Dinnington High School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Most pupils enjoy attending Dinnington High School. They have very positive relationships with staff. Pupils are confident that adults will take their concerns seriously and help them.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported well. Pupils are safe.

Behaviour is improving at Dinnington.

Pupils know the behaviour system and think that it is fair. Teachers are beginning to manage behaviour more consistently across the school. However low-level disruption does happen in some lessons.

When this happens, it can disrupt pupils' learning.

As behaviour improves, pupils are making better progress through the curri...culum. In some subjects, such as art, pupils are progressing well.

In some other subjects, pupils' progress is not as strong as it should be.

Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe online and in the community. They learn about consent and can explain what healthy relationships are.

Pupils are accepting and supportive of each other.

Students are positive about their experience in the sixth form. The main reason they choose to stay at Dinnington sixth form is the positive relationships that they have with their teachers.

Students receive appropriate guidance on careers and their next steps.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school is increasingly ambitious for its pupils, including pupils with SEND. The new leadership team has identified areas for improvement across the school.

Leaders have taken steps to address these areas. They have put new systems in place for behaviour and attendance and have started to review the curriculum. Staff and pupils say that behaviour is much better than it was.

Most teachers have secure subject knowledge and select appropriate activities to help pupils. However, the quality of the curriculum is inconsistent. Leaders have recognised this and begun to make some improvements.

These are at the early stages. The school is still to identify the important knowledge that pupils should learn in some subjects and how pupils' learning should build over time.Pupils' progress is not accurately checked.

Gaps in pupils' knowledge are not sufficiently addressed. Pupils are not challenged to deepen their understanding of some subjects. As a result, pupils do not build on their learning as well as they should.

The school is embedding a culture of reading for pleasure. Strategies such as 'Fast Reading' and time allocated in English lessons and form time for reading are helping to achieve this. The school identifies pupils who find reading more difficult.

These pupils receive support to catch up with their peers. The school does not accurately monitor the progress that these pupils make. Therefore, it is not clear when these pupils are ready to move on to new learning.

Leaders have set out clear expectations for pupils' behaviour and attendance. They have revisited with staff how to apply the behaviour system. This has quickly improved behaviour around school.

However, low-level disruption is still frequent. As a result of the increase in expectations, suspensions have increased.

Rates of absence are high, particularly for disadvantaged pupils.

Recently, leaders have identified groups of pupils who need to improve their attendance. They have put strategies in place to achieve this. For example, staff are working with small groups of pupils and their families to identify barriers to attendance and re-engage pupils back into school.

The school has a well-planned personal development and careers curriculum. This includes interactions with employers for pupils in all year groups. Pupils are taught about healthy relationships at an age-appropriate level.

They understand relevant issues, such as grooming, county lines and domestic abuse. However, pupils do not develop a good knowledge of fundamental British values or protected characteristics. As a result, some pupils are underprepared for life in modern Britain.

Students enjoy attending sixth form. They receive appropriate guidance on careers and next steps. The current curriculum offer is mostly academic subjects.

This is not always appropriate for the students of Dinnington. Some of the teaching does not go into enough depth for the standard of the qualifications being delivered. As a result, students do not achieve as well as they should.

The school has commissioned an external review of the sixth form. It plans to make changes to the sixth-form provision based on the outcome of this review.

The new leadership team has only been in place for a short period of time.

In this time, leaders, including local governors and trustees, have identified and prioritised the correct areas for improvement across the school. They have improved behaviour, reviewed the curriculum and sixth form and implemented a new attendance strategy. Staff and pupils are positive about these changes.

Leaders have the capacity and experience to bring about sustained improvement at Dinnington High School.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, the school has not accurately identified the important knowledge that pupils should learn and how this builds over time.

As a result, some pupils do not learn or retain the key knowledge needed to achieve well in some subjects. The school should ensure that in all subjects important knowledge is identified and sequenced coherently. ? The school does not use assessment effectively to accurately check pupils' knowledge.

As a result, some pupils move on to new learning before they are ready. The school should ensure that teachers use assessment strategies well to check that pupils have learned the intended curriculum. ? A number of strategies to improve the school have been implemented recently.

It is too early to see the impact of some of these strategies. The school should monitor and evaluate the impact of recent school improvement strategies. ? Rates of pupil absence, particularly for disadvantaged pupils, are high.

As a result, some pupils miss out on the education available to them. This has an impact on how well they achieve. The school should continue to work with pupils and their families to improve attendance.

• Rates of suspension are high. As a result, these pupils fall behind in their learning and are becoming disengaged with education. The school should continue to work with pupils and their families to reduce suspensions and engage these pupils in their education.