The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. There have been a significant number of changes in staff since the previous inspection. However, you know that all staff and the governing body are a committed and hard-working group of people, with the outcomes for pupils being at the heart of all they do. You, senior leaders and the governing body have an accurate view of the strengths of the school, and the areas that need further improvement. Your school action plan is pithy, pertinent and precise. Rodborough school is a happy place in which to work and play. Parents and staff are overwhelmingly supportive of the school and all that goes on in it. Parents are proud of their children’s achievements and would recommend the school to others. Teachers are willing to embrace change and try different methods to improve the quality of learning in their lessons. Teachers new to the school receive excellent support. Pupils relish coming to school, feeling safe and protected. They enjoy their learning and the friendships they make. The school’s ethos, underpinned by the school’s motto and rules, is followed and understood by all. As a result, pupils blossom as thoughtful and considerate members of society. At the previous inspection, the school’s leaders were asked to increase the amount of good and outstanding teaching in mathematics, especially in Years 1 to 3. Typically leaders have risen to the challenge. With the deputy headteacher, you have ensured that teaching and learning in mathematics is strong in all classes. Testimony to this are the key stage 2 results in 2016, where pupils’ performance was strong. You have identified where improvements need to be made to improve pupils’ writing, for example by reducing pupils’ errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar. However, we saw that pupils are now writing at greater length, and demonstrating increasingly complex ideas and skills, particularly in their stories. You have already made good headway in making improvements. You and other leaders are aware that more needs to be done, particularly when pupils are in lessons other than in English and mathematics, to develop their mastery skills. Safeguarding is effective. You and the business manager have ensured that detailed records relating to the safeguarding and protection of pupils are systematically and carefully kept. Processes, policies and procedures are robust and fit for purpose. You and the governing body have ensured that staff are well trained and kept up to date with statutory guidance and best practice. For example, all staff have received training on identifying potential child sexual exploitation, the dangers of extremism and radicalisation, and female genital mutilation. You regularly involve other professionals in the community to support parents and pupils in knowing how to keep safe. Further work is planned, keeping them regularly aware of the latest developments and potential dangers in a digitally changing world. Through using the acronym ‘SMART’ (safe, meeting, accepting, reliable, tell), and the carefully thought through personal, social, health and economics programme, pupils are well aware how to keep safe on social media and know who to go to if they have concerns. The ‘Ditto’ newsletter, and information on the school’s website, help to keep parents informed and provide links for additional help and advice. Inspection findings Initially, I wanted to find out what the school had done following on from the previous inspection, when leaders were asked to improve the teaching of mathematics. You and the deputy headteacher have worked relentlessly to ensure that mathematics is taught more consistently in all classes. Teachers, and teaching assistants, have embraced the new ways of teaching mathematics that have been introduced. As a result, pupils are making better progress in mathematics than they have in the past. When we looked in pupils’ books we saw that sometimes younger pupils could work at greater depth sooner and that a lot of their answers were always correct. My second line of enquiry was to see if there were any differences between the progress made by girls and boys. This was because in key stage 2 statutory tests in 2016, boys made average progress in reading and writing compared with girls, who made well above average progress. From the evidence seen in pupils’ work, and school records, the difference between the progress that girls and boys make is not generally as large. Also, sometimes boys do better than girls. The reasons for the differences in progress are specific to the individual pupils in different year groups. To ascertain that the school remained good, I wanted to check how well the pupil premium fund was being used to support those pupils entitled to it. You and the governing body have provided a raft of different types of support for these disadvantaged pupils. It is clear that because of carefully targeted spending of the pupil premium funds these pupils make better progress than seen nationally. However, we noted that sometimes they do not make the same rate of strong academic progress as their classmates. Nevertheless, the personalised spending pays dividends for their personal development and welfare, where they make excellent strides. Finally, I wanted to know how well the school identifies and supports pupils who have special educational needs. You, acting as the special education needs coordinator, accurately identify, know and understand the special needs of each pupil well. We noted that sometimes the progress these pupils make slows as they get older. We agreed that the school needs to have expert support from therapists, such as those with speech, language and occupational skills. This is needed to help you identify even better the pupils’ learning barriers and potential ways of overcoming them. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: they continue to develop the cross-curricular links at greater depth in a wider range of subject areas, particularly those to support pupils’ mastery of mathematics and English the school explores the use of other sources of expert provision to improve the progress that the pupils identified with special educational needs and/or disabilities make in key stage 2, compared to other pupils in the school. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body and the director of children’s services for Gloucestershire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Steffi Penny Her Majesty’s Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I met with you and the deputy headteacher, and shared my key lines of enquiry. I also met members of the school’s governing body, and the business manager. I heard a group of pupils read and talked with pupils about their learning and life in school. I held a telephone conversation with a representative from the local authority. I considered the 78 responses from the online Parent View questionnaire, the 19 responses from the staff questionnaire and the 93 responses from pupils. I reviewed a range of documentation including that relating to safeguarding, the school’s self-evaluation and development plans, and assessment information about the achievement of and outcomes for pupils.