You have maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Academic standards remain high, and parents and pupils think very highly of both Binsted school and your leadership. With governors, you evaluate the school accurately. You celebrate the many strengths of the school and show a clear determination to bring about further improvement. You have, rightly, identified poor attendance as detrimental to pupils’ education and you have already introduced strategies to ensure that pupils attend school regularly. You are also working hard to raise further the level of challenge for the most able pupils. You, the governors, and your leadership team lead a school in which pupils are happy, feel very safe and enjoy learning. It is highly valued by pupils, staff, parents and the wider community. As one parent stated: ‘Binsted school is an integral part of the community. It is more than a school. It is a thriving part of what we all do locally.’ All of the staff who responded to Ofsted’s online survey feel proud to work at the school and all believe that the school has improved since it was last inspected. You and your governors lead a motivated team whose members are appreciative of the importance you place on their professional development and a healthy work–life balance. Staff thoroughly enjoy working at the school, and parents are very appreciative of the strong relationships forged between pupils and teachers. One parent commented about how much they appreciated the teachers’ dedication and willingness to discuss issues, ‘even at five o’clock on a Friday afternoon!’ Pupils relish the many opportunities they are given to take on responsibilities and appreciate the high level of trust that staff place in them. They enjoy serving as ‘young governors’ and being able to run lunchtime clubs for other pupils. Pupils know and value the school’s motto ‘faith, hope and love; but the greatest of these is love’. Governors are actively involved in the school and have a thorough understanding of its strengths and areas for development. They are committed to further improvement and provide you with consistent and effective levels of support and challenge. Your shared determination is helping you to tackle issues such as poor attendance and the need to provide an even greater level of challenge, particularly in writing, for the most able pupils in key stage 2. Children make good progress in the early years and are well prepared for entry into Year 1. The proportion of children reaching a good level of development continues to be above the national average. Pupils attain high standards, in all subjects, at the end of key stage 1. The proportion of pupils who reach the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics, at the end of key stage 2, is above the national average. More pupils are now attaining the higher standards in these subjects. Safeguarding is effective. Safeguarding procedures and policies are fit for purpose, and you ensure that keeping children safe is at the front of everyone’s mind. You, along with leaders, governors, and the administrative officer, ensure that stringent pre-recruitment checks are complete and that record-keeping is detailed and secure. Your staff share your determination to ensure that no child ‘slips through the net’. They seamlessly take responsibility for raising and following up concerns in your absence. Pupils feel very safe. They spoke confidently about the impact of teaching they have received, such as junior road safety, cycling proficiency and internet safety. Several pupils agreed that one teacher talks about online safety, ‘every time we open a laptop!’, and one pupil went on to tell me about the difference this had made to his confidence. The training he received enabled him to report a minor incident of misuse of social media which was quickly addressed. Inspection findings During this inspection, we agreed that I would focus on the improvements made to teaching and learning in mathematics in key stage 2, and the impact of actions taken to ensure better progress for most-able pupils in key stage 2, especially in writing. I also considered the quality of the curriculum and the impact of action taken by school leaders to raise standards in the teaching of phonics in the early years and in key stage 1. Finally, I looked at the impact of action taken by leaders to improve attendance.