The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have established a knowledgeable and committed senior leadership team that shares your vision and puts pupils’ well-being and achievement at the centre of their work. Other leaders, such as subject leaders and year group leaders, are fully involved in checking pupils’ progress and helping teachers to continually improve their work. Staff morale is high and this contributes to the school’s positive and friendly ethos. Since the previous inspection, pupils’ progress and attainment have continued to improve. Your work to improve pupils’ reading skills has been particularly strong. The proportion of pupils who reached the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check and pupils’ attainment at the end of Year 2 in reading, writing and mathematics were above the national average. You agree that pupils’ writing needs to be a focus for further improvement, particularly in raising the proportion that attain at greater depth. This year, you introduced a new handwriting approach in the Reception Year, and it is working well. Children are increasingly confident to form and join letters correctly. Following this success, you plan to introduce the approach to other year groups. Pupils clearly enjoy school. In the lessons I visited, pupils’ attitudes to learning were positive. They confidently discussed their learning and responded well to the high expectations set by all staff. Their attendance has improved, and the proportion of pupils who are persistently absent has reduced significantly. Governors know the school well and bring a strong set of skills to the leadership of the school. They are ambitious for the school, particularly with regard to pupils’ outcomes. Governors’ focused visits to the school help them to check that you and other leaders are doing the right things to improve the school. You are leaving your post at the end of this term, and governors have worked diligently to plan for the forthcoming months. A new headteacher has been appointed and will take up her post in January 2019. Parents and carers are extremely positive. They support your commitment to the school, community and their children. They compliment the quality of teaching and the school’s emphasis on making learning memorable. Comments from parents included: ‘Teachers work very hard to provide top-quality learning’, and ‘I can’t praise the school enough. It has been a hugely positive experience for us and our daughter.’ Safeguarding is effective. Pupils told me that they feel safe in school. They trust the adults to look after them and sort out any problems effectively. Parents agree that their children are well cared for in school. This is because you, together with other staff, have created a culture where pupils’ welfare is top priority. As the designated safeguarding lead, you ensure that staff have an up-to-date understanding of the latest legislation. The single central record of staff checks meets requirements. Record-keeping related to safeguarding is robust. Your work with others, including children’s services, is effective. You work closely with families to help them understand how to keep their children safe, for example when using the internet. During my discussions, pupils demonstrated a secure understanding of different types of bullying, how to stay safe online and what to do if they are worried or anxious. Inspection findings We started the day by agreeing key lines of enquiry for the inspection. The first line of enquiry related to the use of additional funding, and exploring how well leaders and governors ensure that disadvantaged pupils make good progress and attain well. Last year, these pupils did not achieve as well as their peers. Furthermore, there was a difference at the end of the Reception Year between the achievement of children eligible for free school meals and that of the other children. During our initial discussion, you also requested that this line of enquiry included the provision for pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities. This is a key focus for leaders this year, particularly those pupils who have complex needs. Governors and leaders evaluate the impact of the additional funding effectively. Your procedures for checking pupils’ progress are well embedded and teachers meet regularly with leaders to plan additional teaching for identified pupils. Teachers know individual pupils well and adapt planned activities to meet their needs. The work in pupils’ books and the school’s assessment information demonstrate that disadvantaged pupils make good progress from their starting points. Children in the early years make strong progress, and the differences between those eligible for free school meals and others are diminishing. Although improving, disadvantaged pupils’ progress and attainment in writing is not as strong as in reading and mathematics. This is also the case for other pupils. Leaders are working effectively to meet the needs of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. The work in pupils’ books and my visits to lessons demonstrated that leaders’ actions to support these pupils are making a positive difference. Pupils make good progress from their starting points. Leaders agree that this aspect of the school’s work will be a continual focus, particularly as the number of pupils who have complex needs has increased this year. The next key line of enquiry focused on what leaders are doing to enable more pupils to attain at greater depth, particularly in writing and mathematics. This was because, for the last two years, a lower-than-average proportion of Year 2 pupils reached these standards. You and your team have worked together effectively to address this. Your work is having a positive impact, especially in mathematics. Throughout the school, there is a strong emphasis on challenge for all and providing pupils with opportunities to consolidate their knowledge and understanding. In mathematics, for example, I saw pupils in key stage 1 grappling with difficult problem-solving questions. Other pupils explored the different representations of number bonds to deepen their understanding of large numbers. The work in pupils’ books shows that there is consistency between classes and year groups. Teachers have high expectations for pupils and provide good opportunities to develop their reasoning skills in mathematics. Pupils told me about the way in which teachers use ‘toolkits’ to challenge their thinking in lessons, particularly in reading. These toolkits, alongside other approaches you have introduced, are intended not only to extend pupils’ reading skills but also to support their writing. They offer pupils planned opportunities to ‘dig deeper’ into the texts they read and find ‘juicy words’. Leaders have focused on developing pupils’ vocabulary, including for children in the early years. I saw good examples of this. Pupils in all year groups explore and investigate the meanings and use of different words. They use adventurous words in their written work with increasing accuracy. A strength of leadership is your investment in staff development and training. The impact of this can be seen in teachers’ understanding of what ‘greater depth writing’ looks like. Staff spoke knowledgeably about the approaches that are in place to improve pupils’ writing and could show the impact these are having on pupils’ work. Nevertheless, although standards have improved markedly in mathematics, attainment in writing is less strong. We concluded that the opportunities to extend pupils’ mathematics skills are consistently effective, but the strategies for enabling more pupils to reach the greater depth standards in writing need to be refined and embedded further. Finally, we focused on subjects other than English and mathematics. The curriculum is undoubtedly broad, but I wanted to find out how well it enables pupils to gain depth of understanding in science, for example. Last year, although the proportion of Year 2 pupils that attained the expected standard in science was in line with the national average, it was weaker than that in reading, writing and mathematics. You and your leaders have established a strong curriculum, which ensures that pupils develop knowledge, skills and understanding in a range of subjects. Your systems to check pupils’ acquisition of skills and to monitor their progress over time are thorough. Teachers share your high expectations for the quality of teaching and learning in these subjects. Ably supported by skilled and effective teaching assistants, teachers make the curriculum exciting for the pupils. Teachers plan a range of ‘sparkle moments’ in each topic so that learning is memorable. The effective use of ‘big bang’ moments at the start of and within each topic inspires pupils’ engagement. The work in pupils’ journals shows that they have good opportunities to use their writing and mathematics skills in a range of subjects. During my visits to science lessons, I saw some good examples of teachers deepening pupils’ understanding of key concepts. For example, in key stage 1, pupils accurately sorted photographs of creatures into six different categories and were able to give reasons for their choices, explain their answers and apply their knowledge to challenge questions. In another lesson, pupils were exploring the different habitats of animals. Staff extended pupils’ ideas by asking searching questions and providing extension activities that encouraged pupils to apply their understanding. There is still some more work to do on this. You agreed with me that, although we saw some good examples of pupils’ deepening their understanding in science, these opportunities are not consistently well planned. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: actions to improve pupils’ writing skills are embedded so that all pupils, particularly the disadvantaged pupils, make better progress and a higher proportion attain the greater depth standards a consistent approach to improving pupils’ handwriting is embedded in key stage 1 opportunities to deepen pupils’ knowledge and understanding in science are consistently strong throughout the school. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Enfield. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Gary Rawlings Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection I met with you, your deputy headteacher, assistant headteachers and other staff. I held a meeting with a group of governors, as well as meeting your school improvement adviser. I spoke to pupils informally in lessons and I met a group of pupils formally to discuss their learning and views of the school. I heard two pupils read and observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and corridors. I looked at the work in pupils’ books and journals and in displays. I visited all classes and observed learning in English, mathematics and science. Your deputy headteacher and assistant headteacher accompanied me on most of these visits. I looked at documentation related to safeguarding, including the single central record of staff suitability. I looked at the school’s assessment information and sampled other documents related to pupils’ attendance, behaviour and welfare. I considered the 127 responses to Parent View, 20 responses to the staff survey and 49 responses to the pupil survey.