The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. In January 2017, the school became an academy. It is now part of the Fort Pitt Thomas Aveling Academies Trust (FPTA), a multi-academy trust (MAT) comprising five Medway schools. The headteacher of one of the secondary schools is the chief executive officer of the trust. You work effectively within the trust. Balfour Junior benefits from the links with the other schools in terms of training, developing leadership skills, sharing good practice and opportunities for pupils. The trust and the governors are supportive and challenging and hold you and other leaders to account effectively for the school’s performance. Your aspirations for the pupils are unwavering. The ambition to provide the best possible learning experiences for pupils is shared by leaders, staff, governors and trust members. You have carefully considered the best leadership structure and curriculum to deliver this. You place a strong emphasis on developing pupils’ confidence and their own aspirations and enriching their experience. The school has a strong inclusive ethos. You ensure that pupils who have additional needs are supported effectively so that they get what they need to make progress from their starting points. It is a happy school where everyone is welcome and able to achieve. Staff have every confidence in your strong leadership. They are proud to work at the school and enjoy doing so. You work closely with your deputy and make a strong team. Together you have ensured that rigorous monitoring informs the accurate school self-evaluation. Your development plan identifies what is working well and what could be even better. You are mindful of the areas for improvement identified at the last inspection of your predecessor school. The actions that you have taken to improve the quality of teaching and share the most successful practice have led to pupils’ improving achievement. This is shown in the 2018 outcomes at the end of Year 6. Relationships between staff and pupils are very positive and trusting. As a result, pupils are not afraid to have a go and try things out. They are prepared to take risks in their learning because they know that their efforts and opinions will be valued. A group of pupils agreed with one who said that ‘teachers help you do things you didn’t think you could do.’ Pupils spoke of how they are never afraid to ask for help if they get stuck, as teachers are kind and caring. Pupils are happy, well behaved, polite and friendly. They said that the school teaches them to be respectful of people from other backgrounds and to treat people equally. They demonstrated this during the inspection. Pupils collaborate and cooperate well with each other in work and play and value the friendships that they develop. Pupils enjoy their time at school and, when asked, were hard pressed to think of anything that they would change. You and all of the staff work very hard to engage parents and carers. Only a small number of parents responded to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View. Those who did, and the parents I spoke to on the morning of the inspection, were very supportive of the school and pleased with the education provided for their children. They were especially appreciative of the fact that you and the deputy, as well as other staff, were in the playground every morning and at the end of the day. Safeguarding is effective. The leadership team, including governors, has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Statutory recruitment checks are completed on all adults before they start working at the school. All staff receive the required training, including any updates or new requirements. Policies and procedures are clear and well known by staff. Staff are vigilant in identifying and reporting any concerns and know the pupils very well. You work closely with outside agencies when necessary making appropriate referrals when needed. You actively ensure that pupils and their families receive timely and effective support. Pupils say that they feel safe and happy in school and that they are well looked after. They know how to keep safe, including when using the internet. This was promoted well by Year 5 pupils during the inspection. Pupils say that they can talk to an adult if they have any worries or concerns. The parents who responded to Parent View and those who spoke to me in the morning agreed that the school keeps their children safe. You and your staff work very hard to encourage pupils’ regular attendance, which has improved and is above the national figure for primary schools. You have also reduced the proportion of pupils with persistently poor attendance and the proportion of pupils who are regularly late for school. You are relentless in your support for families to help provide the best for the pupils.