A ceremony was held 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."

Pre-construction work started on site in January to prepare the site.

(CD/JM)