The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have high aspirations for the school which are shared by a team of skilled leaders and a well-informed and proactive governing body. Bishop Henderson Primary School is proud of its ethos of inclusivity and it was clear from my visit that leaders have an in-depth knowledge of their pupils. Across the school, there is an expectation that all pupils will achieve their potential regardless of background, prior attainment or additional need. This underpins the school’s drive for further improvement and is leading to raised outcomes for all pupils. The school clearly values its partnership with parents and has put in place a number of initiatives to develop home/school links. For example, early years parents are given the opportunity to work alongside their children at the start of each day. This is proving effective in supporting parents in becoming active participants in their children’s learning. Nearly all of the parents who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire would recommend the school. One parent, who summed up the view of many, wrote, ‘Bishop Henderson is a lovely school with a very friendly, family atmosphere.’ Another wrote, ‘Not only are my children happy, they are thriving academically, socially and emotionally.’ The previous inspection identified the need for leaders to further raise the quality of teaching, learning and assessment across the school. Leaders’ rigorous monitoring is ensuring that they have an accurate and thorough understanding of where teaching is strongest and where additional support is required. You have introduced a programme where teachers support each other in their professional development. This is providing opportunities for teachers to share best practice from across all phases of the school and is developing subject knowledge, confidence and expertise. Another aspect for development was to ensure that the progress being made by pupils is consistent across all year groups. Embedding a consistent approach to teaching, learning and assessment and, consequently, pupils’ outcomes has been a key focus for the school. You have provided opportunities for year group teams to plan and assess collaboratively and introduced regular whole school moderations of pupils’ work. This has raised expectation and teachers now have a shared understanding of what pupils are capable of achieving. Inspection evidence, including visits to classrooms and scrutinies of work in pupils’ books, demonstrates that pupils across the school are making strong progress from their different starting points. Safeguarding is effective. Leaders and governors place a high priority on all aspects of safeguarding and this is ensuring that arrangements are fit for purpose. Thorough checks are made to ensure that all staff and volunteers are suitable to work with children. These are routinely monitored by governors to confirm adherence to school policy and statutory guidance. Together with the designated safeguarding lead, you promote a strong culture of vigilance. Staff and governors receive regular training to ensure that they have an up-to-date understanding of the vulnerabilities faced by pupils. You have established strong relationships with a range of professionals and external agencies. However, you are not afraid to provide challenge when the service they provide falls short of your high expectations. Pupils told me that they are well looked after in school. They say that bullying rarely happens but know that there is always a trusted adult they can talk to if they have any concerns. Nearly all parents who completed the online questionnaire stated that their children are happy and safe in school. Inspection findings At the start of the inspection, we agreed the main areas we would focus on. Firstly, we looked at the impact that leaders’ actions are having on raising rates of progress for boys in reading and writing so that they are more in line with the strong progress being made by girls. In the 2017 national tests at the end of Year 6, boys’ progress was in line with pupils nationally. However, within the school, published assessment information showed that, from their key stage 1 starting points, boys had made less progress than girls, whose progress was above that found nationally.