The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You are highly motivated and lead an exceptionally strong leadership team. You, as headteacher, have an uncompromising desire for the school to constantly improve. In your self-evaluation, you correctly identify the effectiveness of the school as ‘good and improving’ and you know what needs to be done to improve. There is a positive learning culture throughout and staff take collective responsibility for pupils’ outcomes. Parents and carers interviewed were effusive in their praise for the school and one remarked, ‘It’s a lovely school where the staff go above and beyond for the children. I am very happy.’ Pupils described their school as ‘awesome’ and ‘fantastic’. Your relentless focus on developing the school further and providing the best for the pupils has meant that areas for improvement which were highlighted in your last inspection have been tackled with rigour. Leaders have worked hard to increase the amount of outstanding teaching by ensuring that tasks are well matched to pupils’ needs. In lessons, pupils are encouraged to be resilient and adopt the mantra ‘fix it, reinforce, challenge’. Pupils who are struggling are quickly identified and access ‘same-day’ interventions, which are financed through additional government funding. You have identified and tackled weaker teaching and this has had a positive impact on pupils’ progress. Middle leaders are strong and are always willing to share good practice with colleagues. The last inspection report required the school to improve writing and now writing is an area of strength. For example, in 2017, 93% of Year 6 pupils reached the expected standard and almost a quarter achieved the higher standard. Attainment in writing at key stage 1 was similarly strong. The purchase of high-quality reading texts and the strengthening of crosscurricular links have had a positive impact on attainment across the school in writing. Achievement in writing has now reached a similar level to that of reading. Targets for pupils are now more sharp and focused and pupils are clear what they need to do to achieve personal success. Safeguarding is effective. The school has a strong safeguarding culture. Senior leaders and governors have established policies and practice that are highly effective and fit for purpose. The safeguarding records are appropriately detailed and of high quality. All checks for the recruitment of staff are in place. Regular child protection training is carried out with teachers, teaching assistants and governors. You rightly praise the work of the three designated safeguarding leaders and that of the member of staff who is a child exploitation and online protection ambassador. All have delivered safeguarding training sessions to parents and staff. Pupils interviewed said that they felt safe and happy at school. Behaviour is exemplary and pupils have excellent manners and show respect for one another. All considered bullying to be rare because everyone is ‘kind, caring and thoughtful’, but, if it were to occur, they said that it would be dealt with quickly. The responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey reflect this positive view. Pupils were able to explain how to stay safe online. A large e-safety display in the information technology suite reminds everyone how to stay safe when using the internet. Parents’ views were overwhelmingly positive. The vast majority agreed that pupils are safe and well cared for, with many choosing to express how happy and settled their children are. Inspection findings One of my key lines of enquiry explored what leaders are doing to enable pupils in key stage 2 to make better progress. This is something that you have correctly identified as the key area in your school development plan for 2017/18. A system of coloured stickers on exercise books ensures that all teachers know what level each pupil should be working at and they then set appropriate targets and tasks for that pupil. You, as headteacher, have agreed rigorous pupil progress targets as part of each teacher’s performance management and these targets are reviewed at regular intervals throughout the year. Regular reviews of pupils’ exercise books and frequent moderation of work have highlighted any pupils whose progress has slowed. Progress indicators for the present Year 6 cohort suggest that a greater proportion of pupils will make better-than-average progress from key stage 1. Work viewed in pupils’ books across key stage 2 confirms this view. Attainment at the end of key stage 2 in 2017 was impressive in terms of the proportion of children reaching the expected standard, with all subjects being at least 10% above national averages. The proportion of pupils achieving the greater-depth standard was also higher than national averages, but not significantly so. You have rightly recognised that the most able pupils need to be challenged more and have placed a greater focus on this group. For example, in mathematics, several changes have been made. A new mathematics leader has been meticulous in monitoring and supporting colleagues. She has also forged links with high-attaining local schools and has transferred good practice to Ingleby Mill. In English, challenging class reading texts have been introduced and these are having an impact on reading and writing skills in a positive way. Pupils in one Year 6 class described to me how much they are enjoying reading ‘Goodnight Mister Tom’. Disadvantaged pupils are well supported and leaders have clear and generally effective priorities when it comes to the use of additional government funding. In 2017, the proportion of disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard at the end of key stage 2 was in line with national averages for reading, writing and mathematics combined. Progress for this group was particularly strong in reading, but attainment and progress in mathematics were below what were expected for their age. Leaders realised that support was needed and allocated additional government funds to provide one-to-one support and same-day interventions within school. Computer software has been made available to pupils to support learning outside of school. From our observations and meetings with leaders, it is clear that teachers closely monitor the work of disadvantaged pupils, and challenging personal targets are set. On our visit, we observed some history and geography teaching in Years 5 and 6. In these lessons, staff demonstrated strong subject knowledge. In one lesson about ancient Greece, the pupils were asked to identify primary and secondary sources and comment on their value. This promoted some interesting discussion work. School visits are frequently used to enhance learning in the foundation subjects and pupils said how much they enjoyed these. For example, one Year 6 pupil explained how much she had enjoyed her class visit to Beamish, which was linked to work on the Victorians. The high standards in English and mathematics reflect the priority given to these areas, but this is sometimes at the expense of other subjects. In some classes, links to English and mathematics are appropriate and enhance the foundation subjects, such as in history in upper key stage 2, but, in other classes, links are not so strong. You and the senior leadership team have a comprehensive understanding of the school and the quality of provision. You are well placed to sustain and build upon the high standards already achieved. Children in the early years make an excellent start and pupils in key stage 1 achieve highly against national averages in all areas. Reading is a strength across the school and it is clear that the teaching of phonics in Reception and Year 1 is exceptional. Achievement at the end of key stage 2 is strong. Most pupils reach the expected standard and around a quarter achieve at greater depth. You were able to describe, in detail, the targets set for the present Year 6 pupils in terms of attainment and progress. These are ambitious, but reflect the high quality of the work seen in exercise books. Governors have a comprehensive knowledge of the school and provide strong leadership support. Key members of the governing body were able to describe, accurately, the school’s strengths and weaknesses. Governors are fully involved in the management of the school and provide strong support and challenge in equal measure. The work they do with regard to safeguarding is impressive. They make regular visits to the school and are knowledgeable about finance, teaching, learning and attainment data. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: pupils in key stage 2 make more rapid progress there is increased challenge for the most able pupils, thereby increasing the proportion who reach the highest standard at the end of key stage 2 pupils continue to use their strong literacy and mathematical skills to further enhance work in the wider curriculum. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Stockton-on-Tees. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Richard Knowles Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During this one-day inspection, my colleague and I looked at safeguarding, teaching and learning, attainment and progress, provision for the most able and crosscurricular links. We held meetings with you, senior leaders, the school business manager, the mathematics coordinator, the coordinator for foundation subjects and the chair and two other members of the school’s governing body. I also had a meeting with the school’s local authority representative. We evaluated documentation, including the school’s self-evaluation, the school’s improvement plan, assessment data, governors’ minutes, behaviour records and information about safeguarding and children at risk. We spoke with a number of parents at the start of the day and considered 107 responses from the Parent View questionnaire. I also looked at the online surveys completed by staff and pupils. My colleague met with two groups of pupils from a range of year groups to discuss safeguarding and behaviour. She also listened to a small group of children read. You and I visited most classrooms in key stage 2 to observe teaching and learning in English and mathematics. My colleague and the deputy headteacher visited all classes in key stage 1 and the early years. During the afternoon, we observed history and geography being taught in Years 5 and 6 and then carried out a book scrutiny and looked at written work from most year groups.