The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. As headteacher, you have a very thorough understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for further improvements. With governors, you have planned and prioritised improvements purposefully over the last 18 months. You have led the school through a period of turbulence in staffing and will only accept the best for your pupils. Staff and governors share your commitment to ensure that the school provides the very best for its pupils. You set high standards and expectations. The school’s motto, ‘a school where every child can shine,’ underpins your drive that every child should succeed. The school’s values of wisdom, hope, community and dignity permeate the school. Pupils are welcoming, happy and courteous. They appreciate what this small school offers them. A typical comment was, ‘A lot can come in a little package.’ Pupils are thoughtful learners. They consider the ideas and views of one another and respect each other. You have a skilled team of governors who understand the school’s strengths and weaknesses and the journey to make this school even better. They rightly identify the need to make sure that the most able pupils are challenged to achieve greater depth in their learning. This is a priority in your current improvement plan. Governors fulfil their roles and responsibilities diligently and effectively. They provide strong challenge as well as support to move the school forward. They take time to visit the school to check whether the actions set out in the improvement plan are being implemented and having a positive impact on pupils’ learning. Governors spoke knowledgably about the sophisticated mathematical learning which pupils undertook when they visited and appreciated seeing pupils planning and planting a seed bed of foods to create a healthy meal. Such experiences in school complement their visits to review other aspects, such as safeguarding arrangements. Pupils are well behaved, both in lessons and at break- and lunchtimes. They engage positively with their work and respond positively to opportunities provided by teachers. It was a delight to see and hear them prepare for the harvest festival. Class 4 pupils sang joyfully, while Class 1 pupils confidently prepared a poetry recital. At the last inspection, leaders were asked to improve pupils’ writing. You have introduced a literary-based curriculum to build on pupils’ knowledge and skills in reading and writing. For example, pupils in Class 2 are learning about travellers and explorers through Roald Dahl’s ‘James and the Giant Peach’. It is evident that pupils’ writing is improving, especially for children in the Reception class, and pupils made strong progress by the end of key stage 2 in 2018. Leaders were also asked to improve fluency of mathematical calculations. You and the leader of mathematics have introduced significant changes to the mathematics curriculum and to the way it is taught in all classes. These positive changes have been supported by training for teachers, and through purchasing new resources, which are used to help pupils understand and consolidate their learning. The work to improve standards in mathematics is beginning to show a positive impact on pupils’ learning across the school. You and the leader of mathematics have clear plans to develop pupils’ mathematical reasoning and applied problem solving. These plans are seen in the improvement plan and the recent and ongoing involvement in the mathematics hub focused on mastery in mathematics. While some progress has been made in the teaching of mathematics, some weaknesses remain. Pupils do not have secure reasoning and application skills. Safeguarding is effective. Leaders and governors ensure that all aspects of safeguarding arrangements work well and are fit for purpose. Staff are trained regularly and know the processes that should be employed if they have any concerns. There are appropriate risk assessments in place to ensure that the school site is safe. Governors ensure that safer recruitment processes are in place and pre-employment checks of teachers and other staff are thorough. Staff understand their responsibilities and are vigilant in ensuring that all pupils and children are safe. As designated safeguarding lead, you have a strong understanding of safeguarding and a very robust commitment to supporting pupils and keeping them safe. You have high expectations of other services, follow up concerns swiftly and challenge other agencies to ensure that support is available for vulnerable pupils. Safeguarding records are very well maintained. Pupils are taught how to be safe. This includes fire and road safety as well as understanding the potential risks involved in online gaming, social media and use of mobile phones. Following a survey of pupils’ use of the internet, you repeated an esafety workshop for parents and carers at which there was a much larger attendance than previously. This helped parents to better understand how they could also help keep their children safe online. You extend this support through advice and many hyperlinks on the school’s website. Fire drills and ‘lock-down’ practices ensure that all are confident about what to do in the unlikely event of an emergency. Overwhelmingly, parents who responded to the online survey, Parent View, say their children are safe and are happy at the school. Pupils who met the inspector also said that they feel safe at school. They are confident that they can turn to an adult in school, who will deal with any concerns or worries they may have. Pupils have a clear understanding of what bullying is and those who spoke with the inspector said that there is no bullying at the school. You and the staff know pupils and their families very well and this is a strength of the school. There is a secure and effective culture of safeguarding at the school. Inspection findings Until recently, the proportion of children reaching a good level of development at the end of Reception Year has been below the national average. The situation has improved in the last two years. In 2018, a greater proportion of children gained a good level of development than in 2017, and more children exceeded this standard. You have changed the class structure in early years, improved outdoor resources and revised the curriculum. These changes have resulted in improved teaching and learning. Teachers and adults have high expectations. They insist on good manners and nurture positive attitudes and relationships. Adults are well trained in supporting children’s good progress, for example through skilful questions to help children express their thinking. This was seen in an outdoor teacher-led activity focused on shape and the building of three-dimensional shapes. Children were engaged and intrigued to discover more. Samples of learning journals show the breadth of learning as well as the progress children made last year in preparation for Year 1. We observed lessons in Year 1 and could see that children have been well prepared for the challenges of key stage 1 work. They are confident in their writing and mathematics work and show positive attitudes to their learning. An overhaul of the mathematics curriculum and the way it is taught has brought about improvements in pupils’ learning. Pupils are given more demanding work which builds on and consolidates their previous learning. In 2018, at the end of Year 6, virtually all pupils attained the expected standard, with more attaining the higher standard in 2018 than in 2017. However, the level of challenge does not consistently stretch the most able pupils sufficiently to achieve even higher standards in mathematics. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: the most able pupils are challenged more consistently to extend their knowledge, deepen their understanding and refine their skills further pupils make consistently secure progress in mathematics by further deepening their reasoning and application skills. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Derby, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Derbyshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Chris Davies Her Majesty’s Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I met with you to discuss the school’s effectiveness. I held discussions with the three governors, including the chair of the governing body. I also met with teachers. I met formally with a group of pupils and spoke with other pupils throughout the school day. Together we observed lessons twice in every class in the school. We looked at a sample of books and pupils’ work. I examined documents, including information about the safeguarding of children and their achievement. I also looked at the school’s self-evaluation and improvement plan. I considered 22 responses submitted by parents to the inspection questionnaire, Parent View, and met informally with parents and grandparents at the beginning of the school day.