The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have established a friendly, calm, purposeful school built on a strong foundation of Christian values. You have led the school through a time where there have been many changes of staffing and have made the right appointments. The head of school, who only took up this role this term, has quickly won the confidence of parents, pupils and staff. Everyone agrees that senior leaders have high expectations of what pupils will achieve and how well they will behave. The overwhelming majority of parents are delighted because pupils flourish here and are so happy to come to school. One parent said, ‘The values, love and respect that are modelled within the school help my children question and engage with the world around them and want to make a difference.’ Pupils are well mannered, friendly and enthusiastic. They show a lively interest in their learning. Older pupils look after younger ones and readily take on responsibility because they are encouraged to do so by leaders and teachers. Another parent commented, ‘I have been overwhelmed by the overall positivity at the school and the politeness and good behaviour of the children.’ Levels of attainment and rates of progress in the school are high, especially in key stage 2. The few disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities achieve well and make good progress from their different starting points. Last academic year, the progress that pupils had made by the end of Year 6 was well above that seen nationally in reading and mathematics. Almost all pupils achieved the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics. As a result, pupils are very well prepared to succeed in the next stage of their education. Several parents confirmed that those who had left John Keble in recent years had made a strong start in secondary school and were thriving. You have addressed the areas identified at the last inspection effectively. Inspectors asked leaders to provide more problem-solving opportunities for pupils and we saw clear evidence of this in pupils’ books and during some lessons. Inspectors also asked leaders to ensure that staff in the early years provide children with challenging experiences and use questioning to deepen their understanding. During our visit we saw this in action. Children were completely absorbed in building a volcano in the sand pit. They talked enthusiastically together and asked many questions. The teacher’s thoughtful answers and well-chosen questions helped children to take a step forward in their learning and further stimulate their curiosity. Finally, inspectors asked leaders to increase leadership capacity, especially in middle leaders and governors. Leadership has improved because senior leaders ensure that all leaders have many opportunities to develop their expertise in different areas and grow as leaders. Governors provide effective support to the school. They know the school well and make sure that they ask some challenging questions to hold the school to account. They draw on a range of evidence to reach their view, including information gained during visits to the school. Safeguarding is effective. You have established a strong safeguarding culture in the school. Policies, procedures and protocols are all fit for purpose. You ensure that the right checks are made on people before they can work in the school. Staff are trained regularly and all have read the most recent guidance on how to keep pupils safe. Senior leaders keep staff up to date with any important new information about safeguarding matters. Governors understand their safeguarding responsibilities well and make regular checks to ensure that pupils in the school are safe. All staff understand and embrace their responsibility to safeguard pupils. They are vigilant for the signs that might indicate that a pupil is vulnerable and register any concerns promptly using the school’s online system. This system is effective because all staff know how to use it, and do so to record even relatively minor matters. As soon as any new information is recorded, those responsible for safeguarding in the school are alerted immediately. Consequently, senior leaders always have the latest information about pupils who might be at risk. You engage effectively with external agencies whenever you feel that a pupil is at risk of harm. Pupils feel completely safe in the school. They have the utmost confidence in staff to look after them and deal with any problems as they arise. Pupils understand the many types of bullying, but say that it almost never happens. On the rare occasions that it does crop up, staff quickly nip it in the bud. You ensure that pupils understand how to stay safe in a range of situations, including online. Older pupils have a quite detailed appreciation of the risks they face when on the internet, including when using games consoles. Inspection findings The inspection followed three lines of enquiry that we agreed together. First, we explored the progress made by the most able pupils in the school, especially in key stage 1. Published information about the school’s performance shows that the proportion of pupils who attained greater depth in reading, writing and mathematics was in line with national figures. However, not enough most-able pupils made the strong progress required to attain these higher standards at the end of key stage 1. This was true in all subjects. Teachers typically have high expectations of pupils and understand that the most able pupils need to be stretched in their learning. These pupils say that the work provided is usually interesting and challenging. Where most-able pupils achieve best, they are regularly asked to explain their thinking and reason carefully. They become articulate, thoughtful and resilient. For example, in mathematics pupils regularly reflect on their learning. Pupils think carefully about how well they have achieved and what lessons they have learned. Teachers take careful note of pupils’ reflections and usually adapt their lesson plans accordingly. We also saw evidence of this in reading and writing. Parents also noted that, ‘Staff know how to challenge [pupils] whilst boosting their self-confidence.’ We noticed in lessons and in pupils’ work that there are pockets of inconsistency in the quality of teaching. Where inconsistencies occur, levels of expectation dip and the high expectations seen in the great majority of classes are not mirrored. For example, occasionally, some teachers do not insist on high standards of presentation nor ensure that pupils spell the days of the week correctly. As a result, progress is not as rapid as it should be, including for the most able. These lower expectations are mostly seen in the lower half of the school. Second, we looked closely at the impact of leaders’ actions to improve the teaching of writing across the school. Pupils achieve less well in writing and make less progress than they do in reading and mathematics. Where writing is taught most effectively, pupils have regular opportunities to write independently. Pupils learn the important skills needed to write in a grammatically correct way through carefully structured lessons. Teachers provide regular opportunities to apply these skills in a range of interesting pieces of writing that spark pupils’ interest. For example, in Year 6 pupils had been learning about a variety of sentence structures. They quickly applied this learning by writing wonderfully descriptive sentences about a fictional planet. Where pupils have fewer opportunities to write independently, their progress is slower. Finally, we agreed to investigate how well pupils learn across the curriculum. Teachers plan the curriculum so that pupils find learning interesting and appealing. In addition to lessons in school, teachers plan trips to exciting places to bring learning to life. In the week in which I visited, pupils were about to visit Fishbourne Roman Villa. Other trips include visits to Stonehenge, Manor Farm and Highclere Castle. There is also a wide range of clubs outside of school hours.