The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Since that time there have been considerable changes to the staff and leadership of the school. Despite this, you and your leadership team have demonstrated a very clear commitment to improving pupils’ outcomes. Governors remain focused on ensuring that outcomes for pupils remain good. Robust and effective action has resulted in improvements to the quality of teaching. As a result, pupils’ progress and attainment across the school have also improved. You and your leaders have worked with a determined drive to improve the school. For example, you and the deputy headteacher identified that standards for the most able mathematicians in key stage 2 in 2017 were not strong enough. Consequently, you set about improving the quality of teaching in this area. The deputy headteacher supported teachers to improve pupils’ mathematical reasoning and complex problem-solving skills. Teachers offer a range of increasingly complex tasks so that pupils can really challenge themselves in lessons. Pupils’ workbooks show that this is happening more often and pupils, including the most able, are working to a good standard in mathematics. Many more pupils are on track to attain at the higher standard by the end of key stage 2 in 2018. At the previous inspection, you were asked to improve the quality of teaching even further. You and other leaders, including governors, regularly undertake a range of activities to check the effectiveness of the quality of teaching. This helps you identify where teaching needs to improve. This has enabled you to continue to improve the quality of teaching, despite the staff changes. As a result of your leadership, good standards in reading, writing and mathematics have been maintained across the school. Staff’s, parents’ and pupils’ responses to the online questionnaire were overwhelmingly positive. Nearly all parents agreed that their children make good progress and are happy in school. Parents typically comment that, ‘All staff go above and beyond’ and that, ‘Dedicated and passionate teachers and leaders aim for the best for all children in their care’. The majority of pupils said that they enjoy school and teachers help them do their best. Pupils say they enjoy learning in school. Adults have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and learning. Pupils live up to these expectations, are well mannered and demonstrate good attitudes to learning. They say that behaviour is good in and around school. Staff are proud of their school and motivated to do their best. They feel supported to improve and typically describe school as, ‘a happy place to work’. Safeguarding is effective. You have a strong commitment to pupils’ safety and welfare. You have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements at the school are fit for purpose. Regular training and useful prompts on staff identification badges ensure that all staff and governors know what to do if they have a concern about a pupil. You provide regular updates for staff on safeguarding procedures. Although referrals to outside agencies are rare, you make these swiftly and ensure that you promptly follow up any delays. Thorough checks are conducted when staff or governors are appointed. You are currently setting up a new system to enable you to access this information more readily. Vetting procedures for newly appointed staff are effective and you and governors are appropriately trained about appointing staff. Pupils told me they feel safe in school and parents overwhelmingly agree. Parents agree that their children are well looked after in school. School records show that incidents of poor behaviour are uncommon. Pupils say bullying is rare and feel confident that adults will sort out any bullying worries or concerns. Pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe when using computers and the internet. Inspection findings At the beginning of the inspection, we agreed on the lines of enquiry to consider during the day. We agreed to see how effective teaching is in improving outcomes for middle-prior-attaining pupils. We also agreed that we would explore how well leaders have improved outcomes in the Reception class. In addition, we decided to look at the progress of boys in writing across the school. Finally, I considered whether safeguarding is effective and steps you have made to improve attendance for disadvantaged pupils. In 2017, progress for middle-prior-attaining pupils in reading and mathematics in key stage 2 dipped below the national average. Also, in key stage 1, middleprior-attaining pupils were not challenged enough to reach the higher standard. You track pupils’ achievements regularly and hold teachers to account through regular pupil progress meetings. You have also supported teachers to match pupils’ learning so that pupils are challenged to work at the right standard for their age. This is paying off as teachers plan lessons that challenge all pupils effectively. Teachers provide pupils in key stage 2 with effective feedback and clear guidance on what they need to do to improve. Pupils’ workbooks across key stage 2 demonstrate that pupils are working to a good standard and make strong progress in writing and mathematics. Also, middle-prior-attaining pupils in key stage 2 read fluently and can answer appropriate questions about what they are reading. Teaching assistants understand pupils’ age-related expectations and use these to question and challenge pupils well. In key stage 1, the teaching of mathematics enables pupils to make good progress because work is challenging. However, pupils’ progress in writing is not as effective because teachers do not use assessments carefully enough to match work to pupils’ needs. Feedback is not precise enough to support pupils’ progress. At the previous inspection, you were asked to raise the achievement of pupils in their Reception Year. Standards for the most able children in Reception have declined since the previous inspection. Previously, the quality of teaching in Reception was not good enough. You and your leaders addressed the weakness in teaching effectively and support the new Reception teacher very well. The quality of teaching is improving rapidly and adults plan activities to support children to make strong progress. Assessment is used to match learning to children’s needs. The new outside space is used to develop children’s skills across the curriculum. During the inspection, parents typically commented on the improvements in the quality of teaching in Reception. Teaching assistants are given effective guidance to ensure that children learn well. Children in the Reception Year are now making stronger progress towards reaching a good level of development by the time they reach Year 1. However, work is not always challenging enough for the most able children and their progress is slower. You are aware of this and will continue to support the class teacher to improve outcomes for these children. Historically, standards in boys’ writing had not been as good as that of girls. You see all pupils as individuals and monitor their progress accordingly. When a pupil’s progress dips, you put in place support to improve outcomes. These are planned and monitored through pupil progress meetings and regular checks on standards across the school. Leaders identified aspects of writing to improve across the school, including improving pupils’ spellings and their understanding and use of punctuation and grammar. Leaders also set about changing the topics and themes that teachers use to stimulate pupils’ writing. Evidence collected during the inspection shows that boys’ writing is improving. Boys say they enjoy writing, especially when it’s about a topic that interests them. Workbooks show there is little difference between the quality of written work of boys and that of girls. Consequently, a greater number of boys are on track to meet their agerelated expectations in writing. During my visit, we discussed the attendance of your most vulnerable pupils. Numbers are extremely small and you know each individual pupil well. You have effective procedures in place to monitor pupils’ absence and ensure that attendance remains above the national average. Parents understand these procedures and welcome your personal contact and support. Attendance has been better than the national average for the past three years and this trend is likely to continue. Your most vulnerable pupils are being supported very well to be in school as much as possible. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: teachers extend and challenge the most able pupils in the Reception class so they achieve their potential teachers in key stage 1 use accurate assessments and give effective feedback so that pupils achieve well in writing. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Gloucester, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for South Gloucestershire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Richard Lucas Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During this inspection I met with you, your senior and middle leaders, governors, staff and pupils. We visited lessons jointly to observe learning. We looked at pupils’ workbooks together, alongside your deputy headteacher. We considered documentary evidence relating to the impact of the school’s work, including the school’s development plan, self-evaluation document, safeguarding documents, attendance information, internal data and school reports. I spoke with pupils in lessons about their work and at lunchtime. I took into account 59 responses to the Ofsted online survey, Parent View, and spoke with parents as they dropped off their children at the beginning of the school day. There were 33 pupil survey responses and I took into account 10 staff survey responses.