The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You, your staff and the governing body are ambitious for the school. In response to the previous inspection, you have worked relentlessly to develop the quality of teaching, increasing the rigour with which you check on the quality of provision across the school. As a result, teaching has improved, pupils are making better progress and standards have risen. This is particularly the case in writing and mathematics, where progress is strong. Consequently, by the time they leave the school, more pupils are now well prepared for their secondary education in these areas of learning. Pupils enjoy school and were keen to tell me about the good friends they make. They identify kindness and concern for others, as well as acceptance of those with different backgrounds and cultures, as important values in their school. Pupils demonstrate exceptionally positive attitudes to learning. They notice and appreciate their teachers’ efforts to make learning fun. Most teachers set the highest expectations of their pupils and pupils respond with alacrity. This was exemplified in the Year 1 class, where pupils rushed from the carpet to their tables to get started quickly on their writing, linked to their reading of ‘The Smartest Giant in Town’. This excellent conduct and enthusiasm is typical in classrooms across key stages 1 and 2. Older pupils articulate the importance of their learning, because teachers take the time to make meaningful links between the work they set and the skills that pupils will need in their future lives. The vast majority of parents and carers who responded to the inspection questionnaire, or who spoke to me personally, recognise and value the work of staff and leaders. Families see Caedmon as ‘the heart of the community’ and particularly appreciate the support they receive from the school when they are experiencing challenging personal circumstances. The governing body is a strength of the school. Governors are knowledgeable about the school and are passionate about the work they do. Their well-documented evidence demonstrates their regular and appropriate challenge to school leaders. For example, robust questions from governors led to the introduction of a new curriculum which has led to much-improved standards in phonics. Governors keep a careful eye on the school. Termly open days enable them to ‘check-in’ with pupils so that they can assure themselves that pupils are happy and safe. A new system for reviewing funding to support disadvantaged pupils has enabled governors to have a much clearer picture of the school’s work in this area. However, governors recognise that, occasionally, some of the targets which are set to develop the school could be sharper, so that the impact of leaders’ work can be evaluated more precisely. You recognised that standards achieved by pupils in reading across the school were not strong enough and this was an area that I was keen to explore during this inspection. I was very pleased to see that your carefully planned work has led to significant improvements in the achievement of pupils in phonics, ensuring that the early foundations of reading are now much more secure. Assessment information and pupils’ work shows that, across key stages 1 and 2, most pupils are now making rapid progress in reading. You know that, in upper key stage 2, there are some pupils who are still not reaching the expected standard for their age. Your development plans reflect your awareness that there is still more to do to further accelerate progress, so that all pupils can become accomplished readers. Since the previous inspection, you have improved the achievement of children across the early years. Your regular meetings to review children’s progress have been instrumental in enabling earlier support for those who need to catch up quickly. However, you acknowledge that the proportion of children reaching the expected standard for their age is not yet good enough. Increasing the pace of children’s progress across the Reception Year remains a priority for your work. You and your leadership team have an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and are clear about what needs to be better. The strong ethos of team working among staff and leaders has enabled you to steadily secure improvements, since the previous inspection, in many aspects of the school’s work. This shared determination and the track record of success reflect the capacity of you and your staff to continue to improve the school. Safeguarding is effective. You and the leadership team have ensured that arrangements to safeguard pupils are fit for purpose. Detailed checks are made to ensure the suitability of adults to work with children. Through regular training, staff have an appropriate understanding of the signs and symptoms which would indicate that pupils may be at risk of harm. Staff have confidence that leaders will act promptly, should they raise any concerns about pupils.