General Information
General Information
Denbigh High is a high-achieving, friendly and supportive school, strongly committed to the highest standards through continuous improvement. We aim to provide rich educational experiences and high quality outcomes for all our pupils and excellent professional development opportunities for our staff. This is reflected in our core value statement "High achievement for all is our shared responsibility."
As a community school, we cater for approximately 1120 pupils in the 11 to 16 age range with the majority of our pupils being bilingual or multilingual. High aspirations and standards, combined with a rich diversity, make Denbigh an exciting and very rewarding educational environment in which to work. Our successes are nationally recognised in several ways and most recently through a very positive OFSTED report that categorised the school as 'Outstanding'.
If you are an adult who wants to make a visible difference to the lives of young people who value education but do not always have advantaged starting points, you will find working in our school a rich and fulfilling experience. In short, staff at Denbigh strive to:
- actively engage with children's learning as well as with teaching,
- have a relentless focus on individual achievement in its widest sense.
- continually reflect on and develop their own practice.
Comments made by staff who have recently joined us include:
- The children are keen, motivated and have a great desire to succeed.
- The staff are friendly and very supportive.
- It is a school which is as vibrant as it is diverse.
- The most worthwhile challenge I have undertaken, the rewards are endless.
- There seems to be a real 'buzz' amongst everyone working in the school as we seek to raise personal, social and academic achievement.
Our families are almost always very supportive of the school and regular contact with them to share information and to support and encourage our pupils is an important aspect of our work. Parent teacher consultation evenings are very well attended and we are justifiably proud of the close links we have with parents and older siblings.
Attainment and Achievement
We work constantly to build on the successes of our pupils and a focus on high attainment is a very important part of this. As a result, the percentage of 5 or more GCSE A*-C grades has more than quadrupled in the last 10 years which puts us in the top 5% of similar schools and above national average. Our pupils also achieve very well and the progress they make with us is excellent with our value added scores being amongst the highest in the country.
Teaching, Learning and Curriculum
We regularly evaluate teaching and learning and our curriculum to ensure that individual needs are being met, strengths are built upon and useful skills and appropriate levels of knowledge are developed for all our pupils. Ensuring teachers plan lessons with the needs of individual pupils and groups of pupils in mind using prior attainment data is an important focus of our work as is meaningful target-setting which helps each child progress with their learning. We also try to ensure that teachers are using a range of teaching styles which motivate and engage all learners.
Our curriculum builds on the linguistic and spiritual strengths of our pupils in a variety of ways. Many pupils take a GCSE in languages early and over half the year group each year chooses to take RE as a full GCSE option. Pupils are taught in ability sets for English, maths and science at key stage 3 and 4. In other subjects, mixed ability classes operate at both key stages.
A recent major school development is our designation as a Sports College. This is enabling us to enhance our curriculum, and improve learning and teaching for an even wider range of students and the local community.
Monitoring and evaluation with a view to continuous improvement is an integral part of our work at Denbigh. Lesson observations with developmental feedback, work scrutiny and external and internal reviews of teams are all important features of our monitoring and evaluation processes.
Pupil Organisation and Support
On arrival in year 7, pupils are placed in eight mixed ability tutor groups, following intensive liaison with partner primary schools and analysis of National Curriculum data. Whilst the progress and welfare of pupils is the concern of all staff, the form tutor is seen as a key person in the life of the pupil, generally being an early point of contact in pupil related issues. All form tutors conduct academic mentoring interviews with individual form members to help pupils assess their progress and attainment, as well as set targets for future achievement. Currently in year 11, mentoring also takes place with individual pupils and senior staff as an additional means of academic support.
The work of form tutors is supported and monitored by year leaders who liaise closely with subject leaders and other subject staff in the management of pupils' learning and behaviour. Each year leader works closely with assistant heads to ensure that the pastoral policy of the school is being implemented.
Our school improvement plan priorities have a clear focus on raising attainment by the constant development of the quality of our teaching. We believe that consistency is important for pupils and that it is essential for all staff to work together to support our school ethos and expectations.
We are committed to provision for all pupils in the mainstream, but flexible in realising that some youngsters need considerable additional support in order to achieve their best. This is provided through our learning support and English as an additional language (EAL) teams. A key development in this area has been our Inclusive Learning provision.
Continuing Professional Development and Support
We see effective continuing development as an entitlement for adults as well as children and our school improvement plan priorities inform our professional development opportunities. The impact of CPD is assessed through the performance management process which has a clear focus on improving student outcomes by improving the quality of teaching. Our CPD strategy includes the following strands:
- Induction and mentoring for newly qualified teachers.
- Regular in-school CPD sessions for all staff which are designed to improve classroom practice and its leadership.
- Opportunities for teachers who are in the first two to three years teaching to develop leadership skills and qualities which are organised by our local training school.
- Opportunities to attend out of school training for specific initiatives or examination courses.
- Middle leader development.
- National Professional Qualification for Headship.
- Support to become a subject examiner.
- Training through our local initial teacher training consortium, the Chiltern Training Group to become a mentor for graduate and PGCE trainees.
- Working with external consultants.
- Opportunities to study for national accreditation such as teaching assistant qualifications and Fast Track.
In addition, team and whole staff development sessions are used as opportunities to plan, share and celebrate good practice.
Our status as an Investor in People school demonstrates the importance we place on staff development and support.
Resources
We are fortunate in having excellent resources to support the work that we do. This has enabled us to create a well-equipped and pleasant learning environment. High levels of resource are anticipated for the foreseeable future as Luton continues to be one of the authorities benefiting from Excellence in Cities funding.
Luton Information
Luton is a thriving multi-ethnic town situated in Bedfordshire. The growth of the University of Luton has contributed much to the development of the town, which now serves a lively student population. As such, there are excellent leisure facilities. Luton's central location, and superb road and rail links means it is easily accessible. London Luton airport is currently expanding to provide a wider range of destinations. Housing in Luton and its surrounding areas is favourably priced and includes a range of modern as well as traditional and older style properties.
Educationally, Luton is served by eleven 11 - 16 high schools and one 11 - 18 Roman Catholic school. Two colleges in the town and further provision in nearby Dunstable provide post-16 education. The University of Luton is a growing and popular centre for higher study. Under local government reorganisation, Luton became a unitary authority from April 1997 with full responsibility for education. This is, therefore, an exciting time in which to be working in the area.
The school will reimburse travelling expenses incurred in attending an interview. Full details will be sent to those candidates short listed for interview.
In Summary
Denbigh has, over a number of years, developed a happy, disciplined and very high achieving learning environment. We welcome applications from colleagues who feel that they can contribute to the ethos of this forward-looking school and who are committed to the continuous challenge of raising standards for all in a multi-ethnic setting.
