The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Since your appointment as headteacher two years ago, you have swiftly and accurately identified which aspects of the school need development. You have worked tirelessly with senior leaders, middle leaders, staff, pupils and parents to bring about improvements, especially in the quality of teaching and, more recently, in giving a greater focus to pupils’ learning. You provide strong leadership with a clear sense of purpose and direction. Your analysis has helped you to identify issues relating to pupils’ progress and to take effective action to bring about improvement. For example, the prompt action you took to improve standards in mathematics by working with an outstanding provider is beginning to have a benefit. Throughout the school, there is a strong drive to raise the expectations and aspirations of both staff and pupils. Your strong commitment to every pupil succeeding, irrespective of their background or ability, is shared by governors, leaders and staff. You believe passionately that the school makes a difference to pupils’ future chances in life and use this to guide your principles and decisions. You have created an environment that fosters the care and nurture of the whole school community, driven successfully by the school’s Christian values. Pupils’ progress and attainment continue to be close to national averages. However, the progress of disadvantaged pupils is below that of their peers, although improving because the school is better focused on their needs. The school is working hard on removing other gaps through earlier intervention, positive action and ongoing training. Relative underperformance by boys is being addressed through training and improving boys’ performance in language and literacy. You have worked hard to develop teaching across the school and your involvement in the Teacher Effectiveness Enhancement Programme is having a positive impact on improving classroom practice. This is supported through a comprehensive induction programme and an appraisal programme which matches professional development to the needs of staff and the school. Opportunities to regularly share good practice as well as peer observations are also having a positive impact. Inspectors identified particularly strong learning and progress in English, Spanish, French, art, dance, drama, technology and psychology. In these lessons, learning walks confirmed teachers’ secure subject knowledge, strong relationships with pupils and supportive interactions. Learning and progress in humanities were less secure but leaders are well aware of the problems and have plans in place to address them. Pupils rated their teachers very highly, especially in the sixth form. Your curriculum is appropriately adapted to the needs, abilities and interests of all pupils. The curriculum ensures that all pupils can leave the school with recognisable qualifications which enable them to progress on to higher education, employment or training. The sixth-form curriculum provides an appropriate range of A levels and vocational courses which are responsive to pupils’ aptitudes and future needs. This is evident from the high numbers of pupils staying on in the sixth form. Safeguarding is effective. The school has effective procedures for safeguarding and risk assessment. These meet statutory requirements and include high-quality checks on adults and a carefully planned approach to managing the safety of pupils. The safeguarding policy is very comprehensive and the single central record is fully compliant. The extensive staff training programme has ensured that all staff are conversant with child protection requirements. There are clear reporting procedures if staff have any concerns and regular safeguarding updates as well as frequent reminders to staff, pupils and parents. Senior staff and governors have received safer recruitment training and apply this to the recruitment and selection of all new staff. The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is strong. Pupils told us that they feel safe and secure in the school. They are aware of different forms of bullying and say that all forms of bullying are actively challenged and dealt with effectively. Pupils spoke positively about the advice and support provided about online safety and the opportunities to talk about their worries, concerns and challenges. They were well informed about homophobic and racist bullying as well as knife crime. The very large majority of parents who completed the online questionnaire, Parent View, agreed that their children were safe and well looked after.