The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have provided strong leadership since being appointed in January 2017. You set high expectations and hold all staff to account for their work. You have made changes to the leadership team. Middle leaders are becoming increasingly skilled in supporting staff to improve their practice, particularly in the teaching of English. As a consequence, after a decline in pupils’ outcomes at the end of key stage 2 in 2017, pupils’ progress is now improving. Leaders have successfully addressed the areas for improvement identified by the previous inspection. Leaders have provided staff with effective training in the teaching of writing and in raising the achievement of the most able pupils. Members of the governing body have audited and refined their skills to enable them to carry out their roles effectively. They challenge and support school leaders well. Governors take time to visit the school to check whether the actions set out in the school improvement plan are being implemented. Regular training enables governors to keep up to date with the information that they need. As a result, governors have an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement. Pupils who spoke to me said that they enjoy school and appreciate all the opportunities that they have to participate in a wide range of clubs, including sewing, art and dance. Pupils are polite and well mannered. In lessons, pupils are keen to do their best and to achieve well. Around school, pupils are well behaved. Pupils told me that they feel safe and that you deal effectively with the rare incidents of bullying. Parents, staff and pupils who completed Ofsted questionnaires are overwhelmingly positive about the school. One parent’s comment reflected the views of many: ‘Pastoral care in school is excellent. Teachers know all the pupils across year groups and make them feel welcome.’ Safeguarding is effective. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. The arrangements for checking that staff are suitable people to work with children meet requirements. Staff receive appropriate training about potential risks to the safety of pupils. As a result, they understand the actions that they should take if they are concerned about a pupil’s welfare. The majority of parents who completed Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, agreed that their children are happy to come to school and feel safe. Pupils said that they are taught how to stay safe, including when using the internet. They are confident about seeking help if they have any worries. They trust their teachers and know that they can speak to them about any concerns that they may have. Inspection findings The inspection focused on three key lines of enquiry. The first of these related to pupils’ achievement in key stage 2. This was because, in 2017, pupils’ achievement at the end of Year 6 showed a decline from the previous year, with pupils making broadly average progress in English and mathematics. Following the identification of the need to improve pupils’ progress in reading, you provided training for staff to strengthen their understanding of teaching reading comprehension skills. Furthermore, you enhanced reading by improving the school library as well as individual class libraries. As a result, pupils read from a wide range of interesting and challenging books. The pupils who read to me said how much they enjoy reading and spoke at length about their favourite authors. The good quality of writing observed in pupils’ books shows that they are given many opportunities to explore different styles of writing and write for a wide variety of purposes. Pupils also practise spelling, grammar and punctuation skills in a range of other subjects. In mathematics, teachers focus on fluency in basic number and calculation skills and give pupils opportunities to apply these through problem-solving activities. This means that the majority of pupils are now making good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils’ skills in English and mathematics are also developed across the wider curriculum. Topics are planned to capture pupils’ interests and engage them further in their learning. As a result, pupils make meaningful connections between subjects. However, as you agreed, the assessment of pupils’ progress across the wider curriculum is at an early stage of development.