Eastlea Community School

Eastlea Community School has improved since its previous inspection and is now performing well across the key areas Ofsted grades. Inspectors found a safe, kind and welcoming school where pupils are part of a diverse community and staff are ambitious for all. The curriculum has been strengthened and is broad and carefully ordered, teaching is typically clear, behaviour is calm and orderly, and pupils benefit from a comprehensive personal development programme and effective safeguarding. The school’s resourced SEND provision and reading support are particular strengths, and leaders monitor attendance diligently. However, some pupils do not achieve as well as they could. In a few subjects, staff do not check well enough that pupils remember prior content, and teaching is not always adapted effectively for pupils with SEND because leaders do not consistently review the impact of support strategies. Some pupils’ literacy difficulties also limit their access to the curriculum, and attendance remains an issue for some. Leaders’ monitoring and evaluation are not always precise enough to drive improvement. The school is part of Newham Community Learning Trust and has a small resourced provision for pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties. Many pupils join mid-year and many speak English as an additional language. Although published 2024 outcomes were below national averages, current pupils’ work shows they are progressing well.

Strengths

• Safe, kind and welcoming school community
• Diverse and inclusive culture with equality, respect and tolerance at its heart
• Ambitious curriculum that is broad and carefully ordered
• Teachers have strong subject knowledge and introduce new content clearly
• Calm and orderly classrooms and corridors
• Effective behaviour support, with suspensions reducing noticeably
• Well-targeted reading support that is improving pupils’ fluency
• SEND needs identified quickly and accurately
• High-quality academic and pastoral support in the resourced SEND provision
• Diligent monitoring of attendance and barriers to attendance
• Comprehensive personal development programme, including careers and safety education
• Inclusive wider opportunities such as trips and pupil leadership roles
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective
• Staff are proud to work at the school and value workload and well-being consideration

Areas for Improvement

• In a few subjects, staff do not check well enough that pupils retain prior knowledge, leaving some gaps
• Teaching is not always adapted well for pupils with SEND because the impact of support strategies is not consistently reviewed
• Some pupils’ literacy weaknesses limit their access to the curriculum
• Attendance remains a concern for some pupils
• Monitoring and evaluation lack precision, so some improvement actions have less impact
• Some pupils do not achieve as well as they could because teaching does not consistently help them remember what they have been taught

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Eastlea Community School attended 90.5% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 29.7% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 7.1% of pupils at Eastlea Community School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 5 pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Eastlea Community School had 11.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 17.5% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 15.3% of pupils at Eastlea Community School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 6.7% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

The school has resourced provision with 14 pupils.

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Eastlea Community School received £13,800 and spent £14,223 for each of its 689 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,712,000 (£2,485 per pupil).

Across all 6 schools of Newham Community Learning, income was £11,131 and spending £10,987 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Newham · Newham local authority: places and applications

Eastlea Community School is part of Newham Community Learning, which runs 6 schools. The nearest others:

• Rokeby School London
• Portway Primary School London
• Lister Community School London
• Selwyn Primary School London
• Sarah Bonnell School London

What is Eastlea Community School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Eastlea Community School is Good, from an inspection in July 2025.

When was Eastlea Community School last inspected by Ofsted?

Eastlea Community School was last inspected in July 2025.

How many pupils does Eastlea Community School have?

Eastlea Community School has 593 pupils on roll.

What age range does Eastlea Community School cover?

Eastlea Community School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Eastlea Community School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 46.3, and 38% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Eastlea Community School?

Eastlea Community School is at Pretoria Road, Canning Town, London, E16 4NP.