The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Your high expectations are shared by leaders and staff. Together, you promote the Unicef ‘Rights of the child’ through the opportunities you provide, raising aspirations and broadening horizons for pupils. Most parents and carers who spoke with me commented positively on the school. Parents appreciate the many additional activities provided for their children. They feel well informed through the regular newsletters and texts that they receive. Parents value the opportunities to attend workshops which enable them to develop the skills they need to help their children at home. The views of many parents were reflected in the comment: ‘This is a lovely school. Staff are very friendly and approachable, and my children are very happy at school.’ Pupils are polite and well-mannered. Good relationships, fostered by adults in the school, contribute to pupils’ positive attitudes to learning. Older pupils take their responsibilities seriously as members of committees and as role models for younger pupils. Pupils who spoke with me said they feel they have a valued input into the decisions that leaders make. Particularly impressive is the emphasis on the United Nations convention on children’s rights. This is enabling pupils to develop their knowledge and skills in making a worthwhile contribution to society, particularly through the new ‘global goals’ project. Pupils appreciate the range of clubs available, for example cooking, sports and choir. Pupils spoke passionately about their performance with the choir. One pupil, reflecting the views of others, said: ‘It was an amazing experience, performing with other schools in the Manchester Arena.’ Leaders provide opportunities for pupils to broaden their horizons through residential trips and visits. Pupils enjoy learning, because teachers make the experience engaging and interesting. During the inspection, I followed up several key lines of enquiry, including the areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection. Leaders ensure that staff have the knowledge and understanding they need to support pupils’ learning effectively. You have developed a culture of professional dialogue between staff. Staff feel valued and appreciate the opportunity to share knowledge and expertise with colleagues, including colleagues in other schools. This is especially important for the staff who are new to teaching. Leaders review the progress pupils make and routinely check on the quality of teaching. They challenge staff effectively and provide support when necessary. As a result, the quality of teaching has improved since the last inspection. Safeguarding is effective. Safeguarding is given a high priority. Robust systems are in place to check that all adults in the school are safe to work with children. Effective training for staff ensures that they understand the signs of neglect and abuse to look out for. Safeguarding procedures are understood by staff. All records are detailed and securely kept. Leaders work very effectively with other agencies to ensure that pupils and their families receive guidance and support when necessary. Pupils with whom I spoke said that behaviour is good for the majority of pupils. They explained that a small proportion of pupils receive effective help to make the right choices about their conduct. Pupils understand the different forms bullying can take. They acknowledge that bullying exists and are confident that it is dealt with quickly and effectively. They feel safe in the school and have a trusted adult to whom they could speak should they have any concerns or worries. Pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe in a variety of situations, including learning about ‘stranger danger’ and road safety. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe when they are using the internet. Inspection findings Leaders have successfully resolved the areas for improvement identified at the last inspection. Training for staff around the development of spoken language has been particularly successful. The opportunities teachers provide for pupils to apply their mathematical knowledge in other curriculum subjects is embedded. Pupils’ attainment in mathematics is improving, including their ability to solve problems and explain their reasoning. Leaders carried out a review of the English curriculum. They ensure that learning opportunities are engaging and build on pupils’ prior knowledge. The focus on developing pupils’ vocabulary, including the technical vocabulary of individual subjects, is bringing success. Pupils are beginning to apply their vocabulary, spelling and grammar knowledge with increasing accuracy. This is having a positive impact on improving their outcomes. However, there is scope to build further on these improvements, so that a higher proportion of pupils reach the standard of which they are capable. Next, we looked at the improvements in reading and writing in key stage 1. Leaders give high priority to the teaching of reading across the school. Books are carefully selected to support pupils’ learning in an environment that has been designed to enhance their development as readers and writers. Pupils are enthusiastic about their reading. They talk confidently about the books they enjoy reading, including adventure stories and books that provide information. Visits to school by local authors and poets raise aspirations for pupils. During a recent visit by a local author, pupils helped to create their own story and design the illustrations. They are excitedly anticipating the final publication. This year, membership of a national writing project has provided training for staff. This has further improved their knowledge and understanding, enabling them to support pupils’ literacy development effectively. Staff design opportunities for pupils to write in a variety of styles and for a range of audiences and purposes. Staff plan exciting ‘hooks’ to spark the imagination of pupils as writers. For example, the discovery of parts of a space ship on the school field and the reported glimpse of a Gruffalo on the school’s CCTV caused great excitement. High expectations from staff are reflected in the pride pupils take in their work. Pupils know what they need to do to improve their writing further. On investigation, we found that phonics is taught consistently from the start of Reception. Teachers’ strong subject knowledge and pupils’ positive attitudes to learning contribute to the improving progress pupils make. Leaders check that phonics is taught systematically, building on pupils’ prior learning. Teachers use assessment effectively during lessons to identify pupils who are struggling. Teachers give all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), the help they need to catch up quickly. Where pupils are actively engaged in recording activities, stronger progress is made. Pupils apply their phonic knowledge in their own writing with increasing accuracy. Reading resources match the phonic skills of pupils, with increasingly challenging vocabulary for some. Pupils who read with me said they enjoy reading and many read at home to family members. Pupils are becoming skilful and competent readers. We also reviewed how you are improving outcomes for children in the early years. Leaders clearly explained the reason for the decline in the proportion of children who reached a good level of development in 2018. Children join the school with skills and knowledge below those typical of other children of a similar age. An increasing proportion of children join the school with SEND. Leaders in the early years have a good understanding of how children learn. Carefully planned activities before the children start school ensure that they settle quickly into well-established routines. Strong, positive relationships are fostered well by adults. Staff work together across the foundation stage to plan activities that ignite children’s curiosity. They use assessment information effectively to identify the next steps in children’s learning. Training for staff enables them to support well children’s language and ability to communicate clearly, including those of children with SEND. Staff correct mispronunciations sensitively as they use questions to encourage conversation. Children chat happily together while discussing what they will have for their lunch. Children in the Reception Year apply their improving oral vocabulary with increasing accuracy to their writing. They are engaged and focused in their learning because teachers plan activities that meet their needs well. Parents engage in the range of activities leaders provide. They enjoy the opportunities to be involved in their children’s learning. For example, ‘reading breakfasts’ are very popular. Children make good progress from their starting points. A higher proportion of children are on track to reach a good level of development by the end of this academic year. Finally, we looked at attendance. Good attendance is a high priority for leaders. It is monitored carefully, particularly for the most vulnerable pupils. Staff take swift action, including phone calls and visits to the home, if pupils do not arrive at school on time. Staff engage well with families and work effectively with charities, other agencies and professionals to ensure that families receive the help and guidance they need. Parents who spoke with me commented positively on the support they receive from dedicated staff. Pupils explained the importance of attending school each day. Regular meetings with parents, and a range of rewards and incentives, have had a positive impact on reducing the number of pupils who are persistently absent. Attendance is improving and is now broadly in line with the national average. There is still scope for leaders to build on the effective strategies in place to ensure that pupils who are persistently absent from school attend regularly and on time. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: they embed the improvements made to the way reading and writing are taught, particularly in improving pupils’ vocabulary across the curriculum, so that a higher proportion of pupils reach the standards of which they are capable. they build on the successful strategies to improve pupils’ attendance so that persistent absence continues to decrease, and pupils attend regularly and on time.