The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Under your guidance the school remains very popular, and you have the overwhelming support of parents, who value the education their children receive. A typical comment from a parent responding to Ofsted’s online questionnaire was: ‘The culture of The Willink School has enabled our children to grow in confidence both in curricular and extra-curricular activities.’ You have built a successful leadership team and an increasingly confident and competent team of middle leaders. They are both challenged and supported well by senior leaders to help you drive the school forward. As a result, pupils’ progress remains at least in line with the national average and above the national average in English, mathematics and the subjects that make up the English Baccalaureate (EBacc). The number of pupils entered for the EBacc was higher than the national average, and the proportion of pupils who achieved the EBacc was also higher. You have worked carefully on the curriculum to ensure that this is well matched to EBacc requirements. At the same time, you have ensured that it remains personalised to the needs of individual pupils, especially those who are disadvantaged and those who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities. The majority of pupils take GCSE religious education. This helps to develop pupils’ greater awareness of religious faiths, while providing the opportunity for them to discuss complex social and moral issues. Consequently, pupils are prepared well for life in modern Britain. Leaders know the school well, and they understand the actions that are needed to improve pupils’ outcomes further. However, the school’s strategic plans do not have precise success criteria to enable leaders and governors to evaluate the success of their plans. Leaders evaluate the work of teachers so that the strong practice that exists is shared more widely, which was an area for improvement in the previous inspection report. The school has become a teaching school. You are using this to provide the opportunity for staff to share good practice more widely with other schools and, equally, learn from other schools. Although the quality of teaching is overall of a high standard, there are some slight variations in the quality of teaching within the school. Pastoral support in the school remains very strong. Pupils repeatedly commented on the excellent support that they receive from their teachers both in and out of lessons. They like being at the school and they know that the staff are there to help them. The pupils’ positive comments were replicated by the parents. As one parent said: ‘Excellent school, friendly and inclusive environment …’. The relationships between teachers and pupils are very strong and effective. Pupils respect their teachers and, consequently, incidents of poor behaviour are rare. They are excellent ambassadors for the school. Leadership in the sixth form is strong. Leaders have responded quickly to a dip in the performance of students following vocational courses and you have made curriculum changes to ensure that current students are able to be more successful. Progress at A level remains in line with that achieved by other students nationally. Safeguarding is effective. Safeguarding arrangements in school are highly effective. You have ensured that they are fit for purpose and meet statutory requirements. Record-keeping is detailed and of high quality. Staff are suitably trained and aware of their responsibilities. The link governor for safeguarding routinely checks safeguarding arrangements to ensure that they are compliant. Leaders ensure that all staff and governors are appropriately trained. An overwhelming majority of pupils who responded to Ofsted’s online survey said they feel safe in school. This was confirmed through pupils’ interviews, and discussions with pupils both in lessons and during breaks. Pupils reported that bullying is very infrequent and that staff deal with it effectively when it occurs. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe online and they are aware of the risks of cyber bullying and radicalisation. You have responded well to sixth-form students’ requests for mental-health guidance, for example, in providing effective support from an external sixth-form mentor. Parents are highly positive about the school, and the vast majority state that their children are happy, safe and very well supported.