Dereham Neatherd High School

Inspection of Dereham Neatherd High School Norwich Road, Dereham, Norfolk NR20 3AX

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The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Previous inspection grade Good

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The headteacher of this school is Jaime Mallett. This school is part of Enrich Learning Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Russell Boulton, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Matthew Lambert. 13 and 14 May 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to this highly inclusive school. They place high regard on how everyone is welcomed for who they are. School life is seamlessly adapted to make sure that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) enjoy the same opportunities as their peers. For example, to ensure all are included, pupils zealously took on the challenges of learning wheelchair basketball. Pupils from the specially resourced provision for pupils with SEND (specially resourced provision) are wholly embraced into the full life of the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is ambitious for all pupils. However, many do not achieve as well as they should. This is reflected by the most recently published outcomes. Some pupils are starting to see the benefits of improved teaching of the curriculum. However, many are still not learning as well as they should.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well. They are respectful and polite. Pupils appreciate the school’s new high expectations. They value how these changes have created a positive culture that permeates through all aspects of school life.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils take on leadership opportunities enthusiastically. Prefects and the school council help to make the school a better place for others. Visits to residents in a local care home provide pupils with a rich understanding of their local community and the satisfaction of making a positive contribution.

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

Many pupils are still not benefiting from the newly designed curriculum. The school has not fully considered where pupils have gaps in learning. Pupils are taught new content in some subjects without them having the necessary foundational knowledge. This means that they do not learn as well as they should. Some aspects of the curriculum are further advanced. In these areas, it clearly sets out what pupils should learn and when. Teachers use this structure to help pupils connect new knowledge with what they already know.

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

Checks on pupils’ understanding do not identify effectively what pupils know. Some gaps in pupils’ knowledge are missed. Teaching does not consistently address these gaps. Some learning activities are not chosen to reflect pupils’ understanding. Sometimes, pupils complete activities quickly because the work is too simplistic. On occasions, advice from teachers does not support pupils effectively to improve their work or provide them with additional work that extends their understanding. This means some pupils do not learn the curriculum in the depth they should.

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

Pupils with SEND are well provided for. Pupils from the specially resourced provision learn alongside their peers. The school identifies pupils’ individual needs quickly. It supports teachers and other staff with suitably detailed information about each pupil. Effective adaptations to teaching the curriculum help pupils with SEND to understand new 13 and 14 May 2025

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knowledge. Many pupils with SEND produce high-quality work that reflects how well they are learning.

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The school identifies swiftly those pupils who need help with reading. Bespoke programmes of support help pupils to address their specific reading barriers. Pupils develop quickly into confident and fluent readers.

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The school has defined its expectations of pupils’ conduct clearly. Pupils and staff share a common understanding of how to meet these expectations. As a result, pupils behave in a respectful and considerate way. Pupils have confidence that, if necessary, staff will intervene in behaviour issues fairly and consistently.

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Pupils’ wider development is supported through the school’s society and ethics programme. This is well designed. Pupils can explain key ideas such as tolerance and democracy. They know why these are important for life in modern society. The careers programme provides pupils with information about a broad range of different careers, academic and technical options. This supports pupils to make considered and successful choices about their futures. Pupils enjoy access to a wide range of clubs that nurture their existing and new interests. These range from sports and performances to creative writing and gardening.

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Staff value how the school considers their well-being and workload. The school has increased the rigour of how well it checks the quality of its work. Working with the trust, it identifies where there are areas of its provision that need attention. The school puts well- thought-out strategies in place. In most cases, for example in response to behaviour, these actions secure swift improvements. Pupils are benefiting from the development of the personal development provision. However, some of the actions needed to improve the curriculum lack urgency in their implementation. Sometimes, the trust and the local governing board do not hold the school to account for its improvements.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Sometimes, the school does not act quickly enough to secure improvements to the design and implementation of the curriculum. Those responsible for governance do not routinely challenge this lack of urgency robustly enough. This means that some pupils do not access the quality of education they are entitled to. The school, including the trust, should ensure that it secures sustained improvement and holds leaders to account for this.  In some aspects of the curriculum, the school has not considered and identified where pupils have gaps in their learning. This means that pupils learn some new content 13 and 14 May 2025

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without the required foundational knowledge. As a result, they do not progress through the curriculum as they should. The school should ensure that the curriculum identifies where gaps may exist in pupils’ knowledge and that staff address these gaps effectively.  On occasion, the assessment of pupil’s work and the subsequent adaptations to teaching or learning activities do not help pupils to improve their work. Consequently, some pupils do not learn the curriculum in the depth they should. The school should ensure that staff have the expertise to assess and support pupils to improve the quality of their work.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, 'disadvantaged pupils' is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 13 and 14 May 2025

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School details

Number of pupils on the school roll 1,137

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 25 and 26 February 2020, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of Enrich Learning Trust.  The headteacher took up his post in September 2023.  The school is designated as an 11 to 18 school. However, the school no longer has sixth-form provision.  The school has a specially resourced provision that caters for up to 25 pupils with autistic spectrum disorder.  The school uses one unregistered provider of alternative provision.  The school meets the requirements of the provider access legislation, which requires schools to provide pupils in Years 8 to 13 with information and engagement about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 13 and 14 May 2025

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2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade.

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 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors held meetings with leaders, including the headteacher, deputy headteacher and the special educational needs coordinator. The lead inspector also met with the chair of the local governing committee and the CEO and held a telephone conversation with the chair of the board of trustees.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, science, geography, art and design, modern foreign languages and physical education. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to staff, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.

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 To further inspect the curriculum, inspectors met with subject leaders and reviewed curriculum documentation for mathematics and history, looked at examples of pupils’ work from across the curriculum and reviewed documentation setting out support for pupils with SEND.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments submitted. Inspectors spoke to groups of pupils about their experiences of school life and their learning in lessons.

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Inspection team

Dave Gibson, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Donna Young Ofsted Inspector 13 and 14 May 2025

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achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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