The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Adults have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. Consequently, the school is a sanctuary for pupils to learn and grow into polite and caring citizens. Pupils are industrious in lessons and enjoy school. The vast majority of parents and carers share pupils’ positive views of the school. They value the wide range of clubs and activities that the school provides. Views commonly expressed by parents include, ‘Every year is a memorable year for my child because the school makes learning fun.’ You and your deputy headteacher lead a team of enthusiastic and dedicated staff. You lead with vision and clearly articulate your high expectations. Consequently, all staff understand their roles and are keen to do their best for every pupil. Leaders have made sure that staff training has improved the quality of teaching across the school. As a result, standards continue to strengthen and more pupils reach the expected standards for their age compared to national averages. Governors provide a good balance of support and challenge for leaders. They have a good understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for development. Your detailed reports help to provide governors with a good understanding of the school’s effectiveness. Governors use their professional skills to keep a close watch on pupils’ progress and to ensure that actions lead to continued improving standards. You have successfully tackled the areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection. Leaders have enhanced the early years outdoor provision so that children can learn in a more stimulating and purposeful environment. You were also asked to provide opportunities for pupils to apply their calculation strategies to solve problems. This formed one of my lines of enquiry below. Safeguarding is effective. You and your team do all that can be done to support pupils’ safety and welfare. Staff forge successful partnerships with parents and provide them with valuable support and information about their children’s progress. Your pastoral lead has developed a strong network of external support, which helps pupils and their families to receive the help they need in a timely manner. You undertake all the necessary checks to ensure that adults are safe to work with pupils. Staff undertake robust risk assessments to make sure that all pupils are safe on trips. You routinely evaluate your actions to determine whether they are effective. You have robust safeguarding procedures and provide staff with regular updates to training. Consequently, staff recognise that safeguarding is everybody’s responsibility. Your staff show vigilance in reporting their concerns. You keep detailed and confidential records and escalate concerns when pupils need extra help. Inspection findings My first line of enquiry focused on pupils’ behaviour and welfare. Historically, attendance has been low and exclusions high. Pupils’ overall attendance has improved to be in line with the national average. However, the proportion of pupils who are persistently absent from school remains too high. The majority of these pupils are too young to take themselves to school. You have not shied away from difficult decisions and have issued penalty notices when holidays are taken in term time. However, you recognise that there is still more to do to make sure that the most vulnerable pupils, who are persistently absent from school, attend regularly. The number of exclusions has also been high. You have taken effective action so that exclusions have now reduced considerably. You have been effective in seeking the advice and guidance of external agencies so that staff can better support the few pupils who have considerable emotional needs. Pupils’ conduct is good. Incidents of poor behaviour are extremely rare. Pupils are confident that if any bullying occurs staff would deal with it quickly and effectively. Secondly, I looked at the effectiveness of the teaching of mathematics, and, in particular, at how pupils apply calculation strategies to solve problems. The proportion of pupils reaching the highest standards in mathematics in 2017 was below the national average at key stage 2. The mathematics leader has worked effectively to oversee improvements in this subject. She has supported teachers’ improved subject knowledge. Teachers provide pupils with challenging tasks. Pupils are now competent in applying their calculation skills to solve problems.