You and your leadership team have maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have focused on improving the quality of teaching and learning effectively. Most teachers are now very aware of the needs of different groups of pupils and plan their lessons accordingly. The majority ensure that they provide challenging work for pupils across the ability range. The effective use of ‘challenge’ questions in mathematics is just one example of how this is done. You have established a culture in which staff and pupils have excellent relationships based on mutual respect. Pupils value the support they receive from you and your staff and they help each other on their journeys through education. They want to achieve well and are continuing to make good progress. Parents, carers and staff are positive about the quality of education you provide for pupils. A real strength is the extra-curricular provision, which affords pupils numerous opportunities to develop their skills and experience new things. You and your staff have an ambitious vision for the school. You are not satisfied with providing a good education and want to be even better. Governors share your ambition and have the skills and experience to challenge and support you in your pursuit of excellence. You are an outward-looking leadership team and you have forged effective links with a wide range of schools within the local authority and beyond. Via these strong links, you have ensured that teachers’ assessments are as reliable as they can be at this time of significant change in national examination systems. During the inspection we agreed that there are aspects of the school’s work which need further improvement. These include continuing to improve the quality of teaching and learning and improving levels of attendance, particularly for pupils who are disadvantaged. Safeguarding is effective. Leaders have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of a high quality. Pupils say that they feel safe and that they have confidence in school staff to help them resolve any issues which arise. Pupils said that they feel safe in all areas of the school. Staff are aware of their safeguarding responsibilities and know what they have to do if they have a concern. This is because they receive high-quality training and support. Governors are also well trained and fulfil their responsibilities thoroughly. Inspection findings Leaders have put a number of effective strategies in place that are leading to disadvantaged pupils making better progress. This improvement is evident in pupils’ work and in the school’s information about their progress. Attendance fell below the national average last year and you have taken effective action to remedy this situation. A new attendance officer is in place and is already having a positive impact. Figures for this academic year show that you and your team have reduced overall absence and it is now back in line with the national average. The attendance of disadvantaged pupils has been a concern for the last two years and the changes you have made are proving to be effective. Your actions have reduced the proportion of disadvantaged pupils who are persistently absent, and the attendance of this group of pupils has improved this year. Pupils’ behaviour continues to be a strength. Their conduct in lessons and around school is exemplary and they are extremely polite and courteous to visitors. They are proud of their school and strive to make a good impression. You and your staff have created a very calm, orderly environment, which enhances pupils’ learning. Rewards are central to the effective management of pupils’ behaviour, and inspectors saw this in lessons and in the Year 7 assembly. Sanctions are clearly understood and have a positive impact. Behaviour management is well led and leaders have used partnerships successfully to ensure that permanent exclusions are rare. Fixed-term exclusions are well below the national average. Effective teaching in the sixth form continues to bring about secure progress for sixth-form students. Both in formal discussions and informally, sixth-form students talk very highly about the quality of teaching and the support they receive. You and other leaders have been quick to home in on the few subjects where results have not been of the high standard you expect, and you have taken appropriate action. Secure teaching over time is leading to strong progress in both key stage 3 and key stage 4. However, where teachers do not set challenging work for pupils of all abilities, pupils’ progress is slower. Leaders are aware of this and are working effectively with individual teachers and departments to secure improvement. Middle leaders are very positive about the way you and your leadership team work with them to monitor the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress. They value the strong, effective links with their senior leadership line manager and feel that their voice is heard. Parents’ and carers’ responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, confirmed the findings in your own survey. Parents are very positive about the school. Many parents took the opportunity to add comments and were very complimentary about the quality of teaching and the school’s strong behaviour systems. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: they continue to develop and embed strategies to improve the attendance of disadvantaged pupils and reduce the proportion who are persistently absent they maintain the focus on disadvantaged pupils, so that the improvements for this group of pupils continue improvements in the quality of teaching and learning continue, so that the few remaining inconsistencies are eradicated. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Leeds. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely David Pridding Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection Inspectors met with you, your senior leaders and some of your middle leaders, governors and pupils. We gathered a range of evidence from observations of learning and from scrutinising pupils’ work. Senior leaders joined inspectors on some of the observations. Middle leaders accompanied us in scrutinising pupils’ English and mathematics books. The inspection team checked and evaluated documents, including your child protection policy, safeguarding records, school self- evaluation, school improvement plans, internal progress information and attendance data. Inspectors also considered the 213 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View.