The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You provide strong leadership in partnership with the deputy headteacher and a skilled governing body. This effective leadership enables a good response to any areas for improvement that arise. Bryn Offa CofE Primary School provides a well-rounded education for its pupils. You have continued to develop an ethos in which pupils thrive. There is a strong sense of teamwork because relationships between staff, pupils and parents are very good. Pupils are considerate and caring and they enjoy coming to school. You have ensured that pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is very well catered for. Pupils have mature views and speak confidently when sharing their opinions about the world around them. The vast majority of parents are rightly satisfied with the quality of education that the school provides. Parents who were spoken to during the inspection and those who recorded a response on Ofsted’s Parent View website were overwhelmingly positive. One comment reflected the views of most: ‘My children are very well looked after and happy. The staff support them really well to make progress in their learning.’ Pupils enjoy learning at this school. Teachers plan learning activities that capture pupils’ imagination and provide effective challenge. Teaching assistants support pupils’ learning very well. As a result, pupils make good progress. They get off to a very strong start in the early years because of good teaching and leadership. A high proportion of pupils reach the expected standards at the end of the Reception Year and in phonics in Year 1. Pupils in key stage 1 also achieve well. You and I identified that some pupils’ progress is inconsistent in reading, grammar and punctuation in the middle part of key stage 2. In the 2016 national tests, Year 6 pupils achieved well in mathematics and writing. However, some pupils did not do as well in reading. Your current assessment information shows that pupils currently in Year 6 are making rapid progress. A high proportion of pupils are on track for the expected and higher standards in all subjects. Despite some early signs of improvement in reading, you have rightly identified that the teaching of reading comprehension requires further improvement in key stage 2. This is because teachers do not consistently plan challenging questions that develop pupils’ higher-level reading skills. At the last inspection, you were asked to address the level of challenge for the most able pupils. You closely track the progress of this group and set them challenging targets. Additionally, you have made this aspect a focus for staff’s professional development and performance management. As a result, the proportion of the most able pupils achieving the higher standards is increasing. You were also asked to extend pupils’ cultural experiences. This has been addressed and pupils are developing an understanding of cultures beyond their own community. Pupils spoke with knowledge and enthusiasm about some of the experiences that they have had, such as visiting a mosque and a Sikh guest coming into school for a curriculum project. You and your staff have designed a very effective assessment system which makes sure that assessment information is reliable. Furthermore, you and the deputy headteacher track closely information about pupils’ progress. These processes enable you to identify areas for improvement and take appropriate action. For example, mathematics was a weaker area for the school in the past, but it has now been addressed and, as a result, pupils are making good progress. In your improvement plan, you accurately identified that pupils’ skills in handwriting, punctuation and grammar need to be improved. Pupils are now being taught these aspects more effectively. However, some pupils do not transfer these skills into their writing precisely enough. Furthermore, teachers do not have consistently high expectations for the quality of presentation in pupils’ writing. Other curriculum subjects are well catered for. Pupils love the science curriculum. They spoke with knowledge and enthusiasm about their investigations and the practical work that teachers plan for them. One comment from a younger child was: ‘I love science. We tested which drink was the fizziest and had the most carbon dioxide in it by shaking the drinks and then weighing them.’ As a result of the good teaching they receive, pupils’ scientific understanding is developing well. School trips and extra-curricular clubs help to provide rich wider experiences for pupils. For example, pupils were excited by their trip to Powys Castle for history and their trip to a science centre. Pupils also spoke passionately about how they appreciate the range of clubs that they do in school. They spoke about the various clubs including gardening, choir, drama, judo, guitar, athletics, football and cookery. These wider opportunities are having a significant impact on pupils’ personal development and their enjoyment of school. You and the deputy headteacher check the quality of teaching in classrooms and provide effective professional development for most staff. However, there is some variability in teaching in the middle part of key stage 2. You recognise that further professional development is needed in order to bring about greater consistency in this area of the school. Safeguarding is effective. Safeguarding arrangements meet all statutory requirements. Leaders, staff and governors take pupils’ safety very seriously, which leads to a culture of vigilance. You update your policy regularly and ensure that it meets statutory guidelines. More importantly, this policy is evident in practice in the school. Staff have a good understanding of what to do if they are concerned about a child. They receive regular training updates to keep abreast of guidance. Procedures for recruiting and carrying out checks on staff are effective. You have been particularly tenacious regarding safety procedures at key times of the school day. For example, procedures for supervision at the start and end of the school day are very thorough. Pupils’ understanding of safety is a strength. Regular visits from outside speakers help improve their understanding of how to stay safe. For example, pupils spoke about the police, the ambulance service and the fire service coming into school to talk about various aspects of safety. Pupils also have a very clear understanding about the importance of fire drills and how to keep themselves safe on the internet. Parents echo this culture of safety in their survey responses. All parents agree, and the vast majority strongly agree, that their child feels safe at school. Governors carry out their statutory responsibilities effectively. They challenge leaders on aspects of safeguarding in meetings and they make checks on health and safety during their visits to school. They have rightly identified that they could check other aspects of safeguarding during their visits. Inspection findings The teaching that I observed with you and the work in pupils’ books show that pupils of all abilities make good progress over time. Pupils demonstrate very positive attitudes to learning. They want to do well and they talk about their learning enthusiastically with other pupils and with staff. The rich curriculum is a strength of the school and has a strong impact on pupils’ personal development.