The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the school began working alongside three other local schools, formally federating on 1 February 2017. Working alongside a newly formed, hard-working and supportive governing body, your skilful and determined leadership has brought about significant improvements to teaching and learning. There is a tangible drive and sense of urgency to provide high-quality opportunities which allow pupils to thrive: an ambition shared by all staff. You have identified and evaluated the school’s strengths and current priorities and you detail further actions to address these priorities in the comprehensive school development plan. You acknowledge that planned actions are not yet closely aligned to the progress that pupils make in their learning. Nevertheless, ambitious targets for pupils are found elsewhere in data-tracking documents and objectives for teachers’ appraisal. Improvements in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment are accelerating quickly the rates of progress of current pupils across the school. You, governors and other school leaders across the federation keep a close eye on the quality of teaching. You do this, for example, by monitoring teachers’ planning for lessons and analysing work in pupils’ books. You hold discussions with pupils about their learning and spend time visiting classes to observe teaching and learning. Pupils’ excellent attitudes to learning and good relationships with adults remain key strengths of your inclusive school. Pupils develop good citizenship skills, being keen to take on responsibilities through roles such as ‘class monitor’ for a wide variety of tasks, from ringing the school bell to organising books, being a member of the school council and the collective worship council. Pupils take great pride in the wellordered and attractive school environment, both inside and outside, and have plans to develop and reorganise the wildlife garden. Pupils benefit from quality displays in classes and shared areas, and their behaviour in class and around school remains exemplary. Pupils’ attitudes to learning are excellent; most are very eager to work hard. At the previous inspection of the school, leaders were asked to improve the quality of teaching, especially in mathematics, so that it was of a consistently high standard. This has been tackled with resolve, but you acknowledge that work is still to be undertaken to drive forward further improvements. Pupils speak clearly about the opportunities they have to respond to teachers’ feedback, completing further challenges to consolidate their learning. Teachers’ expectations of pupils are very high. Teachers have planned learning activities that are age-appropriate in their classes that encompass three different age groups of pupils, such as in mathematics, where all pupils in one class were investigating and interpreting bar graphs. There is still further work needed to ensure that pupils are consistently stretched and challenged within each year group, including the most-able pupils and especially in mathematics. Safeguarding is effective. In your role as designated safeguarding leader, you ensure that policies, procedures and records are of high quality and up to date. Your determination to leave no stone unturned in your duty to keep pupils safe is exemplified by a recent audit of all procedures, actions and records to check that pupils’ welfare is secured. You have overseen the school’s security action plan to ensure that possible issues are minimised. All staff are appropriately trained and have access to well-written policies and guidance. As a result, they have a secure understanding of their individual responsibilities for safeguarding pupils. Pupils are very knowledgeable about bullying and e-safety. They understand how to avoid situations that may prove dangerous when not at school. Parents are very clear that their children are happy and safe in school and they state this categorically in school questionnaires on Parent View, the Ofsted questionnaire for parents. Inspection findings The long-established culture of keeping pupils safe and putting them at the heart of this friendly and inclusive church school community remains very evident. The personal development and welfare of all pupils are an important focus for the school. Pupils’ behaviour around school and in lessons is of a very high standard. They are courteous, have good manners and are friendly towards visitors, adults and each other.