The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. The school has been through a considerable change in staffing since the previous inspection. You took up your post as headteacher at Burley Primary School in September 2014. In May 2016, the governing bodies of Burley and Sopley Primary Schools federated. The schools federated in September 2016. You are now the executive headteacher of both schools. The head of school was appointed in 2016. Throughout all these changes, senior leaders and governors have remained focused on ensuring that pupils are provided with a good quality of education. You have a strong vision for further improving Burley Primary School. You have ensured that all staff set high expectations for pupils to enable them to achieve as well as they can. You have ensured that the school is inclusive and caring. Staff, pupils and parents recognise that the school is a happy place. One parent’s view summed up the views of many: ‘Burley School fosters a real community spirit where my son feels involved, valued and happy.’ Pupils’ mature attitudes and strong sense of belonging were evident and clearly expressed during our discussion. One eloquently articulated their view by saying: ‘It is a small community, and you get to know everyone really quickly. There are friends wherever you look!’ At the time of the previous inspection, inspectors identified that pupils’ progress in mathematics needed to speed up, so that it matched the progress that pupils made in reading and writing. School leaders have ensured that this aspect of school improvement has been achieved. In the end of key stage 2 assessments in 2016, pupils’ progress was well above the national average in mathematics overall. You know that a greater consistency of high-quality teaching is required for pupils to make even better progress and gain a deeper understanding in all aspects of their learning. You are working with staff to identify pupils who are not making as much progress as they should. Support is being provided by teachers and teaching assistants to help those pupils new to the school, and the few who are falling behind, to catch up. Safeguarding is effective. School leaders and governors fulfil their responsibilities to keep pupils safe well. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Policies and procedures are reviewed regularly and all staff are kept up to date with safeguarding information. Safeguarding is rooted in the school’s nurturing and caring environment. Most parents who completed the online questionnaire, Parent View, stated that their child feels safe at school. Pupils whom I spoke to, and the vast majority of those who completed the pupils’ online questionnaire, agreed that they feel safe in school. They have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe when using the internet. Pupils know that they should not talk to someone they do not know when they are out in the community. Pupils understand that fire drills take place to help them to know what to do if there is ever a fire in school. The strong sense of community within the school means that pupils are comfortable about speaking to an adult if they have any concerns. Inspection findings Pupils enjoy their learning and have very positive attitudes to one another and to the adults around them. They cooperate very well together to discuss their learning and help one another to be successful. Pupils genuinely get on well together. Through discussion in a sensible and mature way, they take responsibility for their own learning and progress. In the Years 5 and 6 class, pupils were discussing passages of text in great detail to determine whether the quality of the vocabulary within the text captured the reader’s interest and was of a high quality. Pupils enjoyed the ‘team challenge’ and demonstrated a very good understanding of figurative language such as personification, alliteration and hyperbole. At the end of each key stage in 2016, pupils achieved well. The proportion of Year 6 pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics was well above the national average. The proportion reaching the high standard was also above the national average. Pupils made exceptional progress in reading. At the end of Year 2 in 2016, pupils’ attainment was also above the national average in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils made good progress from their starting points and were well prepared for learning at the start of key stage 2. Outcomes of the phonics screening check for Year 1 pupils showed that the vast majority of pupils achieved the expected standard. By the end of Year 2 all pupils achieved the expected standard in phonics. These proportions are above the national average. Pupils enjoy reading and use their phonic knowledge well to tackle unfamiliar words. Children in the early years also achieve well. From starting points that are above those typical for their age, they make good progress. Children are very well prepared for learning in Year 1. The percentage of children achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics has been consistently above the national average for three years. The quality of teaching supports pupils’ learning well. Pupils make good progress in their learning over time in reading, writing and mathematics. However, the progress that pupils make in writing is not as strong as it is in reading and mathematics, particularly for the most able pupils. This was evident in the progress in writing at the end of Year 6 in 2016. Currently pupils’ progress in writing shows that in most year groups, very few of the most able pupils are working above the expectations for their age. This is not strong progress, given their starting points. In some classes, the proportion of different groups of pupils is small. For example, in some year groups there are very few girls. There are very few disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities in the school. School leaders and teachers work well together to ensure that each individual pupil’s learning needs are met effectively. The special education needs coordinator monitors the progress of disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Targeted support is put in place to meet the learning needs of individual pupils, to help them to access their learning and catch up. Pupils know that if they need extra support, teaching assistants and teachers work with them individually and in small groups, to help them to make better progress. School leaders have worked well to put plans in place for the development of the Burley and Sopley Federation of Schools. The school’s self-evaluation is accurate. The school development plan is focused on the areas that the school needs to work on to reach its aspiration of becoming an outstanding school. However, some of the objectives and actions are too broad. They are not sharply focused on bringing about rapid improvement, particularly to enable the most able pupils to gain a greater depth in their understanding and to enable a significantly greater proportion of pupils to reach high standards, especially in writing. Currently the early years self-evaluation and development plan are separate from the whole-school development plan. Children in the early years are making good progress over time. They are provided with a range of interesting activities to support their learning, such as the forest school days, where children explore the forest area located in the school’s grounds. Children are motivated and interested. They behave well and listen carefully to adults. Children make good progress from their starting points. The early years leader has developed a plan to support further improvements.