The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You, ably assisted by your deputy, have a clear understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for development. Together with the governors, you have developed a positive and inclusive vision for the school that is supported by all. You have created a caring and nurturing ethos where good behaviour and trying hard are valued. You and your leaders are reflective and your self-evaluation is accurate. Governors and school leaders have well-established and effective plans for further improvements to the school. Pupils are happy at school. They are eager to learn and show enthusiasm when talking about the variety of things they find out about at school. During my discussions with pupils, they spoke about how much they enjoy school trips and the ‘active learning zones’ in the school. As one pupil commented: ‘The school is a fun place because we learn and have fun at the same time.’ This reflects the school’s ethos, ‘Love Learning, Love Life’. School leaders have addressed the areas for development identified in the previous inspection. Effective training has been provided to develop teachers’ questioning skills. In lessons visited, teachers were seen to make good use of open-ended questions to test pupils’ understanding. Governors know the school well. They have devised rigorous systems to check on all aspects of the school’s work and to improve their own effectiveness. They are thus very well informed. They hold leaders to account and ensure that all statutory requirements are in place. Consequently, they are making a strong contribution to driving continuous improvement. The parents who spoke to me and completed Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, are overwhelmingly positive about the school. Parents have high levels of confidence in the school. They report that the school is a welcoming place and they value the way it is led and managed. In a typical comment, one parent wrote, ‘Carlisle is a wonderfully nurturing, supportive, friendly environment for children beginning their school journey.’ Safeguarding is effective. You have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are in place and are fit for purpose. You and the school’s governors are clear about your responsibility to ensure that pupils are safe at school. The safeguarding culture at the school is strong. Staff are well trained and they understand their responsibilities regarding the ‘Prevent’ duty. Staff know what to do if there are any concerns about a pupil. Records relating to the safeguarding of pupils are well maintained and show that the school makes timely referrals. Leaders engage well with external agencies to support and safeguard children. Pupils consider the school to be a safe place where adults look after them well. They are confident that if they report a concern about how someone is behaving, staff will deal with the situation swiftly. Behaviour in lessons is very good and pupils behave safely in the playground. Parents agree that their children feel safe and well cared for. Your curriculum provides a range of opportunities for pupils to learn to keep themselves safe. For example, pupils spoke knowledgably about road safety and stranger danger. Inspection findings At the start of the inspection we agreed three key lines of enquiry. My first line of focus was on the impact of school leaders’ actions on improving outcomes for all pupils in writing. This was because in 2017 attainment in writing at the end of key stage 1 was below the national average. Leaders have taken swift action to identify the key areas that needed strengthening. They have responded by reviewing the teaching of handwriting, spelling, grammar and punctuation and developing a more coherent approach across the school. Teachers have received well-considered training and, as a result, they are now more confident and proficient at teaching handwriting, spelling, grammar and punctuation. The quality of writing seen in literacy books was of a good standard for the majority of pupils. Pupils receive opportunities to write at length and they demonstrate stamina for writing. Pupils in Year 2 are learning to maintain style, language and tense throughout longer pieces of work. However, this standard is not transferred across all subject areas because teachers do not insist that pupils continue to write, spell and punctuate to the same standard.