Norham High School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 22 March 2022

Norham High is a rapidly improving school at the heart of the community. The school has undergone significant changes since the previous inspection. Many people described the school to inspectors as 'unrecognisable' from its former self. Pupils are passionate about their school. Most pupils behave well consistently. Warm, genuine, friendly interactions between pupils and their friends or teachers are commonplace; pupils hold open doors for others, smile and nod when walking by and engage in joyful banter at every opportunity. The curriculum pupils study continues to improve. Leaders and staff have worked diligently to ensure pupils' learning is well thought through. While the curriculum is ambitious, there is still work to do to ensure that the gaps in pupils' knowledge, skills and understanding are identified and addressed. It is clear that pupils have some catching up to do due to the impact of the pandemic. Pupils have a strong understanding of issues that could influence their well-being and safety. They talk in detail, and with confidence, when questioned about healthy relationships, consent and anxiety. Opportunities for pupils to develop personally are in abundance. Every pupil participates in 'active lunches' each day. Pupils thrive when attending clubs to develop an interest in origami, drama and gardening, for example.

What the school should improve

• The curriculum introduced in the last 18 months is serving pupils well. They are making much stronger progress than they have in the past. However, the curriculum is not yet sufficiently well planned and sequenced in some subjects. The intended curriculum and end points pupils are expected to reach are a step too far for some pupils currently. Leaders should ensure that the curriculum is well matched to pupils' needs and allows pupils to swiftly develop their knowledge, skills and understanding from their different starting points. Leaders need to complete the process of reviewing the curriculum in all subjects within their identified timescale. For this reason, the transitional arrangements have been applied.
• Governance is strong and improving. Members of the governing body continue to seek advice and guidance from the local authority and other experts in governance. Governors have made significant strides towards implementing the recommendations from the last review of governance. There are some recommendations that require more work to ensure that governors are as effective as they want to be. This includes ensuring that governors do not accept the information leaders present to them too readily. Governors should ensure that they triangulate fully any information provided by leaders to ensure that it is accurate and demonstrates how it is supporting pupils to do better.

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