The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Although you are in your first term as the headteacher, staff, pupils, parents and governors recognise that the school has already benefited from your dynamic leadership and positivity. You are well supported by the leadership team. Leaders, including governors, are ambitious to achieve the very best for all pupils. Leaders recognise that better communication with parents and widening opportunities for pupils to develop emotionally, socially and academically are already having an impact on the school’s improvement journey. Inspectors agree with your assessment of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement. The new leadership team has settled well. The team is supported by an experienced headteacher from another school in the area. Leaders are keen to maintain the link with the local federation of schools and colleges which provides some creative and exciting courses for pupils embarking on GCSE courses. Leaders have identified the need to support pupils in becoming more independent and responsible for their own learning. Teachers have concentrated on improving achievement for all pupils by insisting on high standards of behaviour both within lessons and around the school. Inspectors saw excellent behaviour from all age groups throughout the day. Lessons are calm and purposeful and good relationships are evident. Pupils were very complimentary about the way teachers have worked on improving pupils’ responsibility for their own learning. They like the fact that reports to their parents include improvements in learning behaviours as well as academic progress. At the last inspection, inspectors identified the need to reduce any teaching that requires improvement, thereby raising teachers’ expectations of what pupils can do. In addition, inspectors asked leaders to focus on providing support to the small number of middle leaders who were not fulfilling their responsibilities, so that they could match the performance of the best in the school. The leadership team and governors have taken effective action to address those recommendations. A deputy headteacher now has responsibility for overseeing improvements to teaching and learning. Leaders have established a weekly programme of developmental activities for staff. They have set up professional development programmes to support staff at different stages of their careers, including the middle leaders. Staff feel well supported by the leadership team. One respondent to the staff survey noted, ‘Leaders take workload into account when implementing policies and procedures so as to avoid placing unnecessary burdens on staff.’ Middle leaders feel that better procedures are in place now. Monitoring is more evaluative and helps them to move standards up. Leaders model high expectations and ensure that middle leaders have regular opportunities to share improvements and good ideas. Leaders know there is more work to be done, even though attendance has improved and persistent absence has reduced. Pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities and some disadvantaged pupils do not attend as regularly as their peers. Leaders recognise that interventions need to be tailored to match the needs of these pupils. Some individuals have made excellent progress when the right support was provided early enough. Leaders are very visible at the start and end of the school day, ensuring good punctuality and reinforcing expectations of behaviour. Safeguarding is effective. The headteacher takes a strong lead in ensuring that safeguarding procedures are effective for all pupils, including the most vulnerable. Leaders have regular training and a small team of trained safeguarding staff ensure that there is a widespread culture of safeguarding across the school. Governors check that policies are up to date and they recently commissioned an audit to further develop best practice in this aspect of the school’s work. Pupils feel safe. They know how to stay safe and assess any risks that may face them, including online. Pupils said that bullying was rare and that staff respond to any concerns. The parents who replied to the online questionnaire, Parent View, agreed that their children were safe in school and 95% of the respondents would recommend this school to another parent.