The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Following your appointment in September 2017, you have acted swiftly to address inconsistencies in teaching. You have built a strong new leadership team, working in partnership with governors and the academy trust. Your school self-evaluation is accurate and insightful and underpins your school improvement plan. Your vision to provide a nurturing, inspirational environment is evident throughout school and shared by all members of the school community. Parents and carers are strong advocates of the school. Responses to Ofsted’s Parent View and conversations I had with parents before school were overwhelmingly positive. They say that communication is good and the school has a real community feel. A number of parents commented that staff are approachable and listen to any concerns. Parents talk enthusiastically about the curriculum and the enrichment activities which you provide, for example regular class visits linked to topics, and the extensive range of after-school clubs that you offer. Parents feel welcome in school and well informed about their children’s progress. A view typical of many was, ‘I particularly value the opportunities for parental engagement through workshops, performances and invitation afternoons.’ Pupils are very proud to belong to Fatfield Academy. They feel a real sense of ownership and that their ideas are listened to. They talk enthusiastically about recent developments in the outdoor area, after the school council had identified playtime as an area for improvement. For example, you have recently provided pupils with supervised access to the forest area where they enjoy environmental art and den building. In 2018, the success of the school council was recognised when they achieved the Sunderland Young Achievers Award. Pupils feel involved in shaping their own learning and appreciate the opportunity to contribute their own questions at the beginning of a new topic, which they later review with their peers. They enjoy a number of responsible roles in school, for example the anti-bullying champions who have their own base where pupils may visit and share any concerns. Governors have an accurate and informed view of the school. They are supportive and recognise the pivotal role that you and your senior leaders have in driving school improvement. They talk positively of an increased stability in staffing since your appointment and a significant improvement in staff morale. Link governors meet regularly with senior leaders to monitor school improvement priorities. They are not afraid to challenge, for example when disadvantaged pupils’ attainment remained below that of other pupils. The previous inspection report challenged school leaders to ensure that the quality of teaching is consistently strong enough to allow all pupils to excel. Following the inspection, school experienced a period of instability and pupils’ results dipped in 2017. You have introduced a comprehensive monitoring programme to check that standards of teaching are consistently high. You and your senior leaders regularly observe teaching, check pupils’ workbooks and review assessment data to ensure that pupils remain on track to succeed. Where teaching is less than good, you take decisive action to secure improvement. Teachers appreciate regular feedback, which they describe as supportive and developmental. You provide staff development through whole-staff training, linked to school improvement priorities and individual coaching. Key stage 2 results improved significantly in 2018 and the proportion of pupils attaining the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics was above average. However, you have correctly identified that a greater proportion of pupils should be attaining the higher standard in reading and mathematics. At the last inspection, inspectors also asked school leaders to improve the quality of teaching in mathematics, to make sure that pupils are able to justify and explain their reasoning in mathematical problem-solving. You have taken this recommendation seriously and accessed support from the local authority and the trust. You have purchased new teaching materials and teachers have been trained to model high-quality mathematical reasoning. Your mathematics leader has introduced reasoning question prompts which are displayed in classrooms to support and deepen pupils’ verbal responses. When I looked at pupils’ workbooks with senior leaders, it was evident that pupils have the opportunity to regularly apply their mathematical knowledge in problem-solving and reasoning tasks. The previous inspection report also identified teachers’ questioning as an area for improvement. When we visited classrooms together, I observed teachers using questioning to challenge pupils’ thinking and stretch their understanding. For example, in a key stage 1 class, effective questioning enabled pupils to apply prior learning on fractions to describe movement and turns.