The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Since your appointment as executive headteacher in September 2017, you have developed an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. You have strengthened the leadership team and made significant changes in the school to improve the quality of teaching and learning. The school’s strong values foster pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils behave very well and relationships between adults and pupils are based on mutual respect. You set high expectations and challenges for everyone involved with Mount Stewart Infant School, as summed up by the school’s motto ‘Learn – Inspire – Achieve’. Parents, carers, staff and pupils are positive about the school. The school gives priority to helping parents support their children’s learning. The school provides workshops for parents to develop their understanding of early literacy and mathematical skills. Home learning gives parents the chance to take part in further learning activities and creative projects with their children. All of the areas identified for improvement in the previous inspection report have been addressed. Regular assessment and oversight of pupils’ progress ensure that school improvement is focused where it is most needed. Pupils now have good opportunities to apply mathematics skills in other subjects, particularly science. Work is continuing to increase the challenge presented to the most able pupils in mathematics lessons. Governors are well informed and provide you with a good balance of challenge and support. They are confident in your educational leadership and strategic vision for the school. Governors make regular planned visits, including visits to classrooms. They also discuss curriculum developments and standards with teachers, parents and school leaders. Outcomes for pupils are strong, with attainment that is above average by the end of key stage 1 in reading, writing and mathematics. This represents good progress, particularly in writing. However, in 2018, a below-average proportion of pupils reached the expected standard in the phonics screening check at the end of Year 1. This and other specific aspects of the school’s work were my lines of enquiry for this inspection. Safeguarding is effective. The leadership team has ensured that safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Records are well maintained and of good quality. The pre-employment checks on the suitability of adults to work with children meet statutory requirements. Governors regularly check the school’s single central record and undertake safeguarding audits around the school. Leaders make sure that training for staff and governors is up to date. Staff are kept aware of local safeguarding issues. They know how to raise any concerns they may have about a pupil’s welfare. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe and to whom they should report any concerns. Pupils and parents say that bullying is rare and swiftly dealt with. Parents report that their children are safe, happy and well looked after in school. The responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, show that the vast majority of parents support this view. One parent’s comment, typical of others, described the school as a ‘caring and cohesive community’. Inspection findings For the first line of enquiry, we agreed to look at how pupils are learning and applying their skills in phonics. In 2018, there was a significant dip in the outcomes for Year 1 pupils in the national phonics screening check. Leaders have introduced a systematic approach to the teaching of phonics across the school, supported by staff training. This starts with exposure to sounds and letters for three-year-olds in the Nursery Year. By the time they leave the Reception Year, many children now have the decoding skills to read and write simple, age-appropriate words and sentences. However, phonics lessons in the Reception Year take place in the afternoon after playtime and this results in some children not being fully focused on the specifics of phonics learning. In key stage 1, teachers and pupils clearly enjoy the teaching of phonics.