The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. There has been much instability in the leadership of the school since June 2015. You joined the school as headteacher in September 2017, at the same time as a new deputy headteacher, bursar, inclusion leader and five teachers. In a one-form entry school, this was a significant change in staffing. You wasted no time in rallying your staff, building them into the strong, collaborative team that they now are. Staff share your vision that ‘children are central to all that we do’. You are united in your goals for the school. All staff who responded to the Ofsted staff questionnaire are proud to work at the school and morale is high. On appointment, you identified rapidly what improvements were needed. Together with your deputy headteacher, you have taken swift and effective action to improve provision across the school. Self-evaluation is accurate. Leaders and governors know exactly what needs to be done next. The local authority provides you with effective support in order to raise standards further. You have put the school back into the hearts of the community. As one parent commented, summing up the views of many, ‘It is clear that the headteacher strives to make this school as great as possible.’ Leaders’ capacity to continue improving the school is clear to see. You have ensured that pupils now have access to a broad and balanced curriculum. You are rightly proud of the physical education provision that the pupils receive. Pupils have the opportunity to be involved in many different sports and competitions, including cricket, tag rugby and dance. During the inspection, I observed skilled badminton coaching. As a result, the Year 1 pupils understood exactly how to hold a racquet and shuttlecock in order to serve. The curriculum is enriched through a range of extra-curricular activities such as archery, fencing, computing and choir. Pupils talk with enthusiasm about their school. ‘Pride in the badge’ runs deep at Larchfield. Pupils are proud to attend the school and are proud of the work they produce. Presentation is of a high quality. Pupils love many aspects of school life, including their daily mile run, hot chocolate reward time and science experiments. They told me that behaviour is mainly good, other children are friendly and teachers are ‘really, really helpful’. Parents, too, are proud of their local school. They spoke to me about how their children are always smiling. As one parent wrote, ‘My child is very happy to be here and we are part of a wonderful school family.’ At the last inspection, leaders were asked to improve the teaching of mathematics, You and your staff have successfully addressed this. In 2018 at the end of key stage 2, the attainment of pupils was in line with the national average at the expected standard. In addition, a higher-than-national-average proportion of pupils exceeded the expected standard. However, current performance information and work in current pupils’ books show that the most able pupils are not always challenged enough in their mathematics throughout the school. Leaders were also asked to enrich the outdoor learning opportunities for children in the early years. They have established outdoor classrooms that enable children to enjoy their learning across all areas of the curriculum. Since your appointment, you have grown the Nursery so that more children can attend and benefit from the valuable provision that you offer. Safeguarding is effective. Leaders and governors fulfil their statutory safeguarding duties well. You have established a strong culture of safeguarding. Leaders are tenacious in their approach to ensuring that pupils and their families get the support that they need. Records are comprehensive and show that swift action is taken when necessary. Pre-employment checks demonstrate leaders’ thorough action in ensuring the suitability of all staff and volunteers to work in the school. Safeguarding training is regular, and policies and procedures are fit for purpose. Adults understand their safeguarding responsibilities well. The pupils that I spoke to during the inspection say that they feel safe in school. Pupils have a good understanding of what bullying is. They said that bullying is ‘extremely rare’ at Larchfield and that ‘teachers definitely try to sort it out’. The curriculum includes helpful advice on e-safety. Pupils know not to share personal information and to tell an adult if they are worried about something online. Inspection findings We agreed that the focus for the inspection would be on: the teaching of mathematics; how effectively leaders are improving standards in reading, including phonics; and the effectiveness of the outdoor areas in the early years.