The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the previous inspection. Since your appointment as headteacher just over a year ago, you have worked tenaciously and assiduously to eradicate underperformance and resolve weaknesses in some school systems and processes. Working alongside the skilled and experienced deputy headteacher, together you have set about necessary school improvement with an infectious energy and drive. Your strong leadership has developed a sense of unity among the wider school community. Restoring confidence, developing buoyant staff morale and establishing an ethic of teamwork have been significant successes. Leaders, governors, teachers and teaching assistants are clearly ambitious to secure ongoing improvements for the benefit of all pupils. There is a tangible sense of purpose, energy and uncompromising ambition to see all pupils flourish, both academically and in their all-round development. Leaders have a clear overview of the strengths and the small inconsistencies that remain in teaching. As a result, a rigorous and comprehensive calendar of improvement actions and monitoring activities is in place. This assigns the implementation of actions and their evaluation in every week of the school year. It involves governors and all staff. Staff are empowered through the devolved responsibility you have given them, but also know that they are accountable for driving further improvements in their subject area. Curriculum leaders are becoming skilled in mapping out the knowledge and skills required for pupils in every year group. They have been supported very well and are now effectively managing their subject areas. Effective whole-school systems allow leaders to audit the quality of provision and devise appropriate action plans. Current improvement actions and initiatives to improve the quality of teaching and learning further, including in mathematics, need to be further embedded and consolidated in order to see their full effect on pupils’ progress and attainment. This includes ensuring that all teachers share equally high expectations of what all pupils can achieve in all subjects, but especially the most able pupils. In addition, some aspects of provision in the early years do not provide enough stretch and challenge to deepen children’s learning. You have ensured that the areas for improvement raised in the previous inspection report have largely been addressed successfully. Since your appointment, leaders have worked hard to develop a new approach to develop high-quality teaching in mathematics. Teachers now plan and provide a rich diet of activities to embed and consolidate pupils’ number and calculation skills, built upon an increasingly sound knowledge of number facts by heart. Pupils have regular opportunities to develop their skills in mathematical reasoning and problem-solving. A structured approach to the teaching of grammar, punctuation and spelling is allowing pupils to use these skills well in extended writing activities. Pupils speak clearly about reflecting on feedback from teachers, and how they use purple pens to edit and correct work. Safeguarding is effective. You have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Policies, procedures and records are now of good quality and up to date. They are effectively maintained by the finance and office manager. Following your appointment, you immediately commissioned a vital and comprehensive external audit of safeguarding practices. Audit findings were immediately acted upon and a number of key improvements implemented. A recent audit has recognised significant strengths in safeguarding practice, holding up the school as a model of good practice. You and the chair of the governing body undertake regular checks on all statutory documentation. The adults trained as designated safeguarding leaders fulfil their role with great responsibility and attention to detail. The school’s use of a comprehensive online system to record concerns ensures that every piece of information, no matter how small, is considered carefully and not lost. The culture of keeping pupils safe and putting them at the heart of the inclusive, friendly school community is evident. Pupils categorically state that no bullying happens at school at any time. They have a sound understanding of the different forms of bullying and the reasons it could happen. Pupils’ behaviour is good. They have regular teaching on staying safe out of school and e-safety. As a result, pupils are knowledgeable in these areas. They have full trust in their teachers and teaching assistants who look after them and report feeling safe all of the time. In the responses to the inspection questionnaire, not one parent suggested that their child was unsafe at school. Virtually every respondent would recommend the school to another parent. Comments from parents such as, ‘The school provides a strong support system for children and parents’, or, ‘I feel the child’s needs are very much met’, are apt.