You and the head of school have worked closely together to bring about goodquality teaching across the school. In 2015, you made the decision to strengthen the school’s capacity to develop further and joined the Diocese of Bristol Academies Trust. This enabled you to look more widely to develop leadership and teaching in order to continue to secure pupils’ good progress. The on-site pre-school joined the academy in June 2017. The head of school, as leader for early years, is now bringing her expertise to extend the school’s high-quality early years provision to children from two years old. Following a period when pupil numbers dipped, the number of children now joining the school in the Reception Year has risen significantly. Parents are complimentary about the head of school’s leadership, the quality of teaching and the school’s deep Christian values. The school has, as one parent said, reflecting the opinion of others, ‘an ethos that embodies both nurture and teaching at all levels’. Pupils behave well and enjoy their learning. They enthusiastically embrace events such as ‘Egyptian Day’, which took place during the inspection. Pupils and parents value the wide curriculum, particularly the regular opportunities to learn outdoors. Governors are knowledgeable about the school’s priorities and make purposeful checks to ensure that planned actions are bringing improvements in pupils’ progress. Governors recognise the key role the head of school has to play in achieving the targets set for pupils’ achievement. Therefore, although subject leadership is distributed across the group of local schools, governors challenge the head of school to lead key improvements. The quality of teaching and the school’s curriculum have been strengthened through effective professional development. For example, leaders and teachers are now confident to assess pupils’ writing accurately, having shared work with a wide range of other schools. As leaders, you hold detailed information about pupils’ starting points and use this to set pupils’ individual targets. In regular meetings with teachers, leaders identify what is needed to help pupils achieve their potential. You are aware that for some pupils currently in key stage 2, robust efforts are still needed to help them catch up in writing. Safeguarding is effective. You and your governors ensure that safeguarding is given a high priority across the school. Staff are regularly trained and are vigilant in keeping pupils safe. You have strengthened the systems that record concerns that pupils may be at risk of harm. You are aware of the needs of vulnerable pupils in the school and, consequently, are able to give them good support. Parents report that they value this aspect of the school as a particular strength. As one parent wrote, reflecting the views of others, ‘It is a loving and family friendly school.’ You carry out and record all checks to ensure that adults who work with pupils are safe to do so. You have considered the particular risks associated with the school site. For example, there are effective procedures for parents to bring their children to school safely. Equally, the head of school ensures that there is good supervision at all times for pupils and children in the early years when they are playing in and beyond the school grounds. Governors make regular checks on health and safety procedures and now take account of provision in the pre-school. Pupils value the teaching about road safety and how to ride their bicycles safely. They understand the importance of using the internet cautiously. Pupils also value the ‘family feel’ of the school and, as one pupil said, ‘Everyone has a friend here.’ They say they sometimes fall out with their friends, but that it is definitely not bullying. They are confident that, should bullying arise, it would be quickly dealt with. Leaders have been successful in improving the attendance of pupils who have been persistently absent in the past and they continue to be vigilant if pupils are not in school. Inspection findings I looked at the school’s work to improve the progress pupils make across key stage 2. In particular, I considered how improvements in the teaching of mathematics and writing were securing these pupils’ good achievement. Many of the pupils now in key stage 2 joined the school very recently at times other than at the normal time. Leaders quickly identify pupils’ starting points and set targets for their achievement. Increasingly effective teaching is now hastening pupils’ progress in writing and mathematics. However, some pupils are not yet demonstrating that they are consistently working at their targeted level. Pupils are enthusiastic writers and frequently write in a series of ‘short bursts’, ‘quick writes’ and longer pieces where they develop their ideas. Teachers methodically build pupils’ specific skills of grammar. Teachers’ strong subject knowledge ensures that the pitch of their teaching provides challenge to pupils. Key stage 2 pupils apply adverbial phrases and effective vocabulary accurately to add interest to their writing, for example in their adventure stories based in ancient Egypt. Teachers and pupils discuss strengths and areas for improvement in pupils’ writing. However, pupils are not currently given an opportunity to put improvements into practice. For example, having written their adventure story, there is no opportunity for pupils to act on teachers’ advice and improve their work. This limits pupils’ opportunities to consolidate their recently acquired skills and reach the higher standards of which they could be capable. Pupils are making good progress in mathematics across the school. Workbooks show they now regularly apply their knowledge of arithmetic to problem-solving and investigations which deepen their reasoning skills. Pupils write explanations of their thinking. They are learning to use correct terminology in their answers, such as ‘numerator’ and ‘denominator’, but as yet their answers lack the clarity to demonstrate deeper understanding. The work in some books appears rushed and teachers do not consistently support pupils’ accuracy by holding them to account for not setting their work out neatly. Pupils in key stage 2 work in one mixed-age class. A high proportion of pupils in the class have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities. Consequently, I looked at how leaders were ensuring that the needs of all pupils in the class, including the most able, were being met. It could be seen in lessons and work that the teacher takes account of pupils’ recent assessments and provides challenge for all, including in mathematics and writing. The head of school provides strong leadership in securing the achievement of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. She is vigilant in ensuring that the class teacher has the advice and support necessary to meet the wide range of needs in the class. Skilled teaching assistants keep detailed records, which show that pupils are making good progress in their individual interventions. Parents, particularly those who have recently moved their children to the school, highlight the confidence their children gain in the school’s nurturing environment. Lastly, I looked at how the provision in the pre-school was developing children’s learning and I reviewed the arrangements for the children’s welfare. Governors ensured that the move to bring the pre-school into the academy went smoothly. The good relationships across all staff show the effectiveness of this work. The head of school is working closely with the pre-school staff to develop consistently good practice across the early years phase. Pre-school staff provide a clean and stimulating environment for children to learn both indoors and out. They have built good routines, which are supporting children’s personal development and enjoyment in learning. They assess children’s learning regularly and accurately. As yet, staff are not planning learning activities with the depth necessary to move children on to their next steps in learning in, for example, mathematics and speaking. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: pupils’ progress in writing is hastened by giving pupils opportunities to consolidate their skills to improve the quality of their writing teachers have high expectations of pupils’ presentation and explanations in mathematics so that pupils more consistently demonstrate their improved reasoning skills the planned learning activities in the early years pre-school class promote children’s progress more securely. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body and the chief executive officer of the multi-academy trust, the director of education for the Diocese of Bristol, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Wiltshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Wendy Marriott Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection Together with you and other senior leaders, I visited the classes to see pupils’ learning. The head of school and I made two visits to the pre-school class to see children learning and to check welfare needs were being met. As a group of senior leaders, you joined me in reviewing pupils’ workbooks for writing and mathematics and the new planning for writing. I met with a group of governors from the local board, including the chair of governors. The deputy director of the trust and a trustee from the local board also attended the meeting. I met with and discussed the school’s progress with the school improvement officer. I reviewed a range of documents including information about safeguarding, pupils’ achievement and attendance. I took account of the school’s self-evaluation and current school improvement plan. I met with pupils at lunchtime and spoke to a small group about their views of the school. I met with parents at the end of the school day. I took account of the 20 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View and the additional comments of 11 parents.