The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You and your staff have worked effectively to achieve your vision for the school and its pupils to develop as ‘citizens for the twenty-first century’. Teachers have high expectations of pupils and have created a culture of respect, pride and responsibility. All adults who work with pupils have similar expectations and reward children effectively for making the right choices in their work and in their behaviour. Pupils understand the importance of respect for each other because it is modelled well by the adults. Pupils’ behaviour is very good, as it was at the time of the previous inspection. All pupils work in a calm and happy atmosphere. Teachers are enthusiastic about what they teach and generate excitement in learning for pupils. Teachers provide high-quality learning environments in their classrooms and in the learning spaces around school. Displays of pupils’ good-quality work celebrate their achievements in a range of subjects across the curriculum. Consequently, pupils are motivated, inspired, enthusiastic and strive to do their best. One parent summed this up as, ‘The care and respect shown to pupils enables them to be the best that they can be.’ The curriculum, which was a strength at the time of the previous inspection, remains a strength. It is well planned and pupils say that their teachers make learning interesting and exciting. One young pupil said that she loved reading because then ‘you can write about it’. The use of reading to inspire writing is clear to see from the many examples around the school. You also give pupils many opportunities to write, across the curriculum. Pupils’ basic skills of handwriting, punctuation and spelling are good. Children master these skills early on in the school because they are well taught and regularly practised. Pupils enjoy the range of visits that the school provides, including their visit to Windsor, where seeing the Queen caused great excitement. Pupils’ excitement, reflection and enjoyment can be seen in their writing, when they wrote letters trying to persuade others to ‘act immediately to make this dream a reality’, or when writing poems about the moon with imaginative vocabulary. Areas for improvement from the previous inspection have been addressed, including the key issue around teachers’ questioning. Adults use questioning more effectively now to ensure that all pupils are thinking carefully about their work and achieving their best. This was seen in the regular, well-planned reading sessions. Adults working with pupils had key questions and activities prepared related to the books the children were reading. Pupils were challenged to give reasons for their answers and explore the meaning of words. Adults modelled good answers and full sentences when pupils were providing less detailed answers. In the phonics sessions seen, pupils were asked what was important about key words being read and what type of words they were. Year 1 pupils were able to define what a compound word was and which sound was appropriate, ‘air’ or ‘ere’. This is because adults extended their thinking in the discussions and in the activities that they were undertaking. You have identified the need to challenge all pupils in every lesson across the school as an area of priority because the degree of challenge is not consistent across the school. Teaching in a few classes still starts with revision of what all pupils have already learned. This practice sometimes goes on too long and the pace of progress and what pupils learn is affected negatively. This formed part of the recommendations in the previous inspection. Governors support the work of the school well. They are committed to improving it further. They prioritise the part that the school plays in the community and the work that the school does to ensure the curriculum provides good opportunities for pupils. Governors visit the school regularly and monitor curriculum coverage and seek parents’ views, which they act upon. For example, in the most recent parent survey, parents asked for more training on aspects of learning which have subsequently been provided. Safeguarding is effective. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. You have created a positive culture of safeguarding in the school. The single central record indicates that all required checks are carried out to ensure that staff are suitable to work with pupils. Staff are clear how to report concerns about pupils and these are followed up appropriately by you as the designated safeguarding lead. Staff have had the required training to carry out their work, and leaders and teachers know their pupils well. As a result, pupils feel safe. Pupils were clear in discussions that they had lots of people to talk to if they had concerns, and a worry box to use which was checked regularly. Pupils are taught effectively about everyday risks and how to deal with these. Pupils that I spoke to were very aware of online dangers and that people that you speak to online may not be who they appeared to be. They also spoke articulately about their own responsibilities in regards to treating each other well. They say that most children in school are kind and that they like school and feel safe. Governors monitor aspects of safeguarding. This includes ensuring that personnel files contain appropriate documentation. They also ensure that the activities in antibullying week are supporting pupils to be confident in taking action to keep themselves safe. Inspection findings Disadvantaged pupils had low attendance in 2016 and many of them did not attend school regularly in 2017. In response to this concern you commissioned an external review of attendance systems and communication with parents. You are now taking additional steps to reduce the high levels of absence. This includes sending concern notices earlier than previously. In the most recent pupil premium statement it is clear that you identify attendance as a key barrier to progress for some of the most disadvantaged pupils. You have used some of the additional funding provided for these pupils to improve their progress and ensure that they attend school regularly. This includes ensuring that disadvantaged pupils have additional reading sessions and access to a homework club. This is having a good impact because the work is matched well to pupils’ current attainment, and attendance at the sessions is good. You also provide good-quality early intervention and support for pupils. This includes working with a range of other agencies, such as mental health providers, and providing in-school therapy and advice. This is having a positive effect on individual pupils’ and families’ engagement with school and, consequently, their attendance. This is because pupils’ individual needs are addressed and barriers to attendance are removed in many cases. You continue to prioritise the attendance of vulnerable pupils in your plans for improvement, so that the number of pupils who attend school regularly continues to increase. Reading progress for previously higher-attaining pupils was in the bottom 20% nationally in 2016 and 2017. You track all pupils’ attainment and progress well now. You have a much clearer picture of all pupils’ outcomes, including previously high-attaining pupils. This is because expectations have risen. As well as knowing how pupils are currently performing, you are being more ambitious about where you want pupils to be at the end of every key stage. As a result, pupils are progressing well. The quality of teaching of reading is good. Some teaching is strong. This is because teachers focus well on expanding pupils’ knowledge of the meaning of key vocabulary and language. However, leaders do not ensure that the best practice in teaching is shared regularly and quickly enough so that all pupils receive the best possible teaching, every day. The proportion of children reaching a good level of development by the end of the early years was below the national average in 2017, and has declined steadily over a three-year period. This is because nationally attainment at this key stage is improving but your school’s outcomes are not. Outcomes in 2018, which have been moderated externally, are in line with last year’s national averages at the end of Reception. Children make good progress in basic skills during this key stage and their books reflect high expectations of the amount and quality of work that they produce. For example, in the autumn term children are writing very simple words, and seven months later they are writing four or five sentences. Leaders recognise that there is more rigour needed in the way that they analyse the priorities for teaching from the start of the Reception Year to ensure that children make good progress. This is because the assessments that teachers carry out when children start school are not yet being used effectively to identify key barriers to learning. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: attendance for disadvantaged pupils improves so that it is in line with other pupils nationally good teaching is enhanced further through effective sharing of the best practice barriers to learning that some children experience are more quickly identified on entry to school so that teaching takes them into account and ensures their good progress. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Hertfordshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Debbie Rogan Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection We discussed the key lines of enquiry for this inspection, areas for further improvement and information about current pupils’ attainment and progress with mathematics and English lead teachers. I visited lessons and held meetings with you and your senior leaders. I also spoke to pupils informally and listened to pupils reading during reading sessions. I met with two governors. Policies and procedures for the safeguarding of pupils were examined, along with attendance information. I held discussions with the leaders for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and the pupil premium. I gathered a range of evidence to evaluate the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. This included joint learning walks with you and your leaders. I looked at a range of pupils’ work from across the school, both in books and on display, which included work from a wide range of subjects and pupil abilities. The views of 107 parents who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, were taken into account, as well as 53 responses which parents made using the free-text service. No pupils or staff responded to the surveys they were sent so these could not be taken into account.