The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You provide inspirational leadership for the school. You and your leadership team consistently strive to provide the highest quality education for your pupils. You have reviewed and improved teaching systematically since the previous inspection. As a result, pupils make consistently strong progress and achieve well. For example, you have made sure that teachers and pupils have access to an increasingly wide range of high-quality books and texts, which are inspiring pupils to read more extensively and to write more effectively. Meanwhile, in mathematics you and your team have increased opportunities for pupils to solve mathematical problems and so strengthen their understanding of mathematical concepts. You and your team have successfully addressed the key issues identified at the time of the previous inspection. The inspection team asked you to raise attainment in writing at the end of key stage 1. You have secured a steady improvement in standards in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stage 1 and have sustained above-average outcomes at the end of key stage 2. You and your team have now rightly identified the need to ensure that the most able pupils achieve even more successfully in a wide range of subjects. You make sure that all members of the school community play their part in securing the school’s aims: ‘Everyone matters, everyone helps, everyone succeeds’. Your success is evident in the school’s highly inclusive, warm and hard-working atmosphere. You and your team expect pupils of all backgrounds and abilities to work hard and to behave well. Pupils respond enthusiastically and maturely to your high expectations. They are keen to do their best in lessons and play responsibly during playtimes. Pupils behave extremely well throughout the school. You have developed a cohesive and highly effective staff team. Subject leaders have made a significant contribution to improving the quality of teaching since the previous inspection. They are clear about the next steps in the school’s development. Governors are highly knowledgeable about the school’s work. They have a thorough understanding of its performance in relation to other schools nationally, and provide strong support and challenge for you and your team. Teachers share your high aspirations for pupils’ achievement. They are enthused about teaching and are keen to extend pupils’ learning even further. Teachers work constructively with each other and with colleagues in other schools to develop their practice. All members of staff who completed Ofsted’s online questionnaire say that they are proud to work in the school. Safeguarding is effective. You and the leadership team ensure that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose so that pupils are secure. You make sure that staff and governors know what to do if they have any worries about pupils’ safety, and take prompt action whenever there are any concerns. You work constructively with parents and agencies to ensure that pupils learn well and feel safe. Up-to-date policies and procedures provide a secure framework for the school’s work. You and your team respect pupils’ views. You listen carefully to what they have to say about their learning, and about their experiences of school life. As a result, pupils feel valued and secure. Pupils are confident, happy learners. Inspection findings During this inspection, I focused particularly on: – how effectively teaching ensures that disadvantaged pupils make as much progress as they should, especially in writing – whether teaching during key stage 2 challenges and extends learning well enough for the most able pupils, particularly in writing – how successfully leaders ensure that all groups of pupils attend regularly. You give disadvantaged pupils’ achievement a high priority. You are ambitious for their future and will not be satisfied until disadvantaged pupils of all abilities achieve the highest standards possible in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6. You are now focusing appropriately on making sure that the most able disadvantaged pupils share your aspirations for their futures and achieve well. You continually check disadvantaged pupils’ progress and have robust discussions with teachers about pupils’ learning. During the past year, you and your team have looked closely at the impact of teaching on disadvantaged pupils’ learning and have made a number of improvements. For example, you have made sure that every adult in the school shares responsibility for disadvantaged pupils’ progress. As a result, all members of staff are alert to disadvantaged pupils’ needs. They routinely take the initiative to support disadvantaged pupils’ learning wherever the opportunity arises by, for example, hearing them read or supporting them in a mathematics activity. Regular discussions with disadvantaged pupils have enabled you and your staff to tailor support more closely to pupils’ needs. Ongoing developments have ensured that disadvantaged pupils continue to make strong progress in a range of subjects, including writing. Teachers have high expectations of pupils’ learning and the most able pupils in the school learn well in English and mathematics. They, like their classmates, develop the knowledge and skills needed to complete tasks successfully and confidently. For example, in English teachers give pupils plenty of opportunities to write for a range of purposes and for different audiences so that they learn how to write confidently and effectively. However, while the most able make strong progress, they could achieve even more in English, mathematics and a wide range of subjects. Leaders have rightly identified this aspect of the school’s work as the next priority for improvement and have already made a start. For example, well-focused training is strengthening teachers’ understanding of how to extend learning for the most able pupils. Leaders expect all pupils to attend regularly. They work closely and effectively with parents and agencies to support pupils and their families. Leaders make good use of well-established procedures to check pupils’ attendance. They act quickly and decisively in the case of any unexplained or unauthorised absence to ensure that pupils are safe. Pupils enjoy school and all groups attend well. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: teaching extends and deepens pupils’ learning consistently well across the curriculum, particularly for the most able. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for East Sussex. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Julie Sackett Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I visited nine lessons with you and your deputy headteacher to observe teaching and learning. I looked at pupils’ work during our visits to lessons, and looked separately at a sample of pupils’ work with your English and mathematics leaders, assessment leader and assistant headteacher. I met with you, your deputy headteacher, the assistant headteacher, the English leader, the inclusion leader and your bursar. I also met with three governors, including the chair of the governing body. I had a telephone conversation with a local authority representative. I talked with pupils in the classrooms and during playtime. I took account of 24 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, and spoke informally with parents during the school day. I also considered 31 responses to Ofsted’s online staff questionnaire and 146 responses to Ofsted’s online pupil questionnaire. I reviewed the school’s website and considered a range of documents, including your summary of the school’s effectiveness and the school’s improvement plan. I also looked at documents about safeguarding, behaviour and attendance.