The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You and the staff have developed a warm and caring ethos. Relationships between adults and pupils are very positive. Pupils enjoy coming to school and parents and carers are very pleased with quality of education provided. A high number of parents completed Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, and all agreed that their children are happy. Almost all would recommend the school. You have combined well with other leaders to address the decline in attainment that occurred in 2017. You work closely with other organisations and schools to learn from good practice and provide training for your staff. Initiatives put in place in recent years are proving successful. However, there is still some work to do to ensure that new approaches are embedded. For example, in mathematics sometimes pupils are not sufficiently challenged, particularly the most able pupils. Additionally, texts used in developing pupils’ comprehension skills are not always sufficiently challenging or interesting. In response to an area for improvement identified at the previous inspection, leaders at all levels are far more involved in school improvement. They evaluate the quality of teaching and pupils’ work in their areas of responsibility. The quality of feedback is effective and gives teachers useful ideas on how to refine their practice. Subject leaders have developed new and manageable systems to assess pupils’ attainment in the foundation subjects. The accuracy and use of assessment is a strength. You and the leadership team quickly assess pupils’ attainment on entry to the school and then make regular checks to see how they are progressing over time. Effective moderation within school and with other schools helps to secure accurate assessments. The quality of the presentation of pupils’ work was an area for improvement noted at the previous inspection. You have put in place a clear policy and standard for presentation across the school. The quality of presentation in pupils’ books has improved and is exemplary in some classes. You have continued to refine the curriculum so that it is interesting for pupils. Their knowledge and understanding develop well across a range of subjects. During the inspection, several pupils commented on how they enjoy their learning in art, music and science. Older pupils talked knowledgeably about the Holocaust from their Second World War topic. Pupils said that they found extremely interesting topics, such as this, have a very positive impact on their learning generally. Pupils’ personal development is central to the ethos of the school. They work hard and behave very well. All of the parents who completed Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, agreed or strongly agreed that the school makes sure that pupils are well behaved. Pupils thrive on the range of roles and responsibilities they are given. The school council is proud that its feedback has brought about new extra-curricular clubs for cookery and creating comics. The ‘ground force’ team designed and created their own garden to display at the Malvern Spring Festival. Parents and pupils appreciate the broad range of enrichment opportunities. Music is a strong feature of the school. Typical comments from pupils include, ‘Since coming to this school, I have learned to play violin, trumpet and guitar.’ Pupils are highly motivated by the on-site woodland activities they take part in. They also enjoy a broad range of trips, including to centres where they enjoy outdoor and adventurous activities. The governing body is currently going through a transition period with the appointment of several new governors. The experienced chair has a good understanding of the school and ensures that leaders are provided with appropriate challenge. The governing body fulfils the vast majority of its statutory functions effectively. However, it has not made sure that its evaluations of the pupil premium and the physical education (PE) and sport premium are effective enough. Safeguarding is effective. You have ensured that all the arrangements for safeguarding are fit for purpose. You and the other designated safeguarding leads take your roles seriously and keep up to date with statutory guidelines. Other staff are informed of changes swiftly and you carry out effective checks to make sure that staff understand the school’s policy. Staff training is effective and ensures that they have a good awareness of their responsibilities. There is a positive culture for keeping pupils safe. Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe. They are clear about dangers associated with the internet and know how important it is to tell an adult if they are concerned about something. The curriculum provides plenty of opportunities for pupils to learn about danger. During the inspection, several pupils talked of a visit from the fire service where they learned about a fire safety technique called ‘stop, drop and roll’. Inspection findings In 2017, pupils’ attainment in reading at the end of key stage 2 was low compared to the national average. You responded well to this dip by refining your approaches to the teaching of reading. As a result, attainment has risen across the school. In 2018, the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard was above the national average. You have put a clear and successful focus on improving the culture of reading. Pupils make good use of the library and enjoy talking about their favourite genres and authors. An effective system is in place to make sure that pupils read to an adult on a regular basis. Weaker readers are targeted for additional reading where it is required. Pupils’ reading comprehension skills are gradually improving. They are being given increasing opportunities to retrieve information about a text or answer questions about what the author may be implying. Teachers ask effective questions to develop pupils’ understanding of key words and why they have been used by the author. Sometimes, the texts chosen for reading comprehension activities are not sufficiently challenging or interesting. Where teachers vary the use of text, it has more success. For example, where teachers use a class novel as a stimulus for comprehension activities, the quality of pupils’ answers shows a greater depth of understanding. In 2017, pupils’ attainment also declined in mathematics at the end of key stage 2. In 2018, it improved but was still just below the levels seen nationally. Recently, you have put in place a range of new strategies to improve outcomes in mathematics. Staff’s subject knowledge is improving through the project with a teaching school. Pupils make good use of practical apparatus to support their understanding of mathematical ideas. There is also clear evidence that pupils’ reasoning skills are developing well in parts of the school. Some of the mathematics initiatives are quite new and are not yet fully embedded across every class. As a result, pupils are sometimes not challenged as much as they should be. This is particularly the case for the most able pupils, who do not apply their understanding to more complex problems when they are finding work too easy. During the inspection, several pupils commented that work in mathematics is sometimes not as demanding as in other subjects. The pupil premium plan and evaluation published on the school’s website is not as effective as it should be. During the inspection, we explored the different strategies that you have in place to support the improved learning of disadvantaged pupils. Some strategies are proving successful. For example, pupils’ emotional development is well supported through play therapy and through additional reading support, pupils’ reading ages have improved. The impact of the spending is not pulled together and evaluated as thoroughly as it should be. Consequently, leaders and governors cannot easily identify which strategies are having the most or least impact. The PE and sport premium is generally having a positive impact. There has been a steep rise in the amount of competitive sport opportunities. During the inspection, pupils spoke enthusiastically about competing for the school in rugby, football, golf, basketball and dodgeball. A broader range of extra-curricular physical activity and sports clubs has also been introduced. Some staff have benefited from training to improve their delivery of PE. The PE and sport premium planning documents for last year and this year do not account for the full allocation received. A significant amount of funding was carried forward last academic year. You have not ensured that this aspect of leadership is as organised as it should be. As a result, funding is not exploited to its fullest extent. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: mathematics teaching is sufficiently challenging, particularly for the most able pupils the quality of texts used in reading comprehension activities provides sufficient challenge and interest for pupils they have a deeper understanding of the impact of pupil premium strategies on disadvantaged pupils additional funding to improve PE and sport is fully allocated and spent, so that opportunities are maximised for pupils. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Solihull. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Matt Meckin Her Majesty’s Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I held meetings with you and several other leaders. I met with the chair of governors and a school improvement adviser from the local authority. I spoke to pupils informally and formally. I made short visits to nine lessons and looked at a range of pupils’ books. I spoke to parents at the start of the day and considered 70 free-text responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. I also considered the responses from Ofsted’s online questionnaires for pupils and staff.