learning programme. The pupils enjoy a daily Corrective Reading Scheme and a Connecting Maths programme. The pupils spend 4 lessons per day in the classroom with the same teacher and in the afternoon they join the curriculum for PE, Technology and Art. The pupils in these classes also tend the school garden with support from Hulme Community Garden Centre.