Longbenton High School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 28 June 2022

Longbenton High is a caring school. Parents and carers say that the school knows its pupils well. Pupils enjoy school and say that teachers and staff help them to achieve. During the pandemic, the school made sure that all pupils had the chance to continue learning. The school provided pupils with the resources and support they needed. Recently appointed leaders have raised the expectations they have of pupils. Because of this, the school and pupils' work has improved. Behaviour around the school site is calm and purposeful. Many pupils have positive attitudes towards their learning. Sometimes, pupils find it difficult to focus on their learning. A minority of pupils find it difficult to focus in lessons. This can disrupt learning. When this happens, this behaviour is not addressed consistently well by staff. When incidents of bullying occur, leaders are quick to act to resolve these. As a result, pupils say that they feel safe at the school. Most pupils attend school regularly and arrive on time. However, while most pupils arrive at school on time, too many come into school too late, too often. Pupils study a wide and varied curriculum. In Year 9, leaders have made sure there is enough time for pupils to study some subjects in even more depth. This helps them to choose their key stage 4 options.

What the school should improve

• The systems to monitor pupils' punctuality to school are not yet robust enough. As a result, a significant number of pupils do not arrive to school on time. Leaders should further develop the monitoring of punctuality so that pupils' punctuality improves.
• The expectations which staff have in terms of the behaviour of pupils is inconsistent. Consequently, some pupils lose focus. This disrupts learning. Teachers do not address this to consistent effect. Leaders should work with staff so that they are more effective in addressing behaviour which disrupts learning. This will enable all pupils to learn well.
• In a minority of subjects, teachers do not check pupils' understanding as well as in others. This leads to gaps in their knowledge. Leaders should ensure that teachers check pupils' understanding consistently well. This will enable pupils to build knowledge more effectively over time. It will also help them to produce work of higher quality.

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