The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You, alongside governors, are rightly ambitious for the pupils in your school. You communicate your high expectations clearly through the plans you make for future development and your investment in ongoing training and development. Staff say they feel valued and are encouraged to explore new ways to deliver exciting learning experiences. The school ethos, ‘discovering the wonders of learning’, has led to an immersive curriculum in subjects such as history. In this subject, there are purposeful opportunities to use sources of evidence and research that bring people and places through time to life. Pupils consider a range of cultures and traditions and have many opportunities to work practically and creatively. At each stage of their learning, a high proportion of pupils develop the knowledge and understanding that is expected for their age. One parent commented, ‘The school has given my son an incredible start to his academic life.’ Reading is strongly promoted throughout the school; there is an enticing library stock for young readers to explore, which is well maintained. Parents are encouraged, through class newsletters, to support this aspect of learning. This partnership approach has enabled all pupils to secure the expected standard in their phonics by the time they start key stage 2. Progress in both reading and writing is in the top percentiles of schools nationally. During the inspection, pupils’ conduct around the school and in lessons was courteous and polite. They showed attentive interest and considered the needs of others. Pupils I spoke to said that behaviour was good inside and outside of lessons. Leaders’ recent survey of views showed that the majority of parents feel that their children are safe and well looked after. However, a small number of parents who responded to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, expressed concerns about behaviour. Leaders are exploring ways to work alongside parents further to share how they support pupils’ welfare and personal development. At the last inspection, inspectors asked the school to improve the quality of teaching further, including the use of questioning. Teachers, and additional adults, now pose questions which deepen pupils’ understanding and ensure that misconceptions are addressed. Leaders have placed appropriate emphasis and time on developing the range of strategies teachers can draw on to promote learning. However, there is more work to do to challenge the most able pupils to progress quickly and reach the highest standards, both in mathematics and by the end of the early years. The planned curriculum promotes a love of learning, enquiry and fascination and has secured high standards of achievement in reading and writing. Work to secure pupils’ strengthening skills and rapid progress across a wider range of curriculum subjects is at an early stage. Safeguarding is effective. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Records for recruitment are carefully maintained, showing evidence that appropriate procedures are followed to ensure that staff employed at the school have been appropriately vetted. Children who may be at risk of harm are well supported. Leaders know when it is appropriate to engage early help services, or liaise with social care, health or other education colleagues. Governors ensure that training is regular and well documented. The curriculum provides opportunities to strengthen pupils’ awareness and management of risk, particularly those risks posed online. Pupils spoken to understood why it was important to keep personal information confidential and to report any unusual online contact to a trusted adult. They used their recent experience of work with the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children to talk about ‘see it, speak it, say it’ and know when they should tell adults about something that is worrying them. Pupils said that adults in the school respond quickly to concerns that they raise and that they feel safe and cared for. Inspection findings During this inspection, we looked closely at specific aspects of the school’s provision, including: the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements; the effectiveness of teaching in mathematics; the quality of the early years provision; leaders’ actions to improve pupils’ engagement, including attendance; and achievement across subjects other than English and mathematics. In 2017, you noticed that pupils had not progressed as well in mathematics as they had in reading and writing. You invested wisely in additional training and resources to promote mathematical reasoning and problem-solving, drawing on expertise from the local authority. When we visited classes together across the school, we saw pupils given opportunities to explain their mathematical thinking, select resources independently to solve problems and justify answers using proof. Pupils were benefiting from opportunities to work collaboratively, challenging each other to see if there were any alternative approaches to solving mathematical problems. However, you recognise in your improvement planning that these approaches need to be implemented over a longer period of time to ensure that the most able pupils progress quickly and reach the highest standards by the end of key stages 1 and 2. Children in early years make a positive start, building well on their early emergent reading, writing and mathematical skills. This is because teachers make accurate assessments of what children know and can do. Teachers’ observations capture the most significant milestones in children’s learning in a range of areas. Across areas of learning, there are widening opportunities for children to work creatively and think critically. Historically, very few, if any, children have been assessed as working beyond the early learning goals. Leaders have rightly identified this as any area for improvement and have begun to develop appropriate systems and records, setting out what working beyond the early learning goals looks like, so that they can shape provision to match the most able children’s needs even more closely. There is significant scope to extend the most able children at an earlier stage so that provision builds quickly on what these children know and can do. Learning is fostered through a well-considered range of visits and first-hand experiences. Subjects beyond English and mathematics are valued and promoted, particularly sport, art and history. Pupils achieve exceptionally well in sport, and provision extends beyond the usual primary curriculum experience. Pupils have regular opportunities to play alongside other local teams and show their sportsmanship. A review of pupils’ topic books shows that pupils’ skills within humanities and science subjects are not yet strengthening and deepening. This means that achievement does not yet mirror that in English and mathematics and prepare pupils fully for the demands of the secondary curriculum. In the past, some of the most vulnerable pupils were persistently absent. Leaders have successfully addressed this aspect of the schools’ work, utilising additional funding effectively, developing and strengthening partnerships with parents, and accessing early help where appropriate. Pupils receive sensitive and skilled support from the schools’ emotional literacy support assistant to manage transition from home to school positively. Pupils are quickly settled and encouraged into learning activities. As a result, persistent absence has reduced significantly and attendance is currently above the national average.