The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Your school is a vibrant place of learning. The quality of education pupils receive is effective in developing academic standards that are typically above the national average, alongside pupils’ good personal development. Your conscientious approach since becoming headteacher in January 2017, allied with your steely determination to improve all aspects of the school further, is one of the key reasons why the school remains good. You have the highest respect from staff, parents and pupils, who recognise you as someone who will listen and resolve any concerns they may have promptly. As a result of your efforts, the progress for most pupils currently at the school is strong. You have coped with the many changes to leadership at the school well and built an effective leadership team around you who share in your vision of what can be achieved. You communicate your vision of what you want Stowford School to provide for its pupils, families and community, well. Together, you invest in children’s futures from the moment they start in Nursery and are successfully steering the school’s course towards the highest standards of teaching and pupils’ achievement. You use the recommendations from external reviews well, for example to re-organise leadership roles and responsibilities. Therefore all are clear in the part they play in driving improvements. You recognise that securing further ongoing success requires a culture of continuous improvement from leaders, teachers and pupils. In striving to reach this goal, you draw well on the expertise from the trust to help staff improve their practice and enable pupils to overcome any barriers to learning they may face. Improvements start with placing pupils’ views and learning at the heart of your work and are evident through the effective actions of the school council. The school development plan provides a clear and accurate account of the school’s strengths and weaknesses and states what needs to be done for further improvements to be achieved. This results in an honest and accurate self-evaluation by leaders and governors about what is working and what still needs to be done. For example, you are aware that monitoring by middle leaders, to inform actions within the plan, now needs to focus more precisely on the progress of key groups and their specific gains in knowledge, skill and understanding. Although this was an area for improvement identified at the previous inspection your current leadership team is entirely new. Therefore, to remain focused on this development is entirely appropriate. Other areas for improvement continue to be successfully tackled. The overwhelming majority of parents who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, are highly complimentary about you, your staff and all you do to make their children feel happy and well cared for. All parents feel that their children are safe in school. Parents typically commented on the welcoming ethos that helps children settle quickly, the stimulating curriculum and projects studied that engage and motivate their children by bringing learning to life. Pupils and parents are particularly enthused by the ‘philosophy for children’ activities that expose pupils to wider issues and spark debates about ideas or theories. Consequently pupils’ ability to reason, infer and deduce ideas when thinking and communicating is developing strongly. Safeguarding is effective. You and your leadership team have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. You ensure that policies and practice keep abreast of recent legislation and good practice. Staff attend update training regularly so that they are vigilant and mindful of the potential dangers to pupils. All staff are aware of the procedures for passing on concerns. Monthly meetings with key members of staff and detailed, termly monitoring by governors of safeguarding matters keeps everyone up to date and informed of any issues. Your close links and proactive work with other professionals, such as social workers, ensure that referrals for more specialist support are managed well. Your strong commitment to pupils’ safety is demonstrated in the way urgent matters were followed through by staff when they came to light during the inspection. The governors responsible for safeguarding have had recent training that reflects the latest guidance. Termly checks by governors ensure that recruitment checks and records are kept in accordance with the government’s guidance. Governors speak knowledgeably about how the school’s ethos and curriculum fosters the sort of qualities and attitudes that pupils need to make the right decisions, to protect themselves from being drawn into things that are wrong and potentially harmful. Parents recognise pupils’ positive qualities where respect and politeness are the norm.