The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the previous inspection. You, the staff and governors at St Michael’s VA Junior School are outward looking, drawing on skills, expertise and good practice beyond the school. You are also reflective, looking in detail at what you do in school and where things could be improved. You and your team acknowledge that after a number of years of high results at the end of Year 6, the dip in 2016 outcomes was unexpected. However, you were determined to ensure that this was not repeated. You analysed what had gone wrong and swiftly put in place a range of changes to address any shortcomings. This proved effective and in 2017 the unvalidated outcomes at the expected standard returned to slightly above national averages. This determined response characterises the school and your leadership. It is reflected in the way you successfully tackled the areas for improvement from the previous inspection by improving the quality and consistency of teaching. Your well-thought-out current plans for improvement also demonstrate your focus on school development. These plans recognise that more needs to be done to improve the progress of the most able pupils. You are highly ambitious for all pupils and passionate about providing a broad and interesting educational experience for every pupil. You provide exceptional leadership for your team. Staff spoken to during the inspection recognise the benefits that working at the school brings to their professional development. Every member of staff who responded to Ofsted’s online staff survey said that they are proud to be a member of staff at the school. Your drive for improvement is infectious, and all staff and governors share your commitment to high achievement for all pupils. Governors provide support and challenge in equal measure. They are genuinely excited by changes which help the school to move forward. However, they still check the rationale for the changes and evaluate whether these changes provide good value for money. Governors have the utmost respect for you as a leader, but are not afraid to challenge you when needed. Teaching is good because you and other leaders make very clear what you expect from all staff. You provide effective support for teachers in developing their practice. Staff enjoy good relationships with pupils. Teachers provide work that is interesting and captures pupils’ imagination, often using drama techniques to bring lessons alive. Staff use questioning to good effect to check pupils’ understanding and additional adults make a good contribution to moving pupils’ learning on. Pupils love their school and talk about it with enthusiasm. They told me about the good support they receive from all adults in school and about the interesting things they learn in lessons. Pupils speak with particular enthusiasm about their learning in history, for example the Romans and the Second World War, and about the good range of clubs offered to pupils. One pupil spoke about the trips they have enjoyed and in particular the trip to London which he described as ‘amazing’. You enrich the curriculum by events such as ‘enterprise week’ when pupils learn about the world of work including what it means to be a scientist. I also saw examples, such as Forest School, being used effectively to develop pupils’ mathematical understanding. Pupils behave very well in school because leaders have established good systems which ensure consistency in how incidents are tackled. Pupils say that behaviour is good in school and that bullying is extremely rare. Most parents agree, although a small number of those who provided comments through Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, were concerned about behaviour. These concerns were not borne out by inspection evidence including observation of pupils during the inspection and scrutiny of the school’s detailed behaviour records. Leaders provide a wealth of opportunities for pupils to develop their social skills including working as digital leaders and as peer mentors. Pupils take these responsibilities seriously and enjoy developing their leadership skills as they progress through the school. The majority of parents who responded to Parent View are happy with the school and feel that their children are safe and well-cared-for. Typical of many of the comments received were ‘The school makes children feel valued for who they are’ and ‘St Michael’s is an excellent school’. However, a small minority of parents commented that communication with parents could still be better.