The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You lead Manor Church of England Infant School with strong determination. You evaluate accurately what the school does well and where further enhancements should be made. Using this information, you put in place appropriate action plans to improve the school further. In recent years, under your successful leadership pupils’ achievements have risen significantly. The proportion of pupils who achieve a good level of development at the end of Reception Year is high. Similarly, the large majority of pupils achieve well in the phonics screening check in Year 1. By the time pupils leave the school at the end of Year 2, the proportion of pupils who achieve the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics exceeds rates seen nationally. However, you are not complacent. With strong support from your talented governing body, you are ambitious to see pupils’ outcomes rise further. As a result of your tenacious drive, the school continues to go from strength to strength. At the heart of your school are a strong family atmosphere and clearly defined values. Staff work diligently to uphold ‘love, trust and truth’, and ensure that pupils discover how these are linked to British values and help ready them for life in modern Britain. Parents and carers value highly the nurturing school environment you have created. Those who responded to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, were overwhelmingly supportive of the school and would recommend it to others. One comment, typical of many, stated: ‘My child has gained so much confidence since starting at Manor Infant School. Seeing the progress he has made, particularly in reading and mathematics, has been like magic before my eyes.’ You wasted no time in addressing the areas for improvement identified at the last inspection. As a result, pupils’ outcomes in mathematics have risen considerably, and they are able to work confidently and independently across a range of different tasks. Pupils grapple successfully with challenging number puzzles. They confidently use the number facts they have already learned to try out a range of different calculations to arrive at the correct answers. Throughout the school, current pupils are achieving well in reading, writing and mathematics. You are aware, though, that despite the high proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in these subjects, more are capable of achieving at the highest standards. Staff are taking appropriate action to tackle this by planning learning that is suitably challenging for all pupils. Your hard work to improve pupils’ rates of attendance is achieving positive results. You are rightly diligent to ensure that this improvement, particularly for disadvantaged pupils, is secured long-term. Safeguarding is effective. You have created a successful safeguarding culture at Manor Church of England Infant School. Staff are trained effectively to keep children safe, and leaders check robustly that adults know what actions to take to safeguard children. Similarly, when necessary, leaders are swift to provide further training to update staff on any new child protection information. You work closely with other professionals, such as the school nurse and social services, to protect children from harm. Leaders take the right actions to recruit suitable staff to work with children. Governors monitor rigorously this important aspect of leaders’ work, for instance by checking appropriately the school’s single central record of employment checks on staff. The school’s work to safeguard children meets statutory guidelines. Pupils say that Manor Church of England Infant School is ‘a kind and caring place’, where ‘everyone looks after each other’. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe, for instance by calling 999 in an emergency if they need the police, an ambulance, or the coastguard. They learn successfully how to keep themselves safe online. They know to tell an adult immediately if they see something on a website that frightens them. Pupils stated confidently they have a trusted adult in school who they would talk to if they had a worry or concern. Inspection findings During the inspection, we focused on how effectively leaders ensure that pupils are supported to achieve at the highest standards in writing. We also scrutinised leaders’ actions in improving pupils’ attendance. Finally, we evaluated leaders’ work in promoting British values and ensuring that pupils are prepared well for life in modern Britain. You ensure that children’s emerging writing skills are developed successfully in the early years. For instance, children learn their letters and sounds effectively and frequently practise creating simple words and sentences. Effective teaching ensures that the most able children are supported well to write simple sentences with increasing accuracy. In key stage 1, pupils use and apply their developing grammar and punctuation skills to complete complex sentences. Teachers support pupils’ learning well, asking probing questions that strengthen their knowledge and deepen their understanding of effective writing. Most-able pupils use capital letters, full stops and different tenses accurately and confidently to punctuate and structure their writing effectively. You set high expectations for pupils’ good attendance. When necessary, you support families by providing additional help from a range of other professional services. This has helped vulnerable pupils, including some who are disadvantaged, to miss less school. You successfully encourage pupils to improve their own attendance. A range of different strategies have been put in place to enthuse and reward pupils to attend more regularly. Pupils told me: ‘It’s important to come to school so you can learn lots.’ Overall rates of attendance have improved. However, you remain rightly determined to ensure that these improvements remain secure over time. You plan carefully to ensure that pupils develop a good understanding of British values. For instance, in learning about British rules of law, key stage 1 pupils held a mock trial to decide whether ‘Goldilocks’ was guilty of committing a crime. Pupils relished this opportunity and explained to me that British rules of law are like both school rules and the high expectation staff have of pupils’ behaviour. Pupils demonstrate very caring attitudes towards each other, and towards other members of society. They explained why they collected produce for the local foodbank, and why it was ‘important to help other people who could not afford to go shopping themselves’. Pupils’ very positive attitudes demonstrate that you prepare them very well for life in modern Britain. Currently, despite high proportions of pupils achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics, more are capable of exceeding expectations from their starting points. Teaching does not consistently challenge those pupils who are capable of working at the highest standards. You have identified this in your own self-evaluation but plans to address this are not yet fully refined. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: more pupils achieve at the highest standards in reading, writing and mathematics they sustain improved attendance rates, including for disadvantaged pupils. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Winchester, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Hampshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.