The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Well-judged actions and a clear focus have been effective in raising achievement since the previous inspection. You have developed a strong and caring team where the school’s values are at the heart of everyone’s work. Together with staff and governors, you are firmly committed to making sure that pupils at Duddon St Peter’s have the opportunity to ‘be the best they can be’. Pupils know they are valued and appreciate the many rewards they receive that recognise personal qualities as well as achievements in their learning. Pupils are very proud of their school and told me that they particularly enjoy the fun they have in lessons and the opportunities to use the exciting outdoor spaces. A talented group of governors led by a highly effective chair offers strong support to the leadership of the school. Governors have a good strategic overview and are accurate in their assessments of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement. They know the school very well. They are supportive and proud of all that has been achieved and challenge leaders to make continued improvements. Parents also appreciate your work and 100% of those who responded to the Ofsted survey on Parent View say that their children are happy in school. Typically, comments include, ‘I feel very lucky to have such peace of mind, knowing my child’s learning needs are well catered for by a wonderful team of dedicated staff.’ At the last inspection in 2013, you were asked to provide more opportunities for pupils in key stage 1 to write at length and reach higher levels in their work. Pupils’ books show that you have been successful in this area. English leaders have introduced new strategies to support pupils with their writing. Staff have been trained in how to teach pupils to talk through their thinking and rehearse their vocabulary before starting to write. In 2016, standards in writing were above average by the end of key stage 1. However, in key stage 2, standards in writing were below average. You have worked hard to improve on this but you have more still to do. You were also asked to improve the effectiveness of the questions that teachers asked to help develop pupils’ thinking. You have supported teachers to use questions to assess pupils’ understanding and extend their learning. This good practice was evident during several lessons I observed, including an English lesson. Skilled questioning by a teacher encouraged pupils to think deeply about the characters that authors create and how they evoke atmosphere with their writing. Pupils were challenged to write with flair and emotion. Finally, you were required to develop the roles of middle leaders in order to raise the quality of teaching to outstanding. Middle leaders are having a much greater impact on improving the quality of teaching and learning in several subjects and are required to report their progress to governors each term. For example, in science pupils achieve well across the school and reach high standards at the end of both key stage 1 and key stage 2. Able subject leaders have successfully developed an exciting curriculum that promotes good learning. They make full use of the school’s excellent grounds, including the sensory garden and wildlife areas. They provide training and support, not only to staff in school but to teachers in other schools in the North West. The work of these leaders has been recognised with the highest award of Gold Standard by the Primary Science Quality Mark. Safeguarding is effective. School leaders take their responsibility with regard to safeguarding very seriously. The governors and leadership team have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are effective and fit for purpose. Appropriate statutory checks are carried out on the suitability of staff to work with children. Records for all aspects of safeguarding are detailed and of high quality. Staff are well trained in child protection and understand that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. The very caring relationships that have been established between staff and pupils mean that pupils feel safe and happy. Pupils say that incidences of bullying are very rare. They have confidence that adults in school will help them if they have a problem and they know that it will be dealt with quickly. Pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe, including when they are online. Visits from the police and fire service reinforce the school’s work. A caring culture is further developed by older pupils being given responsibility for younger ones through a ‘buddy system’.