The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. The school now has an oversubscribed nursery. There are over 100 more pupils than at the time of the last inspection due to planned expansion. You run a very popular breakfast club, which helps working parents and ensures that pupils get off to a good start in the mornings. Parents are generous in their praise for the school. One parent commented: ‘All three of my children are very happy at this school, all the teachers are very friendly and very helpful.’ Leadership is greatly strengthened due to your high expectations. You and the leadership team have created an inclusive, exciting and rich curriculum experience, enabling pupils to build not only basic skills, but also skills for life. To this end, pupils learn, for example, how to sew on buttons and look after the school rabbit and tortoises. They also learn how to get along with pupils who have very different backgrounds and beliefs from their own. Pupils take part in outdoor pursuits, visit museums and enjoy singing, dancing and performance. Senior and middle leadership is strong; there are clear lines of responsibility and accountability. Teachers take pride in the leadership of their subject or phase. Pupils make good progress from their below-average starting points across the curriculum, including in English and mathematics. The proportion of pupils achieving a good level of development last year was three times higher than at the time of the last inspection. Leaders have built an interesting and lively early years base for children in Nursery and Reception to enjoy. The large majority of children now achieve a good level of development. However, opportunities are missed for children in Nursery to make rapid progress, because the quality of teaching is not consistently good. You are aware of this through your monitoring and are taking steps to improve it. The quality of teaching for the most able pupils has improved. Scrutiny of books shows some very well developed, high-quality writing. Good attention is paid to the accuracy of spelling and grammar. Pupils regularly practise handwriting. Their books show that they are making good progress. Writing is of the same high standard across the curriculum. Books are well presented, indicating good behaviour over time. Boys are making better progress, particularly in key stage 1, as the curriculum is more engaging and teaching continues to improve. Progress for the less able disadvantaged pupils is not consistently good. This is because they do not always have enough support to help them structure their writing well or to understand mathematical methodology. The teaching of phonics is highly effective for the middle- and high-ability pupils, but less effective for the least able. Attendance has improved significantly since the previous inspection, but it has recently dipped as the school has expanded. You have reacted quickly and effectively to this dip. The free breakfast club has improved the punctuality and attendance for disadvantaged pupils successfully. You have also appointed an attendance coordinator. Since her appointment in January, there have been further improvements in the attendance of disadvantaged pupils. Safeguarding is effective. The single central record meets requirements. All staff have regular child protection training. This includes midday supervisors, who are confident to report any concerns about pupils. Child protection records are kept securely. Your pastoral team work closely with a range of agencies to support children and families whose circumstances may make them vulnerable. You hold a weekly meeting for all relevant staff to share information around child protection cases, with a focus upon behaviour and attendance. You support children looked after and their families well. As a result, pupils say that they feel safe and they enjoy coming to school. Inspection findings The school is a wonderful learning environment. Every classroom and corridor is beautifully decorated with larger-than-life characters from stories, enticing pupils to read and fuelling their imaginations. Teachers have high expectations. As a result, pupils take pride in their work. Pupils are expected to read regularly at home and they read at least weekly with an adult in school. Teaching has improved due to strengthened subject leadership. Scrutiny of books shows that standards are equally high in the ‘creative curriculum’ and in Spanish, as they are in English, mathematics and science. There is more challenge for the most able pupils evident in books. Pupils are making much better progress in key stage 1, including boys. Pupils in Year 1 were observed making good progress in phonics. They showed excellent prior learning and a good understanding of the sounds that letters make. Pupils behaved extremely well and clearly enjoyed their learning. Similarly, in Year 2 mathematics, middle- and higher-ability pupils were observed making good progress. A small group of less-able disadvantaged Year 1 pupils did not make good progress in phonics, because the letter sounds were not modelled for them. There was a missed opportunity for them to practise writing the letters. Similarly, in Year 2 mathematics, the least able pupils struggled to use number lines and hundred squares appropriately. They did not have the methodology sufficiently well modelled for them to work it out by themselves. Outcomes show that the least able disadvantaged pupils do not make the same good progress as their peers. Attendance is improving due to strengthened capacity in this area. The school is working more strategically with groups of parents to good effect. However, attendance remains below the national average and marginally lower for disadvantaged pupils. The proportion of children achieving a good level of development this year is forecast to be broadly average. This is a significant improvement and represents good progress in Reception. Children in Nursery benefit from an engaging indoor and outdoor environment. However, the curriculum is not suitably tailored to suit the variety of abilities on entry. I observed all the children sitting on the carpet developing their fine motor skills. However, opportunities were missed to use the three other members of staff to best effect to ensure that all children made good progress. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: attendance continues to improve, particularly for disadvantaged pupils the teaching of phonics is consistently good the least able disadvantaged pupils make the same progress as their peers children make rapid progress in Nursery. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Blackburn with Darwen. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.