Manor Church of England Academy Review 2026: Phone-free routines, clear expectations, and a broad York intake

This is a Church of England secondary in Nether Poppleton serving students from 11 to 16, with a published capacity of 1,086 and a clearly structured school day that runs from 08:45 to 15:15. It is oversubscribed on its Year 7 entry route, with 432 applications for 238 offers in the latest admissions data provided. The school sits in line with the middle 35% of schools in England (25th to 60th percentile) for GCSE outcomes in the FindMySchool ranking, while still posting an above-zero Progress 8 score, a combination that often indicates secure basics with room for stretch. A distinctive operational feature is the move to a phone-free school day via the Yondr programme, launched on 19 November 2025.

Daily life is deliberately organised. Students are expected on site by 08:40 for an 08:45 start, with a clear sequence of periods, break, and lunch that makes routines predictable for families and students alike. That predictability matters most for students who thrive on structure, and it also tends to reduce low-level friction across a large 11 to 16 community.

A Church of England identity is not treated as a label, it is built into how the school describes its purpose. The school’s framing is about serving others, growing together, and living life to the full, and those themes show up across core pages that introduce the school and its wider trust context. For families, the practical implication is straightforward: students of all faiths and none are welcomed, but the ethos is expected to be respected because it is woven into collective routines and leadership language.

Leadership visibility is also clear. The school identifies the Principal as Jordan Cairns, and the website places the Principal’s message at the front of the school’s public narrative. The publicly available sources reviewed confirm the name, but do not consistently publish a precise appointment date for the current Principal in a way that can be verified from official pages accessible at the time of research.

The other major culture signal is the phone-free policy. From 19 November 2025, students use lockable Yondr pouches during school hours to store phones and similar devices, with unlocking stations used at the end of the day. Whatever a family’s view on phones, the likely effect is a calmer social space at break and lunch, fewer disputes over filming or messaging, and a clearer boundary between home and school time. The trade-off is that parents need to adapt to the contact model during the day, because immediate phone access is not part of the routine.

The GCSE picture needs to be read in two layers: relative position and measured progress.

On relative position, the school is ranked 1,536th in England for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), and 15th in the York local area for the same measure. That sits in line with the middle 35% of schools in England (25th to 60th percentile). This is not a weak position, it is a signal of broadly steady outcomes rather than headline outlier performance.

On progress, the Progress 8 score is +0.27. For parents, the simplest interpretation is that, on average, students at this school make more progress between the end of primary and GCSEs than students with similar starting points nationally. A positive Progress 8 does not mean every child outperforms expectations, but it does point to a school where systems are working for a wide range of learners.

Attainment and curriculum breadth also matter. The school’s Attainment 8 score is 53.1, and its EBacc average point score is 4.52. Those are the core attainment indicators available for this review.

If you are comparing options locally, a useful approach is to put these indicators alongside nearby schools using the FindMySchool Local Hub comparison tools, because “middle 35%” includes schools with very different contexts and very different strengths.

The curriculum description is anchored to breadth in Key Stage 3, with English, mathematics and science sitting alongside geography, history, French, technology (including computer science), performing arts (music, dance and drama), physical education, and religious and social studies. That kind of breadth is particularly relevant for students who arrive in Year 7 without a clear sense of specialism, because it keeps pathways open until GCSE options are chosen.

The daily timetable also reveals something about teaching expectations. A prompt start, a five-period day, and defined tutor or assembly time at 08:45 usually go hand in hand with a consistent approach to homework, behaviour routines, and lesson transitions. For students, the implication is that organisation and punctuality are taught through the shape of the day, not just requested.

The most credible external snapshot remains the last full inspection available on the official Ofsted site, which judged the school Good on 29 March 2022. That judgement is now nearly four years old, so parents should treat it as a baseline rather than a real-time update, and use open events and current policies to test whether the school’s current delivery matches that baseline.

Where Students Go Next

As an 11 to 16 school, the key transition is post-16. The school’s public materials focus more on the 11 to 16 journey than on quantified sixth form or college destinations, and the available dataset does not include sixth form or leaver-destination statistics for this review.

In practice, that means families should think about Key Stage 4 as preparation for a range of local sixth form and college routes. The most useful questions to ask at open events are practical: how the school supports GCSE option choices, how careers guidance is delivered across Years 9 to 11, and how students are advised into academic, technical, or apprenticeship pathways after Year 11. Where the school is strongest operationally, students should leave Year 11 with orderly study habits and clear routines, which tend to translate well into sixth form or college expectations.

The school is oversubscribed on the Year 7 entry route with 432 applications for 238 offers. That indicates demand pressure, although it does not automatically mean that every year is equally competitive. The more reliable way to judge competition is to combine the headline demand picture with the admissions policy and the local authority co-ordinated process.

For September 2026 entry into Year 7, applications are co-ordinated by the home local authority, with the closing date for on-time applications set as 31 October 2025, and offers issued on national offer day, 1 March 2026 (or the next working day). The admissions policy also confirms a Published Admission Number of 240 for Year 7 entry in September 2026.

As a Church of England academy, the admissions materials describe both foundation and non-foundation routes, and the school asks families to respect the ethos as part of the application context. The practical implication is that families should read the oversubscription criteria carefully and treat supplementary forms as time-critical if they apply in a category that requires them. The policy sets the same 31 October 2025 deadline for the supplementary information form for the normal admissions round.

No last distance offered figure is available for this review, so families should avoid relying on informal distance assumptions. If proximity is a deciding factor for your family, use FindMySchoolMap Search to measure your home-to-school distance precisely and then compare it with the local authority’s historic allocation patterns where those are published for your area.

A large 11 to 16 school works best when pastoral responsibility is clearly allocated. The school publishes key safeguarding and SEND contacts, including a named Designated Safeguarding Lead and a named SENDCo, which is a useful sign for parents because it makes escalation routes clearer when concerns arise. The prospectus also describes a pastoral model that includes form tutors and Year Leaders, which is the standard structure that enables both daily oversight and year-group level intervention.

The phone-free approach also connects directly to wellbeing. Removing phones during the day is not a complete answer to online pressures, but it can reduce the intensity of in-school messaging, filming, and social comparison at break and lunch. For some students, especially those prone to distraction or social anxiety, this can be a meaningful support. For others, it may feel restrictive at first, and parents will want clarity on how students can contact home if needed. The published materials outline how pouches are managed and how late arrivals or early departures are handled operationally.

Extracurricular provision is one of the school’s clearest public strengths because it is described with unusual specificity. The school lists a wide co-curricular menu across sport, curriculum extension, and recreation.

On sport, the listed programme includes athletics, badminton, basketball, cricket, football, hockey, netball, rounders, rugby, and tennis. The implication for families is not only fixtures and teams, but regular, organised opportunities for students who need a structured outlet beyond lessons.

The more distinctive detail sits in the recreational and curriculum clubs. The published list includes Board Games Club, Book Club, Chess Club, Combined Cadet Force, Craft Club, D&D Club, Feminist Club, Gardening Club, Photography Club, Warhammer Club, and Queery (LGBT+ space), alongside Art Club, Coding Club, French Club, Homework Club, and Textiles Club. For parents, that breadth suggests the school is thinking beyond the traditional sports-and-drama headline. It creates “belonging routes” for students who do not naturally attach to team sports, and it gives quieter students structured ways to find peers.

There is also a practical academic support angle. Homework Club is explicitly listed, and the prospectus references spaces for quiet reading and study via the Learning Resource Centre, which opens at lunchtime and after school on multiple days. The implication is that students can build independent study routines on site, which can be particularly helpful for families managing transport, siblings, or limited quiet space at home.

The school day runs 08:45 to 15:15, with students expected to arrive by 08:40. A breakfast club runs from 08:00 and is described as free of charge and accessible to all, primarily to support students whose transport arrives early. Wraparound care in the primary-school sense is not applicable because this is an 11 to 16 setting, but breakfast provision is a meaningful operational support for some families.

For travel, the school’s published materials describe local bus services from York city centre passing the academy, and note cycle storage via cycle sheds, with the usual expectation that students bring suitable locks and safety equipment. If you are planning independent travel for a Year 7 student, ask specifically about the transition support for travel routines in the first half term, because that is often where anxiety and lateness issues are easiest to prevent.

• Admission competition. The Year 7 entry route shows oversubscription in the available admissions data, and the 2026 entry process has fixed deadlines. Families who apply late, or miss supplementary form requirements where relevant, reduce their chances in a competitive round.

• Phone-free expectations. The Yondr programme was launched on 19 November 2025 and changes what students can do at breaks and lunch. This will suit many families, but it requires buy-in, especially during the settling-in phase for new Year 7 students.

• 11 to 16 only. Students will move on after Year 11. Families who strongly prefer an all-through route, or an on-site sixth form, need to plan early for post-16 options.

• Mid-pack results profile. The FindMySchool ranking places the school in the middle 35% in England for GCSE outcomes, while Progress 8 is positive. That can be a good match for families seeking steady progress and clear routines, but families seeking an especially high-attaining peer group may want to compare local alternatives carefully.

This is a structured, oversubscribed 11 to 16 school with a clear daily routine, a distinctive phone-free policy, and unusually well-specified clubs that provide multiple routes for students to belong. GCSE outcomes sit in line with the middle 35% of schools in England on the FindMySchool measure, but the positive Progress 8 score suggests students tend to make above-average progress from their starting points. It suits families who value order, clear expectations, and a broad extracurricular offer, and who are comfortable planning early for post-16 choices. Competition for places is the limiting factor.