The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. The school is extremely well led and managed. Leaders and governors are aspirational for pupils and committed to the continued improvement of the school. You have a precise and accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement. You have used your detailed knowledge of pupils to create a sharply focused school improvement plan, which is designed to maximise pupils’ progress. The plan is known and understood by all. Parents hold the school and its staff in high esteem. All of the parents who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire would recommend the school to others. Parents commented on the welcoming, family atmosphere that you have created at the school. They also value how approachable and accessible they find senior leaders and teachers. Pupils are happy, confident and proud of the school and appreciate the variety of trips and extra-curricular activities provided for them. You ensure that the school’s values are reinforced through assemblies and lessons. You also provide regular opportunities for pupils to learn about other cultures and religions. Pupils have a good understanding of diversity and inclusion and are well prepared for life in modern Britain. They told me that, ‘everyone is kind to each other and we all get along.’ You made consolidating and developing pupils’ mathematical skills a whole-school priority and ensured that this starts in the early years. You carefully researched best practices in other schools, before adapting a system that works for pupils at Staverton. You used an external mathematics consultant to provide training for staff in the new curriculum. Teachers now provide better support for pupils. They now plan mathematical tasks that challenge the most able pupils. For example, we saw together the most able children in the early years applying their knowledge of money to work out which coins were needed to buy fixed-priced items. The school’s information indicates that current pupils are making faster progress and their attainment in mathematics is improving. You acknowledge that teachers are not giving pupils, particularly in key stage 1, enough opportunities to practise their problem-solving skills independently. This means that they are not deepening their knowledge and understanding of mathematical concepts well enough. We also talked about how you have worked on ensuring that pupils’ attainment in reading is consistently strong throughout the school. The pupils and parents I spoke with said that the school encourages regular reading. Pupils could all name their favourite book, which included modern and traditional texts, and enjoyed recommending books to their friends. When we looked at pupils’ books together, we identified that pupils have not yet gained sufficient inference skills in reading. You noted that, while a start has been made on improving this, it is not yet happening regularly or consistently enough. Safeguarding is effective. The leadership team has ensured that safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of high quality. A recent review of the school’s procedures and practices has resulted in further improvements to the care and protection of pupils. All required checks on staff are carried out and recorded carefully. Leaders, governors and staff undertake regular and up-to-date training on child protection and safeguarding issues. All staff have a good understanding of their responsibilities to ensure children’s safety and well-being. The files you showed me indicate that staff make prompt referrals when they have any concerns. Leaders are tenacious in seeking and pursuing external support when needed. Pupils understand how to keep themselves safe. You have provided opportunities for them to learn about issues such as e-safety. Visitors, such as the police, also remind pupils how to stay safe in the community. Pupils said that bullying is extremely rare but, if it does happen, they have complete confidence in staff to deal with it quickly and effectively. Inspection findings You were appointed as headteacher in September 2013 and the school joined the Peterborough diocese education trust in August 2014. On your appointment, you took rapid action to raise standards at the school. You focused on improving the quality of teaching and learning in all classes and brokered support from an external consultant.