The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. The school’s leaders demonstrate a clear understanding of the school’s strengths and priorities for further improvement. Strategies have been introduced to improve outcomes, with more pupils achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics combined in the assessments at the end of key stage 2 for 2018. An area for improvement from the last inspection was for more pupils to reach higher levels in English and mathematics. Following specific work, the assessments at the end of key stage 2 in 2018 showed that more pupils achieved the higher standard in these subjects than previously. Procedures for monitoring outcomes are more robust, with detailed records helping the leadership team to support staff through clear feedback and actions for improvement. You have appointed experienced teachers to middle leader positions, and they are now starting to have an impact on school improvement. You have reviewed the curriculum, and a scheme is being developed to enable pupils to gain skills and understanding. Governors are knowledgeable and well informed about the school. They demonstrate an understanding of the priorities for the school, including raising the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and improving attendance. Governors are able to find out about particular subjects through their termly meetings with middle leaders. The governors are aware of the importance of safeguarding and they have regular training to help them fulfil their obligations. They are pleased with your appointment as headteacher and a priority for them is for you to remain at the school. They are proud that staff retention is high, with no new appointments in over two years. Leaders promote a supportive and inclusive ethos at the school. Parents and carers are very positive and comment favourably about the diversity of the school. Older pupils are expected to support younger ones, and indeed they say that they look forward to meeting their ‘buddy’ each Friday. Well-trained additional adults are providing appropriately targeted support for a number of pupils so that they can access the curriculum and make progress. Safeguarding is effective. Leaders and governors have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are thorough and fit for purpose. Effective systems and policies are in place to safeguard pupils. The necessary checks relating to the safer recruitment of staff are in place, with regular monitoring by senior leaders and governors. Senior leaders and members of the governing body have undertaken safer recruitment training. Staff understand and follow the systems and procedures in place for them to report safeguarding concerns. Posters with the names and photographs of the safeguarding leads are highly visible around the school. Regular training ensures that staff have up-to-date statutory guidance to help them fulfil their safeguarding responsibilities. Detailed case studies for vulnerable pupils are reviewed and updated on a regular basis. Pupils say that they feel safe in school and that the teachers take care of them. Though instances of bullying are rare, the pupils say that teachers deal with them quickly. The pupils have their own safeguarding committee and they are proud to have been invited to participate in a forthcoming borough event. Inspection findings In 2018, the attainment and progress of disadvantaged pupils were below those of other pupils. The school sees this as a key priority for improvement, and we agreed to make this the first key line of enquiry. Regular pupil progress review meetings focus on the achievement of disadvantaged pupils. Leaders monitor English and mathematics work weekly, and the feedback given to staff helps them to focus on teaching to improve achievement. Additional support in lessons and through targeted interventions is used to accelerate progress, and the effective deployment of additional adults was seen during observations. The school’s assessment and tracking information shows that there is some improvement in the progress being made by disadvantaged pupils, but there are still achievement gaps to be closed. Further support to disadvantaged pupils and their families is provided through access to holiday schemes that have a focus on promoting learning and enrichment activities. The school has recently introduced a curriculum scheme with themes aligned to the Unicef Rights Respecting Schools Programme, and the school believes that pupils should have a broad, rich and deep education. The second key line of enquiry was to focus on how leaders are providing the pupils with a broad and balanced curriculum. Provision is in place for a range of subjects, including science, history, geography, art, music, religious education and modern foreign languages. There is a range of topics, and these are detailed in the curriculum overviews. Work in pupils’ books showed that writing skills are being developed across subjects, including geography and science. Practical skills were seen being taught and developed in geography and art lessons. Year 5 pupils have recently used their art skills to produce a sculpture with patients at a nearby hospice. All pupils in Years 1 to 6 have an Italian or French lesson each week. The school recognises that the recent curriculum initiatives still need to be developed to ensure that breadth and knowledge are being taught across all subjects. The rate of fixed-term exclusions was above the national average in 2016/17. We agreed that the third key line of enquiry would be explore the actions that leaders are taking to reduce the number of fixed-term exclusions. The appointment of a full-time inclusion lead has led to improvements in the monitoring of behaviour across the school. Interventions take place quickly and the work of the learning mentor has been key in this area. Parents are informed of instances of poor behaviour and are invited into school to address concerns. Initiatives, including split lunchtimes, have had a positive impact on behaviour, as seen in the tracking information. Celebration assemblies have had a positive impact and are valued by the pupils. The actions of leaders led to the number of fixed-term exclusion being reduced in 2017/18. In fact, there have been no fixed-term exclusions since December 2017. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: the school continues to close the attainment and progress gaps for disadvantaged pupils the recent curriculum initiatives are fully embedded to ensure breadth and knowledge across all subjects. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Southwark, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Lewisham. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.