The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. They have created a purposeful, safe, welcoming and happy environment. Leaders have a clear understanding of strengths and weaknesses of the school. Pupils have high aspirations. One pupil said that ‘there is a real focus here on empowerment for women’. Inspectors observed this in practice when pupils led a Year 9 assembly concentrating on ‘thinking big when choosing a career’. Pupils are confident, courteous and articulate. They appreciate the opportunities that the school gives them. These include, for example, a wide range of educational visits and an onsite, vibrant ‘farm’. Inspectors spoke to focus groups from each year and all pupils said that the school is very supportive. Governors are committed to school improvement and know the school well. Together with the headteacher, they have put a system of ‘health checks’ in place to challenge and support school leaders. Parents, staff and pupils who responded to surveys were positive about the school. Almost all staff who completed Ofsted’s online survey said that they were proud to work at the school. The great majority of parents and carers who responded to Parent View would recommend the school to other parents. Typically, one parent wrote, ‘I am proud that my daughter attends this school.’ You and your team have responded to the areas for improvement set out in the previous inspection report. Outcomes in English have continued to improve and ‘health checks’ have been put in place to monitor the impact of planned improvements. You know that the gap between the outcomes of disadvantaged pupils and other pupils has been reduced, but acknowledge that this is still too wide in some subjects. Safeguarding is effective. Leaders have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. There is a strong culture of safeguarding that runs through the school. The required checks on the suitability of adults to work with pupils are undertaken accurately and recorded clearly. Staff receive appropriate training. Consequently, they know how to report concerns and are aware of particular risks for pupils, such as child sexual exploitation, female genital mutilation and ‘county lines’. Governors understand and carry out their responsibilities for safeguarding diligently. Pupils who responded to the online questionnaire, and also those who spoke to inspectors, said that they feel safe in school. They said that bullying is rare and, if it does happen, it is quickly dealt with. They are looking forward to the new wellbeing centre opening in September, where they will be able to access counselling and other mental health services. Inspection findings For the first key line of enquiry, we agreed to look at how leaders ensure that the strong outcomes in English are replicated in other core subjects. This was because, for the last two years, pupils’ progress in English has been much stronger than in mathematics and science. Senior leaders have increased the amount of time that departments are allocated to develop teaching and learning and to moderate and standardise pupils’ work. Middle leaders say this has enabled them to improve pedagogy and share good practice. Middle leaders in English and mathematics have collaborated on planning their curriculum to build on the work completed by pupils in key stage 2. They also jointly plan the intervention timetable to maximise its impact on pupils’ progress. Inspectors observed pupils being challenged and making good progress in English, maths and science lessons. For example, in all three subjects pupils used subject terminology accurately and with confidence. For the next key line of enquiry, we looked at the impact of leaders’ actions to improve the outcomes of disadvantaged pupils in mathematics and science. This was because, although the overall progress of disadvantaged pupils has improved, there remains a large gap in these subjects between their progress and that of all pupils in the school.