Dawn House School
Helmsley Road, Rainworth, Nr Mansfield, Notts, NG21 0DQ
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Non-maintained special school
- Ages
- 5 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Principal
- Mrs Jenny McConnell
- Boarding
- Boarding school
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication
- Constituency
- Mansfield
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 120
- Pupils on roll
- 113
- URN
- 122956
- Local authority
- Nottinghamshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01623795361
About this school
Dawn House School is a special school in Nr Mansfield, Notts. It teaches children aged 5 to 19 and has 113 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Sixth form
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 13 | 18 | 13 |
| Attainment 8 score | 3.5 | 2.9 | 3.1 |
| Progress 8 score | -1.57 -2.41 to -0.74 | -2.52 -3.20 to -1.85 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Dawn House School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Nottinghamshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 3.5 | 39.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 2.9 | 39.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 3.1 | 39.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 14.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 14.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 14.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 77 |
| 2023/24 | 94 |
| 2024/25 | 103 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 39.24%
- English as an additional language
- 1%
- Overall absence
- 14.18%
- Persistent absence
- 35.29%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Horizons Academy2.2 miles
Free Schools · Mansfield
-
Pollyteach Limited2.4 miles
Special schools · Mansfield
-
Portland College2.5 miles
Other types · Mansfield
-
Fountaindale School2.6 miles
Academies · Mansfield
-
R.E.A.L. Independent Schools Mansfield2.9 miles
Special schools · Mansfield
Common questions
- What year groups does Dawn House School teach?
- Dawn House School teaches children aged 5 to 19. It is a special school in Nr Mansfield, Notts.
- Who is the principal of Dawn House School?
- The principal of Dawn House School is Mrs Jenny McConnell, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Dawn House School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Dawn House School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is Dawn House School?
- Dawn House School has 113 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 5 to 19.
- Is Dawn House School full?
- Dawn House School has capacity for 120 pupils and 113 on roll (94%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Dawn House School a faith school?
- No. Dawn House School has no designated religious character.
- What SEN provision does Dawn House School have?
- The schools register lists Dawn House School's special educational needs provision as: SLCN - Speech, language and Communication. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Dawn House School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 3.5 in 2022/23 and 3.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is Dawn House School's absence rate?
- Dawn House School's overall absence rate is 14.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Dawn House School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Dawn House School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 30 June 2026.