The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the previous inspection. A notable feature of the school is the strong care and practical support that your staff provide. You and your team are fully committed to ensure that the children, pupils and their families are supported effectively. This whole-family approach ensures that pupils’ personal development and welfare are prioritised. Increasingly, this helps pupils progress in their learning well. In 2017, pupils’ attainment in reading and mathematics was above that seen nationally. In writing, Oaktree pupils achieved in line with other pupils nationally. Disadvantaged pupils did equally well. Pupils’ strong progress was sustained in writing this year. However, pupils’ progress in reading and mathematics was not consistently good. Pupils enter the school with low starting points. It takes time for pupils to catch up with pupils making incremental improvements year-on-year because teaching builds on what pupils know, can do and understand. The school’s approaches, including reading high-quality texts and providing an interesting and motivating curriculum, are effective stimuli that pupils use to extend and deepen their knowledge and skills. At the previous inspection, you were asked to develop the quality of teaching so that pupils make stronger progress in writing. The leaders’ strategy to improve the teaching of writing is proving successful. The quality of pupils’ writing has improved markedly since 2016, when it was well below the national average. The proportion of pupils reaching the high standards has also increased noticeably. The school’s whole-school approach to planning writing is increasingly effective. Teaching enables pupils to produce carefully thought-out and organised writing. However, pupils in some year groups across the school do not write with the complexity and accuracy expected for their age. You were also asked to develop leadership at all levels. You are building an effective team of middle leaders around you to bolster leadership capacity. Leaders’ coordinated response to improving pupils’ attainment in key stage 1 and lower key stage 2 is building momentum. Since the previous inspection, the school has expanded and extended its Nursery provision. Children benefit from inviting and engaging learning environments. Adults and children build strong relationships with one another. Children settle in quickly and enjoy the activities on offer. Governors have invested heavily in staff to support the most vulnerable pupils. The school’s enrichment support for pupils who find themselves faced with significant challenges at school and at home is effective in building pupils’ self-confidence and self-esteem. Working with a range of professionals, pupils develop the social and emotional skills that they need to be ready to learn and achieve well. Careful planning of the curriculum ensures that pupils do not miss the same lessons or subjects when they attend. However, sometimes pupils do not catch up on the work that they miss. Leaders and governors recognise the need to tackle this. Almost every parent who responded to the online questionnaire, Parent View, reported they would recommend the school to another parent. Safeguarding is effective. Leaders have ensured that safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Policies, procedures and training relating to safeguarding meet requirements and are up to date. You are taking appropriate action following local authority and external advice to update your record-keeping when incidents occur. Staff have a keen awareness of the risks that pupils face and act swiftly when they are concerned about a pupil. Leaders with specific safeguarding responsibilities and parent support workers follow up these concerns to ensure that pupils, and their families, receive the support they need when they need it. They escalate concerns if they assess that pupils are not getting the support they need to keep safe. Records relating to child protection are kept meticulously. Pupils say that teachers and support workers listen and help them sort out any problems quickly. Inspection findings My first key line of enquiry was to look at how well pupils attend school. In the recent past, pupil absenteeism has increased to above the national average.