The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Since your appointment as headteacher in April 2017, you, other leaders and governors have effectively managed a number of changes including restructuring the leadership team. You have also reversed a deficit budget, so the school is financially sustainable. You have rightly paid sharp attention to improving pupils’ outcomes, while maintaining the high-quality pastoral care which is a feature of the school. The values of curiosity, achievement, resilience and relationships continue to be embedded in the curriculum and pupils’ approach to learning. You have sensibly prioritised staff development and ‘buy-in’ for the changes you have made. Consequently, although you have had much to do to ensure that the school remains good, staff, pupil and parent morale continues to be high. Relationships are very strong and there is mutual respect between pupils and adults. The high levels of care are recognised and appreciated by parents. One parent commented: ‘Members of staff are fantastic; they put the well-being and the education of the children first.’ Pupils are proud of their school, are well mannered and enjoy their learning. You and your team create an environment which is inclusive and tolerant, and where pupils learn without discrimination. As a result, pupils are happy and feel secure. You have successfully increased attendance rates since you joined the school. However, attendance still remains below the national average and too many pupils are still persistently absent. In the previous inspection, inspectors highlighted the following strengths: good teaching; the quality of support given to pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities; positive relationships and effective leadership. These strengths have been maintained. Leaders were asked to improve the quality of teaching in writing to raise pupils’ achievement. The teaching of writing has improved and pupils are now making better progress across the school. You have achieved this by having a whole-school approach to writing that focuses on higher expectations of what pupils can achieve in lessons. Pupils have opportunities to apply their writing skills in other subjects such as history and geography. Although writing is improving, you recognise that there are still inconsistencies in teachers’ expectations. Attainment in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stages 1 and 2 dipped below national figures in 2017. The most recent assessment information for Year 2 and Year 6 shows that standards are improving to catch up with the national picture. Across the school, current pupils’ work and the school’s own assessment information show that pupils are making good progress. Safeguarding is effective. There is a strong culture of safeguarding in the school, so pupils are safe and secure. The well-developed policies and procedures are reviewed regularly to ensure that governors have the most up-to-date information and hold staff effectively to account. Record-keeping is robust and appropriate actions are taken to make sure all concerns are followed up swiftly. Comprehensive procedures for the employment of staff ensure that all staff are properly vetted before they work in the school. The school works very well with outside agencies to make sure families and pupils get the help they need. Parents, staff and pupils agree that Highworth is a safe and secure place to learn. There are extensive child protection induction arrangements for new staff and annual refresher training for all staff. As a result, staff take the right action when concerns arise. All welfare requirements for younger children are effectively met. One pupil made the following comment: ‘Teachers and adults make you feel safe. They always know what to do and how to make you feel better.’ Inspection findings At the beginning of the inspection, we agreed to review boys’ achievement in writing; action taken to raise standards; the effectiveness of work to improve attendance and the effectiveness of teaching and learning in phonics. My first line of enquiry focused on what the school does to ensure that boys make the same progress in writing as girls. This is because the difference between boys’ and girls’ attainment has historically been greater than in other schools nationally. You provided robust evidence to show that typically boys join the school with lower starting points, particularly in writing, than girls.