You have led the school with resolve and have enthused and encouraged staff to be ambitious for pupils. You are assisted well by senior leaders and by a positive staff team who are single minded in their drive to provide a high standard of education for pupils. The effectiveness of leadership has been strengthened because responsibilities for steering subjects have been delegated to middle leaders. Middle leaders support you unreservedly and are complimentary of the training and opportunities they have received to help them increase their skills and expertise. Consequently, middle leaders take ownership of areas they are responsible for and feel emboldened to effect change. They have aided you in raising the quality of teaching because they are involved effectively in monitoring and evaluating the performance of colleagues. They are excellent role models to others. As a result, the quality of teaching is consistently good, and this in turn is impacting positively on the progress that pupils are making. Thus, the leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Most parents are highly supportive of the school and in particular of your leadership. Parents wrote such tributes as: ‘The ethos of the school comes from Mrs Mumford’s wonderful nature: calm, measured and happy’. Another example was: ‘I believe a significant reason for the high quality of the school is down to the excellent leadership of the headteacher’, and also, ‘Her style of leadership is gentle and quiet, an encourager of the good and a great respecter of each child in the school.’ Despite these very positive comments, which reflect the views of many parents, you know that there is still more work to do to ensure that parents are aware of, and see, the positive aspects of their children’s experiences at school. This will help to ensure that parents are wholly engaged with the school’s continued upward journey, and participate fully in their children’s education. You know the strengths of the school and what needs to be accomplished to make the school even better. For instance, leaders understand that even more pupils need to make greater than expected progress to raise the proportion of pupils who achieve higher standards by the time they leave the school. Leaders should continue to stretch the most able pupils and challenge middle-attaining pupils to think more deeply and apply their knowledge in a range of ways, so that they too can reach the highest levels of attainment. You and your staff have worked creditably to meet the recommendations from the previous inspection. You have ensured that pupils are clear about what they are learning and use targets and helpful guidance from adults to improve their own work. Classrooms are adorned with useful prompts to help pupils engage with their learning without relying on support from adults. You have provided additional training for teaching assistants to help them ask probing questions and deepen pupils’ thinking in lessons. Effective questioning is now a strength, particularly in key stages 1 and 2. You have considered carefully how to raise attainment in mathematics. For instance, you have employed a subject specialist to teach the older pupils in the school, so that pupils’ mastery of mathematics is developed fully. Governors add to the capacity of leaders to improve the school further. Governors are evaluative, thoughtful and skilled. They share your ambitions for pupils. They ask searching questions about how the work of the school could be improved. They provide challenge and support because they clearly understand the school’s strengths and weaknesses. This is because leaders are transparent with the information they give to governors. Governors take their responsibility to safeguard pupils very seriously and discharge their statutory duties well. Safeguarding is effective. School leaders have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of high quality. This is reinforced by a deeply rooted, caring and nurturing environment which focuses on the well-being and safety of pupils. Leaders are acutely aware of their responsibilities to protect pupils and ensure that their practice is in line with current legislation and consistently applied by staff. Leaders make certain that adults are well trained, including in relation to radicalisation and online safety. Pupils who are at risk are supported very well, and leaders diligently pursue positive outcomes for the most vulnerable pupils in their care. This includes instances when pupils take too much time off school, which stops them from making the progress of which they are capable. Most parents agree that their children are safe and cared for well. One parent expressed their view by saying of her children: ‘Both have flourished under the school’s leadership and the supportive and nurturing environment it creates’.