The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You and the school’s senior leaders are highly committed people. Governors have made several key appointments since the last inspection which has strengthened both teaching and leadership further. You have fostered a great deal of positivity and professionalism within the staff. Leaders are conscientious and focused on securing the very best outcomes for children. St Benedict’s has gained, and renewed, a range of key accreditations since the last inspection. This includes a prestigious ‘Eco’ award. You and your staff are very proud of the environment and learning experiences that you have established in an inner-city school. Your garden area is well tended by the school community. During the inspection, the greenhouse and borders were bulging with a wide range of fruit and vegetables. You and governors are committed to offering a rich learning experience. Leaders have fostered a keen sense of accountability in staff. Teachers and support staff are very keen to discuss the impact that they have on learning. Staff are anxious to share what is working well and are receptive to feedback. Teachers have been provided with focused training to target their skills in areas such as assessment and the teaching of writing. This training is having a very positive impact on standards across the school. Pupils’ books evidence strong progress, high standards of presentation and a rich curriculum. Outcomes have broadly improved across different year groups and phases since the last inspection. By the time pupils leave in Year 2, they consistently achieve in line with or above national standards. This marks strong progress given pupils’ different starting points. The proportion of pupils who have met the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics check has also increased year-on-year. Outcomes in phonics are above those found nationally and there are no gaps in performance between different groups. However, outcomes in the early years dipped in 2016. A lower proportion of children achieved the early learning goals than in previous years. Attainment was particularly low for boys. Leaders responded quickly to this dip in attainment by establishing an action plan to respond to weaker areas of performance. As a result of your effective actions, rates of progress have improved and, over time, the vast majority of children are making at least average rates of progress. You and leaders recognise that your focused improvement work in this phase of the school must continue so that children’s progress is accelerated further. At the last inspection, you were asked to make more teaching outstanding by giving pupils opportunities to explain their ideas and thinking, and more support with spelling, grammar and punctuation. High-quality training has helped improve these areas significantly. Pupils’ books evidence the rapid improvements in their writing skills. Pupils’ spelling and grammar skills are developing well across the school. In every class I visited, pupils were keen to share their learning and demonstrated great confidence with their speaking and listening skills. Leaders and governors have evaluated the effectiveness of the school accurately. The findings in the inspection were closely aligned to your own reviews of teaching and learning. You acknowledge that further work is required in improving attendance, securing an even greater level of challenge in lessons and refining assessment systems in the early years. Safeguarding is effective. The leadership team has ensured that systems and procedures are fit for purpose. The designated safeguarding lead is tenacious. She has provided staff with regular and relevant training and acts quickly upon concerns. If the school is not satisfied with the level of support or response from an external agency, they escalate their concerns further. Pupils’ records are detailed and catalogue the steps that leaders take to keep pupils safe. Leaders also take account of any specific risks locally and build additional learning into the curriculum to support families. This has included workshops on esafety and activities alerting pupils to the dangers of open water.