The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. The school environment is bright and welcoming. The early years setting is new. Staff and governors are excited about the development of the outside area, which is having a positive impact on the children’s provision. Pupils are extremely proud of their school, and their attitudes towards learning are positive. Pupils persevere with tasks and show resilience when faced with more challenging work. They are polite and courteous and work well with one another, sharing resources and listening to others’ ideas. Pupils were keen to tell me about their visits out of school, including a planned residential to Whitby and a recent visit to Southwell Minster. They also told me how much they enjoy learning a musical instrument, particularly the ukulele, and making decisions when being part of the school council or as an eco-monitor. Pupils throughout the school behave well. They understand how to keep safe and know who to go to in school if they are upset. Pupils understand the school’s values of responsibility, happiness, honesty, cooperation, respect, love and friendship, and were keen to tell me how they have recently raised funds within the community through a ‘penny trail’. Staff manage pupils’ attendance well, and rates of attendance are in line with national averages. As new headteacher to the school, you are well supported by governors as well as a school improvement adviser from the local authority and the director from the diocese. Governors have a clear understanding of the school’s priorities and how these are being met through the school’s ‘rapid improvement plan’. Governors are supportive of the changes you have made in the school since your arrival in September 2018. You and the senior leaders share a detailed and accurate view of the school. At the last inspection, leaders were asked to analyse and evaluate all aspects of the school’s work with equal rigour. There is now a rigorous monitoring programme in place, with a clear emphasis on the quality of teaching and learning. You use this knowledge to plan sensible actions to take to improve this further. Leaders hold regular meetings with class teachers to discuss the achievement of each pupil. Any pupil at risk of falling behind, or whose progress is not strong enough, is given additional help. He or she is supported either in class or through a range of other ways, including the ‘pod provision’ or help from the learning mentor. Pupils with a high level of need are well supported within the ‘rainbow room’, often with one-to-one support. At the previous inspection, leaders were asked to reduce the variations in teaching, so that all pupils can make the progress they are capable of, and to provide more challenging work for the most able. Through the introduction of a new mathematics scheme, pupils are now given the chance to apply their knowledge to problemsolving activities through a range of challenges. Teachers question pupils to make them think more, and pupils are using the ‘can I’ approach to all tasks. Provisional school data from 2018 indicates that the proportion of pupils working at the higher level is increasing in reading and writing. Boys have achieved less well than girls in reading and writing in recent years. This is because, historically, boys have taken less interest in English than girls. As a result, you have changed the way the curriculum is taught. Each piece of writing is now linked to a topic theme and an engaging text. Pupils, including boys, are now writing with greater enthusiasm in a range of lessons across different subjects. However, although boys’ progress in English is getting stronger due to better teaching, the adjustments staff have made to the curriculum are relatively recent. You therefore cannot be sure that the improvements in boys’ achievement, including in phonics, will be sustained in the longer term. Not all the pupils I heard read had all the strategies they need to be able to read unfamiliar words. At the time of the previous inspection, a minority of parents and carers were not satisfied with the information the school provided about the progress of their children. Governors subsequently held a parent forum that resulted in the introduction of a variety of ways that the school now communicates with parents. Parents I spoke with during my visit held the school in high regard. Nevertheless, results from Ofsted’s Parent View survey indicate that this is an area that the school should continue to work on. Safeguarding is effective. The new leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and fully meet requirements. Records are kept using an online system and are detailed and of good quality. Leaders and governors place high importance on safeguarding. Staff see safeguarding as everyone’s responsibility. It is a standard agenda item for all meetings, including senior leadership team meetings, staff meetings and governors’ meetings. You provide all staff with relevant and regular training so that they know what to do if they have any concerns. There is a clear process in place for all new staff, including a thorough induction process. The governing body has a good understanding of safeguarding issues. The chair of governors has recently conducted a safeguarding review, and she makes regular checks of safeguarding records in school. Outside agencies are appropriately involved in safeguarding issues where necessary. Pupils receive good guidance on how to keep themselves safe. The pupils I spoke with said that bullying is not a problem in their school and that any issues are quickly resolved. Pupils told me that they feel safe in school and know who to go to if they have a problem. A very large majority of parents who responded to the survey agreed that their children are being kept safe in school. Inspection findings For the past three years, the progress of pupils overall by the end of key stage 2 has been at least in line with the national average. However, the progress of boys and disadvantaged pupils in reading and writing has been less strong. Leaders have introduced a range of recent initiatives to support boys and disadvantaged pupils in writing and have reviewed curriculum provision to ensure that it is more engaging. The most recent school performance data shows that boys are now making better progress than previously in reading and writing, though their attainment is not as high as that of girls. Leaders now have a clear rationale in place for the spending of the pupil premium and can show how the funding is being spent to maximise opportunities for disadvantaged pupils. You have introduced a number of initiatives, which include the appointment of a learning mentor, reading intervention strategies and support for pupils with emotional difficulties. This is helping to accelerate the progress of these pupils. The proportion of pupils who attained the skills necessary to pass the Year 1 phonics screening check has declined over the last three years. You have increased the consistency of staff’s approach by introducing a new literacy scheme. Staff are attending training and accessing support from the teaching school alliance. Your current attainment information in school indicates that the proportion of pupils who are currently on track to meet the standard will rise this year. However, it is too early for leaders to be sure that the changes introduced will have the impact they intend and be sustained over time. Rigorous tracking of the assessments made by teachers is monitored by all leaders and ensures that vulnerable pupils can be targeted for additional support so that the impact of any interventions are measured and tailored specifically to pupils so that they can attain the best outcomes they can. Governors are aware of, and informed about, the performance of boys and those pupils entitled to the pupil premium funding. They understand and support the steps leaders in school are taking to address these areas. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: the recent changes to the curriculum are embedded fully and their impact is both checked and reviewed to ensure that boys sustain their stronger progress in English phonics teaching is consistently effective so that the proportion of pupils who attain national expectations in the phonics screening check at the end of Year 1 is at least broadly in line with the national average. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Southwell, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Nottinghamshire County Council. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Karen Slack Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I evaluated the school’s own records of pupils’ achievement and I met with you, the assistant headteachers and the special educational needs coordinator, who is also the pupil premium leader. I also met with the school business manager and with representatives from the governing body. We jointly observed teaching and learning in classes and I examined samples of pupils’ work during the observations. I listened to a sample of pupils read. I met with members of the school council to discuss behaviour and safeguarding in school. I visited all key stages with two Year 6 pupils to see the learning that was taking place, and spoke with pupils informally at lunchtime and in classes. I analysed documents, including plans for the school’s improvement, published data and reports showing the school’s view of its own performance. I held a telephone conversation with representatives from the local authority and from the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham. I evaluated the school’s website. Safeguarding documents, policies and records relating to attendance were inspected. I took account of the 96 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, the 56 free-text responses and one other message from a parent. I also spoke to parents at the beginning of the school day and during a phonics workshop.