The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. From September 2015, the school expanded by admitting pupils into two forms from Reception. Currently, there remains one form from Year 2 upwards. Leaders managed the accompanying changes in staffing, accommodation and provision for pupils thoughtfully and carefully so that the school continues to improve. You have improved and updated school assessment procedures and the curriculum in response to national changes. Your checks on teaching and learning are rigorous and you use a broad range of professional development opportunities to help teachers improve the quality of teaching. Your school values of self-belief, perseverance and success for life are modelled well by teachers and pupils. Pupils understand, for example, that it is important ‘to keep trying’ when learning is difficult. Parents and carers overwhelmingly agree that the school is welcoming and inclusive. Pupils say that they enjoy school and learn well because teachers help them with their learning and make lessons interesting. Their views and efforts reflect the school’s ethos of high expectations and ambition to succeed. This is demonstrated by the end of key stage 2 results in 2016, which showed pupils’ progress in mathematics was significantly above the national average. At the previous inspection, an area to improve was to provide more challenging learning opportunities for the most able pupils. Pupils say that they enjoy their ‘challenge’ activities in lessons, but that the work provided could be even more stretching. Your assessment system now provides teachers with more precise information about pupils’ progress and attainment. Teachers typically use this information, and their professional development, effectively to plan and adapt work so that they can provide targeted support and challenge for pupils. Consequently, current pupils are making good progress in reading and writing. Progress in mathematics is now much stronger than at the time of the previous inspection. Pupils are developing their reading, writing and numeracy skills effectively in other subjects, such as science and geography, for example through investigations in science lessons and research activities in geography. Safeguarding is effective. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of high quality. Regular training ensures that staff have an up-to-date understanding of risks to pupils. For example, they help pupils understand how to use the internet safely. They also help pupils understand their rights and responsibilities and the importance of respecting the views of others so that we can live together as harmonious communities. Staff understand the school’s rigorous procedures for reporting concerns about pupils’ safety. For example, the early reporting system is well used by teachers to report concerns about any possible risks to pupils’ well-being and safety. Leaders use these reports to identify any patterns and take further action as necessary. Detailed records, timely responses and partnerships with external organisations ensure that any referrals and concerns are resolved as quickly as possible. Governors have a secure understanding of safeguarding issues based on reports from the school and their own visits. They have supported the work to enhance parents’ understanding of safeguarding issues. This collaborative focus on safeguarding contributes to a secure culture of vigilance and safety. Pupils say that they feel safe in school because staff are caring and act promptly upon any concerns raised. Surveys of pupils and parents confirm this view. Cases of bullying are rare and are dealt with promptly and effectively, further underpinning pupils’ welfare. Inspection findings A focus for the inspection related to the accuracy of your self-evaluation and how well this evidence is used to ensure strong progress across the range of subjects that pupils learn. Your checks on learning are accurate and reliable. Governors also understand this information and are effective in holding you to account about how well pupils are learning. The improvements in teaching, learning and assessment are the result of staff using detailed information and training to improve their work. The strong outcomes by the end of Year 6 result from a culture of hard work, supported by a focus on improving pupils’ skills and knowledge. This is accompanied by an increasing level of responsibility being taken by pupils for their own learning. You recognise that there is still a need to provide challenging learning activities and opportunities for pupils who are capable of working at a greater depth sooner, including the most able pupils. Improvements in the quality of teaching, particularly in mathematics, are evident throughout the school. Your additional resource provision (ARP) continues to provide good support for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities across the school, as well as those who learn within the ARP. The inspection also focused on the progress made by boys and disadvantaged pupils within early years and in key stage 1. This is because in 2016, boys attained less well compared with girls by the end of Reception. This difference remained up to the end of Year 2 for reading and writing. No disadvantaged pupils had reached higher levels of attainment by the end of Year 2. Staff have used the training you have provided for them, particularly the mentoring by senior leaders, to improve the quality of their teaching. Expectations for pupils’ learning are clearer and they understand the progress that they are making. This includes what pupils need to do to improve their work. Your assessment information and wider checks on learning show that the difference between boys and girls by the end of Reception is closing, but only slowly. Boys join the school with lower levels of language and communication skills, and a few have complex additional needs. You are clear about further actions you need to take to give this improvement more impetus. By the end of Year 2, the difference in attainment between boys and girls is smaller and improvements have been quicker. Staff training is increasingly effective and inspection evidence shows that the improvements are sustainable. For example, our joint checks on learning and your assessment information showed that the progress made by disadvantaged pupils is now in line with other pupils nationally by the end of Year 2. A further focus of the inspection was on the impact of leaders’ work to reduce persistent absence overall. This was an issue for most groups of pupils and particularly boys. In addition to weaker attendance, the progress of boys, particularly in reading and writing, was not as strong up to Year 2. You have made clear the importance of good attendance across the school, including with parents. You have developed more refined sanctions and incentives, and used support from the local authority effectively. These strategies have improved attendance. Persistent absence of pupils is lower this year compared with last year. A larger proportion of pupils attend well. Boys’ attendance is better now than last year. In Years 5 and 6, attendance is particularly good. You know there is more to do to improve attendance of pupils in Year 3 and Year 4. The school is working to ensure that all families support the school’s attendance policy, including recognition of the potentially negative impact of pupils missing school to go on holiday during term time.