The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Parents, pupils and staff all speak highly of the impact that you have made since arriving at Castlewood in January 2017. One parent said, ‘Mrs Nunns has made a fantastic difference to the school – it was always a good school but we now consider it a brilliant school.’ Together with governors and senior leaders, you have created a culture based on high expectations of achievement and behaviour. All at the school appreciate your friendly, positive approach because it leads to a happy, harmonious community. You took up the headship of this school during a period of some turbulence and disruption in staffing. You focused rightly on improving behaviour, wasting no time in eradicating weak teaching and improving outcomes for pupils. Appointing experienced teachers to fill staff vacancies has had an entirely positive impact on the school. Even in the early weeks of the new school year, it is clear to see that teaching is securely good and that pupils are already making strong progress in their learning. Pupils in the school have excellent attitudes to learning. They enjoy school and feel safe and valued. Parents echo this view. One said, ‘The school has done a really good job in fostering a real love of learning.’ Another commented, ‘My daughter absolutely loves her school; the smile on her face each day when she sees her teacher is absolutely heart-warming.’ The school environment is reflective of the high standards that leaders strive to achieve. Shared areas are bright, inviting places with high-quality children’s work meticulously displayed. Classrooms are well organised, tidy and purposeful. Displays in them offer pupils helpful reminders about methods in mathematics, important spellings or aspects of grammar or punctuation. This helps pupils to become independent, resilient learners who are proud of their achievements. Pupils enjoy and benefit from a curriculum that includes a range of visits and visitors. You ensure that they learn about different countries and religions. However, pupils currently do not have enough understanding of the religious and cultural diversity of life in modern Britain. During your last inspection, inspectors noted that leaders needed to raise the quality of teaching. In particular, they asked leaders to ensure that there were high expectations of pupils and a brisk pace of learning in lessons. You have made sure that the right actions are in place to further improve pupils’ progress in writing, which has not been as good as it should have been in the past. As part of your drive to improve teaching, expectations are now high and pupils know that teachers expect them to work hard and do their best in all lessons. Inspectors also said that to improve teaching there should be clear explanations, guidance and feedback to help pupils improve their work. Staff now provide timely advice and feedback for pupils. Pupils regularly respond to this advice and make faster progress as a result. Inspectors also asked leaders to sharpen improvement plans by focusing more clearly on pupils’ achievements. Leaders and governors have addressed this well. They ensure that all plans are underpinned by challenging targets of how well pupils will achieve at every stage of their time at the school. Safeguarding is effective. You have rightly placed the well-being of pupils at the heart of the school’s mission and culture. All staff have a clear understanding of how to safeguard pupils because they have received thorough training and regular updates when needed. At staff meetings, there is always an opportunity to alert adults to any concerns about pupils who may be vulnerable. Consequently, staff are well informed and vigilant to any signs that a pupil may be at risk, and are swift to raise concerns. There are wellunderstood systems to report and record such matters and all staff know that it is their responsibility to do so. Governors play a strong role in checking that leaders fulfil their responsibilities to keep pupils safe. There are strong and effective systems in place to ensure that the right checks are carried out on people before they can work in the school. Relevant policies are detailed and comprehensive and are provided to all staff. Leaders make sure that all safeguarding records are kept securely and are treated confidentially. These include the files that senior leaders keep about vulnerable pupils and families where external agencies are involved.