Since your recent appointment, you have established a strong team of leaders and teachers, many of whom began their time at Rolph this term. The whole team has settled well and the relationships with the pupils are already well developed. The school had a period of some disruption last term due to promotion and the absence of key leaders. There were a variety of leaders from February 2016, many of whom were interim or acting in their posts. This undoubtedly had an impact on staff and pupils. However, it is clear that this was minimised as much as possible. The appointments you have made this term have ensured that learning is much more secure than during the summer term and pupils have had a very good start to their autumn term. With the establishment of the new and experienced staff in your leadership team, you are in a strong position to continue the improvements you have made since your appointment. Your evaluation of the school’s strengths and weaknesses, and what needs improvement, is accurate. You have built on the strengths of the school and launched appropriate and effective strategies for the areas that need to get better. You have already identified leaders to take these priorities forward, and developed further leadership capacity with other schools. Your high expectations are evident. Actions you have put in place, and those which are planned, are reasonable and timely. You have quickly developed a very effective working relationship with the acting head of school. As a result, the day-to-day leadership of the school is very effective. Parents say the same. One commented: ‘My first impressions of the new executive headteacher and head of school are very, very positive’. The work that you have undertaken to ensure that you have accurate assessment information, and that pupils’ progress is well monitored, is paying dividends. From the evidence we reviewed during the inspection, including a thorough scrutiny of pupils’ work from last year, it is clear that pupils made good progress in writing and mathematics. There was also evidence of many making more rapid progress, including the most vulnerable pupils in the school. We agreed that there is still a need for further challenge at all levels within a small minority of classes. Pupils told me that sometimes their work has not been challenging enough. They are, however, very keen to learn, very articulate and able. You have already begun to plan times when pupils will work with their parents in school. This will help to ensure that parents receive up-to-date information about what their children are learning and how to support them. The acting head of school has already ensured that the website accurately reflects pupils’ weekly homework and the curriculum that each class will be covering each term. During the last two years, leaders have responded well to ensuring that pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain. Pupils understand the part they play in their school community. For example, mirroring the parliamentary process, they have petitioned the executive headteacher to become class advocates. They are proud to have additional responsibilities as junior librarians, school council members or lunchtime assistants. The development of pupils’ understanding of the needs of their local community and, indeed, communities abroad, is fostered carefully. Activities such as collection and delivery of produce to local, elderly residents, and the development of links with France and Kenya, contribute to pupils being good citizens. Your school’s strong Christian values of ‘love, faith, forgiveness and respect’ are evident in the way that pupils conduct themselves in lessons, in the playground and around the school. As a result, behaviour remains a strength of the school. You have rightly identified the need to improve pupils’ outcomes in English, and in particular reading. Pupils say that they enjoy reading. They get a good start in the Reception and key stage 1 classes, reading regularly to adults. The teaching of phonics is also very effective. As a result, pupils use their phonics skills well in their reading, and outcomes in the Year 1 phonics screening check have been above the national average for the last three years. However, you recognise that pupils’ comprehension skills are not as well developed as they could be. This has challenged some pupils, as can be seen in the unconfirmed 2016 assessments at the end of key stage 2. You have already worked with staff to ensure there is a consistent approach to teaching reading skills and that teachers have a firm grasp of how this improves writing. This was evident in classes seen during my visit. You also recognise that pupils in key stage 2 would benefit from more regular opportunities to read with adults both inside and outside of school. The introduction of ‘books and biscuits’ has been hugely popular with pupils.