The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You, your deputy headteacher and academy committee (governors) provide effective leadership. Leaders, staff and governors have formed positive relationships with families. Most parents who responded to the online questionnaire, Parent View, as well as those who provided written responses and those who had discussions with me, pay tribute to the work and commitment of your staff team. For example, summing up the views of most parents, one stated, ‘My child loves this school. She gets upset when it is the school holidays as she misses the teachers!’ Your staff are all committed to the core values of the school, which, as you state in the prospectus, promotes ‘a caring, happy and stimulating environment in which pupils of all abilities can achieve their full potential’. Good quality displays of pupils’ art work and writing, including prayers written by pupils and used during assemblies and acts of worship, show that pupils’ efforts are valued by all. The staff value pupils’ work and efforts. This is evident in the very good range of work in pupils’ books and on display portraying the best examples of pupils’ achievements. Outdoor learning, for example forest school and educational visits, motivates and enthuses pupils. You and your staff have been successful in maintaining a strong and stimulating curriculum which promotes British values of tolerance, respect and care in the local community. The school’s ethos and core Catholic values are having a positive impact on pupils’ academic and personal development. The deputy headteacher and early years’ team have maintained strong provision for Reception-aged children since the previous inspection in 2013. This provision provides excellent foundations in children’s personal and academic development, especially in developing language and literacy. Records and assessments of children’s learning journeys show that they soon settle into routines. The children work independently and cooperatively with their classmates. The staff skilfully plan tasks that stimulate and interest the children. The proportion of children reaching a good level of development is above national figures, reflecting strong teaching and leadership of the early years. The children are well prepared for the next stage of their education in key stage 1. However, you and I recognised and agreed that the development of pupils’ handwriting, spelling and punctuation in Years 1 and 2 is inconsistent and does not build on the excellent start made in the early years. Since the previous inspection you have steered significant changes and improvements. In addition to becoming an academy as part of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Multi-Academy Company, you and the governors have worked hard with middle leaders and staff to improve assessment information. Assessments are being used effectively to identify how much progress pupils make in reading, writing and mathematics. Last year’s national key stage 1 assessments show that pupils made good progress overall in relation to their starting points at the end of the early years. Pupils’ work and assessments show that good teaching is being sustained in Years 3 and 4 and enables pupils to make good progress. The previous inspection reported some relative weaknesses in the progress and performance of disadvantaged pupils. Since then leaders and governors have improved the way they monitor pupil premium funding. In addition, you have made sure that teachers focus on tracking the progress of disadvantaged pupils. As a result of this increased vigilance, differences between the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and other pupils who are not disadvantaged are narrowing. The current focus on problem-solving in mathematics needs to continue as some of the most able pupils fall short of their expected learning targets. We discussed this and found that teachers do not always plan enough challenging opportunities for pupils to apply their reasoning skills when solving problems. I checked this with some pupils during lessons and when scrutinising some of their work in books. We agreed that pupils spend too much time guessing or learning through trial and error when trying to solve problems. The current focus on improving pupils’ reasoning skills is the right one and needs to continue as this is helping pupils to apply more logical thinking when solving problems. The deputy headteacher has good oversight of assessment information and regular reviews of pupils’ progress help to keep track of their achievements. However, teachers are not always checking with sufficient frequency to see if pupils are on track to reach their mathematics targets. The work provided in some lessons is not sufficiently challenging. Leaders are aware of this, which is reflected in the priorities set out in the school’s development plan and mathematics action plan.