The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. The school works effectively within the Equals Trust (the trust), of which it became a member in September 2016. There has been effective collaboration on school improvement programmes. Staff and governors have opportunities to work with other schools to exchange good practice. Pupils are happy to come to school. They are keen to participate in such activities as learning how to look after chickens and raise money for the school from the sale of eggs. They appreciate the wide range of sports activities and clubs available. There are opportunities for pupils to participate in the smooth running of the school by volunteering to become members of the school council. The ‘dustpan and brush award’ enthuses pupils to keep their classrooms and the school environment tidy. Pupils are proud of their school. They get on well together and have confidence in the ‘zero tolerance’ culture. They know that concerns are dealt with well. Pupils understand that the school provides a climate in which pupils are nurtured and encouraged to thrive. A typical comment was, ‘This is like a home to me.’ Pupils are motivated learners. They enjoy work that is challenging. They listen attentively to adults and they work well with each other. Classrooms are stimulating and engaging places to learn. Teachers provide displays which support pupils’ learning effectively. In classrooms and around the school, pupils’ work is celebrated and presented to a high standard and this is a seamless link between both school sites. Parents and carers speak highly of your leadership and the care shown by staff. They are pleased with the range of opportunities available. They value participating in their children’s learning. Parents appreciate the inclusivity that is the school community. A typical comment was ‘Pupils do get a wide-ranging experience. There is care taken. I feel the teachers know the children.’ The school curriculum is carefully planned to develop pupils as caring, compassionate and thoughtful members of society. Staff teach pupils to respect and value differences, including cultures and religions. Leaders have worked effectively on developing the ‘Heymann highway’ culture of being a ‘self-manager, a team worker, a resilient thinker, an investigator and a creative thinker’ to ensure that pupils have a can-do attitude to learning. You and your staff provide a wide range of interesting experiences: visits to museums, a trip for the older pupils to the Houses of Parliament, visitors in school and workshops. Annual residential trips for pupils in Years 4 and 6 help to build pupils’ confidence and resilience. They enjoy taking part in the many inter-school events and competitions. Pupils leave Year 6 very well prepared for the next stage of education. Leaders and staff place a strong emphasis on staff development. Your enthusiastic staff work collaboratively within school and with other professionals in schools in the trust and more widely, to develop their expertise. More-experienced leaders nurture new subject leaders to ensure that their actions lead to improvements. Leaders track pupils’ achievement through regular discussions with teachers. Together, you have identified the key priorities for improvement and have ensured that staff have a higher expectation of what pupils can achieve in lessons and over time. When pupils need to catch up, additional support is provided quickly. Leaders of mathematics and English check the impact of initiatives, some of which are new or are in the process of being embedded. However, this is not done precisely enough to make sure that it is highly accurate across the school. Leaders need to have a clear focus for bringing about improvements in writing and mathematics. During our tour of all key stages, we noted that, in some classes, teachers were not effectively designing tasks to ensure that the most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, made the progress of which they are capable in writing and mathematics. Pupils’ work showed that some tasks did not challenge these pupils sufficiently. There remains work to be done on ensuring that initiatives in writing and mathematics are effective. The governing body has a wide range of skills which they keep up to date through regular training. They understand the importance of holding leaders to account and have a system in place to ensure that leaders are challenged. They know the school well and are keen for pupils’ progress to improve still further, including for the most able pupils in mathematics and writing. The governing body shares your vision to provide an engaging curriculum. Governors visit the school regularly as part of their responsibility to hold leaders to account. They do not consistently focus their visits on the school’s work to address the improvement priorities, however. Safeguarding is effective. Leaders place a high priority on keeping pupils safe and have made sure that safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Records are detailed, well organised and kept securely. Recruitment procedures are followed and are thorough. Training is up to date. Safeguarding information is displayed around the school. As a result, staff have up-to-date knowledge of safeguarding. This keeps them alert to risks and attentive to procedures. Leaders have developed a strong and effective culture of safeguarding. Staff make timely referrals of concerns. You are tenacious in your approach to ensuring strong pastoral and multi-agency support for vulnerable pupils and their families. The curriculum has been planned to include opportunities for pupils to learn how to keep themselves safe in the wider community. Pupils are confident about how to keep themselves safe online. They feel safe and secure in school. They know they should speak to a trusted adult if they feel worried. Pupils are very confident that adults will listen to any concerns that they have. Inspection findings During the inspection, the quality of teaching and learning of writing was observed in all key stages. Published information in 2018 shows that at the end of key stage 2 the proportion of disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard was below the national average, and that the proportion of the most able pupils reaching the higher standard in writing was below the national average. At the end of key stage 1, the proportion of disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected level was below the national average and the proportion of the most able pupils working at greater depth was below the national average. Leaders have introduced a consistent approach to teaching writing, with a greater emphasis on cross-curricular links to improve the regularity and the range and purpose for writing. Pupils edit and improve their own and other pupils’ writing. In key stages 1 and 2, pupils read engaging texts to develop their vocabulary and their enthusiasm to write. For example, in key stage 2, pupils had to plan a leaflet, persuading adults not to drink and drive. In key stage 1, as a result of adults using a range of stimuli, pupils were generating complex sentences related to castles and knights. Pupils’ workbooks show that they write with increasing regularity, at length and for a range of different purposes. A wide range of vocabulary is used to make writing more interesting to read. Leaders have introduced schemes and resources to improve spelling and language enrichment. Skills in spelling, punctuation and grammar are taught regularly and systematically to give structure to writing and to make it more effective.