The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Since becoming headteacher, you have carefully evaluated the school’s work and have overcome turbulence in staffing by appointing well. You have successfully shared your aspirations for the school. You have high expectations of staff and give support where necessary. Staff work hard and are determined that all pupils feel valued and achieve as well as they can. You and your newly formed senior leadership team are highly skilled and have a good understanding of how the school could be further improved. The school improvement plan addresses this comprehensively and your decisive action has been successful in bringing about improvement already. For example, outcomes in early years and key stage 1 improved last year and staff more effectively meet the individual needs of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Parents are supportive of the school and are keen to attend organised events such as parents’ evenings and assemblies. They recognise there have been many changes in the past two years and the majority are very positive about these and are happy with the care and education their children receive. Particular strengths mentioned to inspectors were the smooth induction for children starting school and the effective support for those pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Parents feel that teachers are approachable and friendly and they appreciate that most issues are dealt with swiftly. However, some parents feel that communication could be more timely and would welcome greater access to the senior leaders. Pupils are excited and articulate when talking about their school, especially the new curriculum. Year 6 pupils were keen to describe their recent ‘wow’ day which involved dissecting a heart which was, ‘gruesome but really interesting’. Pupils enjoy having visitors to the school and taking part in educational trips. They can explain clearly how these activities support their learning and develop their independence. The new behaviour system is clearly understood by pupils and they like the rewards, including ‘star of the week’, and think the consequences are fair. Pupils speak with pride about the responsibilities they are given. These include being members of the school council and sports captains. They are enthusiastic about the school’s sporting achievements and the opportunities they get to perform in productions. Around the school, pupils conduct themselves well and are kind and respectful to each other and adults. In classrooms, pupils concentrate and work hard. They are keen to talk about their learning and are proud of their achievements and progress. Pupils in different classes were eager to explain their learning in mathematics and show inspectors their best writing. Pupils achieve well but occasionally tasks do not challenge them, particularly in mathematics, and some of the most able pupils report that work is sometimes too easy. Middle leaders are knowledgeable and are developing the skills to effectively monitor the work of colleagues. However, they do not yet consistently challenge others to secure improvement. The chair of the governing body is passionate about the school and has great understanding and knowledge of all aspects of the school’s work. The chair and the governing body support you effectively through their careful monitoring and focused challenge. Governors are ambitious for the pupils and can identify where there have been weaknesses in pupils’ progress and attainment. They have a clear understanding of the recent changes the leadership team has put in place and have welcomed this decisive action to improve teaching, learning and assessment throughout the school. Governors recognise that they need to further develop their skills to enable them to more closely monitor the impact of recent changes and hold all leaders fully to account. At the time of the previous inspection, leaders were asked to check the quality of teaching more frequently and pupils’ progress more systematically. The leadership team has overhauled the assessment process and has developed a school-wide analytical approach to all assessment information. This ensures that all teaching staff are developing a greater understanding of pupils’ current attainment and are able to identify what pupils need to learn next. Pupil progress meetings, aspirational targets and a well-structured programme of professional development have led to teachers’ higher expectations. This has been particularly successful in early years and key stage 1, and progress is increasing in key stage 2.