The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Since your appointment in March 2015, you have brought calm and purposeful leadership to the school. You have earned the confidence and trust of your staff, governors and the majority of parents. Your work is valued and the positive difference you have made is recognised. You have maintained the ethos of the school as a caring and inclusive community. Parents particularly appreciate the extra support and care given to those pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Many parents wrote enthusiastically about the high level of care and respect between staff and pupils. One parent said, ‘I wish that every child could attend a school like ours.’ You took robust and effective action to address the lower than expected standards achieved in 2015. You appointed an ambitious and energetic leadership team. Leaders have high expectations and model these in the classroom and in their work with staff. Over the last 12 months, you and your leaders have tackled weaker teaching and have taken difficult decisions, when necessary. Teaching across the school is now more effective. The issues identified in the last inspection have been addressed. More pupils than in the past are making good progress, especially in mathematics and writing. You have appointed staff carefully and provided a comprehensive induction process, which enables staff who are new to the school to make an immediate impact on pupils’ progress. Staff are positive about the school and feel proud to be members of the team. They report that leaders are supportive and help them to achieve their best. They also say that the systems to reward performance are fair and include opportunities for further training and development. As a result, the school has attracted both experienced teachers and those new to the profession. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. Every parent who completed Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, said they would recommend Bishops Down. Many commented enthusiastically about the caring ethos and interesting learning environment you provide. One parent described the fantastic opportunities offered to all pupils, who are supported and challenged ‘to be the very best they can be’. You continue to make improvements. Leaders have used the local teaching school alliance to make effective links with other schools and develop teachers’ expertise. As a result, you and your leaders have successfully embedded a more thorough system to assess pupils’ work. Teachers use this system well and provide pupils with valuable guidance on how to improve their work. Pupils make the most of this help and they make more rapid progress as a result. Sensibly, you plan further work to engage pupils in reflecting on their next steps. Parents also commented that, as well as the detailed reports they receive about their children’s attainment, they would like more information about their progress. They believe that this information would help them to support their children’s learning at home. You have developed a curriculum that is broad and balanced and that makes good use of the school’s setting. There are many interesting and enjoyable opportunities for pupils, including engaging in learning out of doors. Pupils I spoke to enjoyed the recent informative visit to the Palace of Westminster. They are looking forward with excited anticipation to visiting the Science Museum in London. Opportunities to develop responsibility, for example as school council representatives and young interpreters, demonstrate good social development. However, you have identified that pupils’ skills and knowledge in subjects other than English, mathematics and science are not as well developed. Pupils learn many interesting facts and regularly apply their reading and numeracy skills within other subjects. However, their knowledge, skills and understanding in geography and history are not yet promoted well. Opportunities for pupils to write about their knowledge and skills in other subjects are also limited. With your leadership team, you are taking effective action to address this. Safeguarding is effective. The safety and well-being of all pupils is of paramount importance to you. It is evident that your pupils know who to go to if they have concerns. Pupils say they will be listened to and teachers will respond quickly to any instances of bullying.