The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. There have been significant changes in staffing since the previous inspection. You have appointed a new assistant headteacher, new teachers, middle leaders and governors over the past four years. You and the governors have worked hard to employ staff who have a range of skills and expertise and, as a result, you have created a strong and cohesive team. You, leaders and staff provide a welcoming and warm environment for pupils and visitors to the school. Pupils enjoy coming to school and value their learning. They are polite, well mannered and proud to be pupils here. You teach pupils to be considerate and encourage them to fulfil their potential. As one pupil told me, ‘We learn together to be the best we can be.’ Parents and carers are very supportive of the school and are positive about the leadership and management of the school. They value highly the approachable nature of staff and feel that their children are very well cared for and make good progress. Staff feel well supported and are proud to work at Belle Vale primary school. They said that the school is a safe and positive environment for children, where behaviour is good and all pupils are challenged to do their best. The high expectations of staff, leaders and governors are evident throughout the school. The inclusive nature of the school is strong. You welcome pupils from all backgrounds. You teach pupils to be tolerant of others, regardless of differences. As a result, pupils treat each other with care; they learn and play well together. You hold all staff firmly to account as you strive to ensure that pupils have access to a full and round curriculum. This ensures that they have opportunities to excel in a wide range of areas. You are determined that pupils will leave school well prepared for high school, both academically and socially. Your moral purpose and leadership are unwavering, as is your belief in what your pupils can and should achieve. You and the governors are aware of the school’s strengths and the areas which you need to develop further. Governors undertake relevant training and are proactive in making sure that they have clear plans in place to continue to the school’s journey of improvement in the future. Governors are knowledgeable, highly committed and passionate. They know the school well and challenge and support you in equal measure. They have the best interests of pupils at the heart of all they do. Leaders and governors work closely with the local authority, which works with you to improve and assess the quality of the school’s work in all areas. Governors and leaders have taken effective action to address the areas for improvement identified at the last inspection. Inspectors identified the need to improve mathematics. Despite progress in mathematics being slightly lower than progress in reading and writing in 2017, it is still in line with the national average. The progress of current learners is strong. Opportunities for pupils to develop reasoning skills and problemsolving are evident in work and in discussions with pupils. Pupils talk with confidence about mathematics. They gave many examples of where they used their mathematical skills in other subjects, such as creating timelines in history, fair tests in science and in working out the age of an author if they were alive today. Following the previous inspection, you improved pupils’ spelling by a focus on effective phonics in early years and key stage 1. As a result, recent test scores show that almost three quarters of children across the school have a spelling age higher than their actual age. Teachers consistently use the school’s spelling policy across the school. Pupils know what they need to do to correct any misspellings identified in their work. At the last inspection, inspectors also identified the need to further improve the quality of the outdoor provision for early years, with a greater focus on the development of basic skills. There have been several changes in staffing, leadership, procedures and policies in early years. These have brought about a new enthusiasm and focused approach to improvement. In 2015, you opened a pre-school. This has afforded you the chance to improve children’s knowledge and skills right from an early age. You have had an increased focus on communication and language. You make sure that all activities provide challenge in reading, writing and mathematics. As a result, there is a four-year improving trend of children achieving a good level of development, moving towards the national average. This represents strong progress from children’s starting points. Outdoor provision has improved as you have created discrete learning areas with music, bubbles, opportunities for number and mark-making. Teachers now make good use of the outside area.