The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You, the deputy headteacher and the assistant headteacher form a strong team and provide effective leadership and direction for the school. Over recent years, there have been substantial changes to staffing and the number of pupils on roll has almost doubled. The school is now a two-form entry school with nursery provision for two-year-olds. You have managed the school’s growth and transition well. Staff are hard-working and reflective. They are keen to learn and continually improve their practice. The majority of parents and carers speak very highly of the school. They particularly appreciate the approachability of staff and the good communication systems. The new ‘app’ is very popular with parents. As one parent summarised, ‘The ethos in the school is all about the children. The app is a brilliant way for us to share the children’s learning.’ Along with governors, leaders have worked hard to tackle the recommendations made at the previous inspection. There have been marked improvements to the range of reading books available to pupils. Pupils enjoy the reading incentives, such as the reading raffle tickets awarded to pupils who read regularly. They enjoy and discuss high-quality, thought-provoking texts such as ‘The Lost Words’ and ‘Children of the World’. This promotes positive attitudes to reading and encourages a depth of understanding. At the end of key stage 2, the proportion of pupils achieving the higher standards in reading continues to improve and is now in line with the national average. During the last inspection, it was noted that pupils did not have enough opportunities to apply their mathematical skills to investigations. Your investment in new mathematics resources and the increased training opportunities provided for staff have successfully addressed this. Staff work hard to make sure that pupils have opportunities to master their mathematical skills and reach a greater depth in their knowledge and understanding. In 2018, the proportion of pupils achieving higher standards in mathematics by the end of Year 6 was above the national average. Your school improvement plan and subject action plans identify those things that need further improving. However, there are times when your targets and timescales are unclear and imprecise. This makes it difficult for you and governors to accurately assess the impact that different improvement actions are having on pupils’ achievement. Safeguarding is effective. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. You have an effective team of people who work together to support staff and ensure that policy and procedures are clearly understood and closely followed. You have appointed a family learning mentor who provides additional expertise and early help for families and pupils where needed. All staff know how to recognise and raise concerns about child protection. Communication systems between the staff and the family learning mentor are effective and efficient. Record-keeping is detailed and of high quality. You work well with external partners, including local schools, to ensure that pupils are protected and get the extra help that they need. Pupils have a good understanding of how to recognise risk. This is because staff teach safety well through well-planned lessons, themed assemblies and special events such as Safer Internet Day. Inspection findings We focused on the teaching of writing in early years and key stage 1. You have rightly identified that more pupils should be reaching expected and higher standards in writing by the end of Year 2. This is a key priority on your school improvement plan. In early years, writing is modelled and taught well. Good links are made between reading and writing in phonics lessons. It is very clear that activities to support children’s control and coordination are part of daily routines and closely tailored to the children’s differing stages of development. This prepares children well for early writing. Correct letter formation is taught frequently and well. Children practise in a variety of ways, for example using dough, sand and writing tools.