Early years The first school in Dinnington was The Dinnington School, founded in 1743. It was a small
dame school in the town, only large enough to accommodate the local demands at the time. As the population of Dinnington grew the school expanded and moved locations a number of times. The new school was built on the grounds of
Throapham Manor, and was opened in 1935 by Sir Percy Jackson, chair of the
West Riding Local Education Authority, as Dinnington Senior Boys' School and Dinnington Senior Girls' School. The school consisted of a single timber building, constructed at the cost of around £21,300, The school turned over its playing fields for farming vegetables. Bees were also kept for honey, and a pig-sty was built to house 11 pigs. In 2012 The school's Old Gym was described by
Woodsetts History Society Charity as '[The] most well preserved example of traditional 20th century public school architecture in England'. which has produced players for the county and for Senior clubs such as Rotherham, Harlequins and Northampton. The campus continued to be extended following the merger, with the addition of a swimming pool, technology block, sports hall, new sixth form base and library in the 1970s and 1980s. The school came under the control of the new
Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council in 1974 and was renamed Dinnington Comprehensive School.
Fire, arson and redevelopment In the late 1900s, Dinnington had a persistent problem with fire, with many students caught playing with fire on school grounds, where many of the original buildings were timber built. On 20 August 1996 the original school building (which still made up close to half of the teaching campus) was set alight by arsonists, with the fire destroying the building. which allowed the retirement and demolition of a number of 1960s-built portable classrooms. On 27 January 2005 the school was designated as a
specialist school in Science and Engineering. Previously, in 1993, it had been designated a
technology school as part of a previous
Department of Education grant scheme. In 2013, the school took the decision to fence off the extensive playing fields and plateau athletics field towards
Throapham, triggering complaints from local residents, who often used the school grounds for exercise and leisurely activities. The school argued that the fencing was necessary to prevent vandalism of the estate, and disruption of school PE classes. Dinnington became an academy on 1 February 2015, and the school name reverted to Dinnington High School. Initially, the school was part of
LEAP Multi Academy Trust with
Brinsworth Academy. On 1 April 2024, LEAP merged with
New Collaborative Learning Trust, making Dinnington High School part of the enlarged trust. In 2017 the murder of Dinnington Student, Leonne Weeks, just two minutes away from the school, raised concerns about the security of the school site. Previously the school had been left relatively exposed to the public, with the main gate left open throughout the school day, and no barrier to academic buildings. With the murderer still at large, concerns about student safety forced the school to act quickly. Security officers patrolled the school for a week, whilst temporary fencing was erected. Permanent fencing and three additional access controlled gates were added shortly after. == School houses ==