The leadership team has maintained and improved the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have an excellent understanding of the school, and are focused on supporting staff and pupils in continual improvement. You have honestly and accurately identified the areas that most need improvement and, with other leaders, you are taking actions to address these. Teachers and teaching assistants work effectively together to meet pupils’ needs. Pupils enjoy school: their attendance is at least as good as the national averages each year and they show pride in their work. Parents and carers speak highly of school leaders and the values staff instil in their children. A parent’s comment, ‘The school provides the pupils with a strong moral compass to take with them through life’, is reflected in the views of many. This is an improving school. Leaders have made sure that their priorities for improvement are those that will make the biggest difference to the pupils. Improvements made since the last inspection are accurately identified in the school’s self-evaluation document, along with precise and clear direction of what leaders and staff need to do next to further raise outcomes for pupils. These records accurately reflect the work that is happening on the ground in classrooms. Governors use a variety of information, including succinct, clear and informative reports from the headteacher, to provide effective challenge and support to school leaders. They make sure they ask focused questions and, consequently, have a good understanding of pupils’ achievement, safeguarding and how well additional funding is used to support specific pupils. Leaders’ views on what is working well are confirmed in the high quality of pupils’ work and the good standards pupils attain by the time they leave school. The recent school achievements of nationally recognised awards, teaching and learning reviews and the resulting positive reports support these views of improvement. The changes made to the leadership structure, with the appointment of a deputy headteacher and two teaching and learning leaders, have further strengthened the school’s capacity to direct improvement. Senior and middle leaders have an accurate view of their areas of responsibility. They combine their own strong subject knowledge with additional staff training and work with other schools to support and guide staff in their teaching. Pupils’ work shows consistency in teachers’ expectations in the quality of their work, as well as in the application of the systems and strategies leaders have directed. Leaders are under no illusions that while the attainment of pupils shows improvement, and is strong in relation to national averages, they need to do more to support pupils of all abilities in making stronger progress from their starting points. During the last inspection, you were asked to raise attainment in English and mathematics further by using the school’s data about progress to identify clearly which pupils are not doing as well as they could. You were asked to make sure that the work pupils are set matches their needs. You have risen successfully to the challenges and opportunities of the new national assessment regime. You use the school’s electronic assessment system effectively to check how well pupils are doing in relation to their age-related expectations throughout the year. Where the system does not give you precise enough information, for example to be able to frequently check the progress that potentially vulnerable pupils are making, you complement this with other information you have gathered. Consequently, leaders, including governors, have an accurate understanding of which groups of pupils and individual pupils most need support in making strong progress. As a result, teachers plan work that is well matched to pupils’ needs. To ensure that the quality of teaching and learning is consistently good or better, you were asked, in the last inspection, to ensure that pupils take more care and pride in their work. Leaders have carefully considered their policies on how work will be recorded, their expectations of pupils’ handwriting and how they can instil values of pride in pupils and celebrate their work. As a result, pupils’ work is consistently of a high standard, across year groups and across the curriculum. Finally, you were tasked with making sure that the work teachers set for pupils particularly matches the needs of those who are the most able. Leaders are very clear that all pupils need the right support and challenge to enable them to make strong progress, whatever their starting points. Leaders have supported teachers well in understanding how to help pupils in meeting the challenges of the higher national standards in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils of all abilities have opportunities to test out the skills they have learned in practical tasks in English and mathematics. Many higher-ability pupils are supported in developing their ideas, deepening their understanding and extending their answers. As a result, the proportion of pupils reaching higher standards by the end of key stage 2 in the 2017 tests is higher than the national averages in reading, writing and mathematics. Leaders have accurately identified that more middle-ability pupils have the potential of reaching these standards from their higher starting points, with the right direction and support. Safeguarding is effective. Leaders have put in place systems and procedures to safeguard pupils that are efficient, effective and well understood by staff, governors and pupils. The local authority guides and supports the school well in ensuring that all appropriate checks are carried out, and that policies include the direction and guidance needed. Leaders have made sure that everyone understands the systems for reporting and recording a concern. Record-keeping is efficient and leaders effectively follow up and address any concerns. They identify where additional help is needed and, through their good links with a variety of external agencies, access timely support for pupils and their families. Making sure that pupils know how to keep safe online has been high on the school’s agenda. Leaders have made sure that staff, pupils and parents have had regular information and advice about use of the internet, some of which has been led by a specialist consultant. Pupils speak confidently about the lessons they have had. Some of them have been trained as cyber mentors so that they can support other pupils in using the internet safely. Inspection findings I was interested to see how well teachers and teaching assistants support children in developing their early literacy skills, particularly in phonics. After a slow decline in the proportion of pupils achieving the phonics standard in Year 1, the proportion of pupils reaching the standard in 2017 increased and is in line with the national average. From the early years, teachers make sure that they help children to develop a love of reading, as well as establishing clear routines and strategies to improve children’s reading skills. In Year 1, some pupils’ individual needs affect how quickly they gain phonics skills. Leaders put in place additional support and opportunities for these pupils to practise their skills, with teachers and teaching assistants. These help the vast majority catch up to the expected standard by the end of their time in Year 2. Clear improvements can be seen in pupils’ maths outcomes across the school. Whatever their starting points, pupils have access to resources and activities that support them in applying their mathematical skills to practical tasks. Leaders have high expectations of what pupils can achieve, adapting the amount of support given to tasks in response to the pupils’ needs in that particular task. Sometimes this means giving more adult guidance and support to the lowerability pupils and sometimes this requires more focused challenge for the higherability pupils. Pupils speak confidently about what they need to get better at, but also show pride in what they have already achieved. The majority of pupils across school are making strong progress in mathematics. Because leaders have a clear understanding of how well each pupil is performing, they have accurately identified what support is needed when pupils are behind and need to catch up. They have also given careful attention to ensuring that teachers have a good understanding of the support disadvantaged pupils need, including those who are the most able. Leaders, teachers, the learning mentor and teaching assistants use a wide range of activities and resources to support pupils’ academic, social and emotional needs. Leaders, including governors, understand the success of this work. They are honest and accurate in their view that although disadvantaged pupils are making at least steady progress for some this needs to be more rapid. To support pupils in making stronger progress, leaders have made sure that teachers give clear guidance to pupils in how to improve their work. Pupils’ work shows where pupils have tried something new, practised new skills, applied these, and refined and improved the quality of their finished work. Pupils are keen to do their best and are proud of their work. During the inspection, after pupils explained what they thought the best things about their school were, pupils were asked to share what they thought could be improved. All pupils responded with something they would like to personally get better at, and how they might do this. They found thinking of something that could be improved in the school much more difficult. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: the work they have identified to support pupils of all abilities in making stronger progress in reading, writing and mathematics from their varied starting points continues. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Lincoln, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for North Lincolnshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Kate Rowley Her Majesty’s Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I looked at specific aspects of the school’s work, including leadership, the quality of teaching and learning, the progress that pupils of all abilities are making, and safeguarding arrangements. You, the deputy headteacher and I worked closely together throughout the inspection. We observed teaching and learning, looked at pupils’ work and discussed the school’s strengths and priorities for improvement. I listened to pupils read and talked to them about their learning. I studied a range of school documentation, including the school’s self-evaluation document, development plans, records of the checks on teaching and learning, school assessment information and safeguarding documentation. I met with senior and middle leaders, representatives from the governing body, staff, pupils and parents. I also met with the senior school improvement officer. I noted the 21 responses to Ofsted’s questionnaire, Parent View.