The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You and your staff have created a warm and nurturing school ethos, centred on your vision for ‘educating and caring for the whole child’. The school’s nine values, such as integrity, kindness and acceptance, provide a strong foundation for this work. High-quality displays capture the ways in which pupils exemplify these values in their behaviour and attitudes. For example, pupils’ writing showed that they had reflected carefully on what having integrity means, with one pupil commenting: ‘Integrity means you do what is right, not what is easy.’ Pupils said that these values make the school a ‘special place to be’, and encourage them to be considerate of others. Since the previous inspection, you have maintained the focus on improving the quality of teaching and pupils’ outcomes. The leadership team has high expectations of what pupils know and can do. This ambition is matched with well-targeted actions to address aspects of the school’s work that need to be better. For example, following disappointing outcomes in the 2016 key stage 2 mathematics assessments, leaders took effective action to improve teaching and the curriculum. Teaching now gives greater emphasis to arithmetic so that pupils acquire the knowledge they need to solve demanding mathematical problems. As a result, Year 6 pupils’ progress improved considerably in the 2017 key stage 2 assessments, and was broadly similar to other schools nationally. You and your team have also successfully overseen an improvement in pupils’ writing outcomes. For the past two years, the progress of Year 6 pupils through key stage 2 has been significantly stronger than their peers in other schools. Leaders have now turned their attention to improving pupils’ reading outcomes. This work is having a positive impact. However, more work is needed to ensure that pupils routinely read books that contribute well to the development of their reading skills. Those responsible for governance have an in-depth knowledge of the school’s work. They ensure that leaders provide them with high-quality information on the school’s effectiveness. Governors and trustees use this information, as well as their expertise, to hold leaders to account. For example, following changes to senior staff earlier in the year, the trust took prompt action to strengthen the senior leadership team. This included the appointment of a head of school. During this period of change, you and the head of school have provided stability for the school community and restored staff morale. Crucially, you and the governing body have made sure that these changes have not compromised the good quality of education. Safeguarding is effective. The leadership team has ensured that safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Leaders, governors and staff make sure that safeguarding is ‘the golden thread’ that runs through all aspects of school life. Strong levels of pastoral care, for pupils and families, form the basis of this work. You and your team are skilled in providing parents and carers with well-targeted guidance so that they can support their child’s emotional and physical welfare. Where appropriate, you are quick to draw on additional provision from external agencies, including counselling services, so that pupils and families receive the right level of help. Staff are well trained in safeguarding issues, including the risks that are most prevalent in the community the school serves. The safeguarding team checks that adults working in the school understand their duties to safeguard pupils. Records of child protection concerns are well maintained and appropriately detailed. Those responsible for governance keep a close eye on the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements. They visit the school regularly to ensure that leaders and staff fulfil their responsibilities to promote pupils’ welfare. The single central record of pre-employment checks is updated regularly. Leaders carry out the required checks on adults working in the school, including volunteers and agency staff. Pupils feel safe in school. They told inspectors that there are ‘lots of adults to talk to’ if they feel worried. Pupils said that bullying or unkind behaviour is rare. The school’s values play an important role in helping pupils to feel happy and secure. As one pupil put it: ‘The value of kindness reminds us to always let someone join in so no one gets lonely.’ The majority of parents agree that their children are safe and well cared for in school.