The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Leaders’ work is underpinned by their strong shared ambition for the school and its pupils. Since your appointment as headteacher you have made a positive impact on pupils, staff, parents and carers. You know the school well, and have already made some changes for the better. As one parent commented, ‘The new head and deputy head have been addressing new approaches to the learning, welfare and discipline of the pupils with a renewed vigour and determination.’ Together with governors, you are working hard to bring stability to the school after a period of considerable change in staffing. The senior leadership team rightly focuses on supporting teachers’ delivery of good learning experiences for pupils. You have also ensured that when monitoring learning, teachers get clear and useful next steps to improve. Consequently, the quality of teaching and learning across the school is good, along with pupils’ outcomes. Pupils are friendly. They are keen to share their learning and they talk confidently about their work. They behave well in and out of lessons. They show that they are able to work with one another effectively with very little supervision from adults. They said that they enjoy their learning and particularly like finding out new things. Pupils with whom I spoke during the inspection said they enjoy coming to school. Parents and carers I met in the foyer before school were typically positive about the care and level of support that the staff show to the children. They said that the level of communication between home and school is good, as is pupils’ behaviour. Leaders have responded to the areas for improvement identified in the previous inspection report. The delivery of a coding curriculum across the school ensures that pupils’ technological skills are developed. This subject is now led by an experienced teacher, ensuring that pupils’ achievement in this area is sustained. You have also worked successfully with teachers so that pupils of all abilities are stretched and challenged in lessons. This is particularly evident in mathematics. However, you agree that some work needs to be done to ensure that this is consistent across the school. You are also committed to continuing the work you have started to ensure that more pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, achieve expected standards in writing. Safeguarding is effective. Safeguarding arrangements in the school are effective and fit for purpose. The school site is secure. Safeguarding records are detailed, and all checks on the suitability of staff to work with children are thorough. All members of staff have received relevant safeguarding training. Several staff members and governors are trained in safer recruitment. You work with a range of outside agencies to ensure the safety of the pupils. When the need arises, you make referrals to children’s social care and follow these up with rigour. All pupils who responded to the pupil questionnaire and those spoken to during the inspection agreed that they feel safe and have someone to talk to if they are concerned. Parents overwhelmingly agree that their children are safe. Pupils are confident that the adults at school will deal well with conflict or potential bullying situations should they arise. Inspection findings For the first line of enquiry, we agreed to look at pupils’ achievement in reading, particularly that of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. I reviewed the assessment information from the 2017 key stage 2 statutory test. This showed that overall, pupils’ progress in reading was similar to the national average. However, disadvantaged pupils made progress which was significantly below the national average. In response to these outcomes, leaders have taken effective steps to strengthen the teaching of reading. Visits to lessons and scrutiny of pupils’ work showed that staff ask pupils challenging questions that help them think deeply about the texts they read. Teachers also provide pupils with clear guidance to help them decide which of their reading skills will help them answer questions successfully. Pupils read with fluency and accuracy, demonstrating a good understanding of the texts they have read. Pupils show a great love for reading. School leaders are also now using outcomes of reading tests more strategically than before. They regularly review how well pupils respond to reading comprehension questions. As a result, the school’s assessment information shows that disadvantaged pupils are making better progress and more are on track to achieve the standard expected for their age. We agreed as a second line of enquiry to look at what actions leaders are taking to increase rates of progress and attainment in key stage 2 in mathematics. This was because pupils’ progress and attainment in mathematics were below average in 2017. This is an area that you have identified as being a key development priority for the school. The changes you have put in place to improve mathematics across the school are having a positive impact, particularly for older pupils in key stage 2. Work in books shows they have solid arithmetic skills. This is because teachers plan for opportunities for them to practise and consolidate these skills. They demonstrate a deep understanding of mathematical concepts as they successfully tackle number problems presented in a variety of ways. Teachers are effective at ensuring that pupils engage in activities which develop their mathematical reasoning. They are good at probing pupils’ understanding of mathematical concepts. As a result, a high proportion of pupils in Year 5 and Year 6, including disadvantaged pupils, are working at expected standards. School leaders now need to ensure that the quality of teaching in mathematics in lower key stage 2 is of the same quality. We also looked at writing across the school. Improving the teaching of writing has been a considerable focus for the school over the last year and has been successful in rapidly improving rates of progress throughout the school. In key stage 1, pupils receive ample support to develop spelling, grammar and punctuation. Teachers ensure that they receive enough opportunities to develop these skills before writing extensively. Work in books shows that they do this successfully. Current assessment information shows that a high proportion of pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, are working at the expected standard in writing in key stage 1. Throughout key stage 2, pupils have plentiful opportunities to write in a variety of styles. You provide pupils with experiences outside the classroom, such as trips to places of interest, which they use to enhance the quality of their writing. However, some pupils, particularly the disadvantaged pupils, are not consistently challenged in their writing. Consequently, they do not always achieve the standard of which they are capable. Finally, the fourth line of enquiry asked whether leaders are taking appropriate action to improve attendance. Leaders monitor pupils’ absence with tenacity. As a result, there are now more classes with attendance rates close to or above national average, compared to the same period last year. School leaders send a clear message to families as to the importance of attending school regularly. A large number of families respond to this positively, successfully reducing the rate of persistent absentees by more than a third. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: the quality of teaching in mathematics improves in lower key stage 2 disadvantaged pupils in key stage 2 are stretched and challenged enough in their writing so that a higher proportion of them achieve the expected standard. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Islington. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.