Dereham Neatherd High School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 13 May 2025

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. 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. 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. 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.

What the school should improve

• 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 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.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)