The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Ormiston Rivers Academy is an industrious environment, where staff and pupils work together harmoniously and without complacency. Pupils achieve and behave well. You and your team, most notably your vice-principals, have worked tirelessly, to raise the aspirations of your pupils, your staff and the community. You have transformed the ethos of your school. This was recognised in your inspection in July 2013, and you have continued to improve the school since this time. Pupils’ performance at key stage 4 continues to rise. In 2016, examination results indicate rapid improvement in some areas, such as science, where achievement was not as good previously. Equally, the number of pupils who achieved grade C in both English and mathematics in 2016 has also risen considerably. Many pupils enter the school with attainment that is lower than the national average. From this starting point they make good, and sometimes better, progress. As a result, although some weaker teaching still exists, overall teaching is effective in enabling pupils to achieve well. You have creatively overcome your recruitment difficulties to establish high-quality leadership and effective teaching. You and your leadership team actively talent spot and nurture potential in your school staff. I spoke with teachers who are new to the profession. Many of them were spotted by your leaders, doing other jobs in the school, and were encouraged and supported to qualify as teachers. You are rightly proud of your training for staff and how many of your leaders are ‘home-grown’. Your staff are very proud to be part of the Ormiston Rivers Academy team. Almost all of the staff who completed Ofsted’s online survey were positive in their praise for the improvements you have brought to the school. Staff are ‘buzzing’ with energy and enthusiasm, and work effectively to improve standards for pupils. Newly qualified teachers say that the support they receive from your leaders and other staff is exemplary. They say that they are constantly improving the quality of what they do because of the intensive support they receive from their mentors and department teams. This helps teachers who are new to the profession to improve their classroom management techniques to develop positive relationships with pupils. Pupils are courteous young people who welcome visitors happily to their very attractive and well-maintained school. Pupils appreciate the work of the staff and try hard in lessons because they want to do well. The school is becoming increasingly popular in the local area and the number of pupils joining the school is rising year on year. This can sometimes be felt in the corridors, where the space is sometimes tight when pupils are moving between lessons. However, pupils walk through the school corridors in a calm and orderly way. Parents are effusive in their praise for the school, and particularly for you as the principal. Almost all of the 72 parents who completed Ofsted’s online survey would recommend the school. A small minority of parents and pupils raised some concerns about behaviour and teaching, although inspection evidence does not suggest that these concerns typically reflect pupils’ experience. You have successfully acted on all the areas identified for improvement since the previous inspection. Reading is now a central part of pupils’ daily timetables. Inspectors listened to pupils read and spoke to pupils about their experiences of reading. They were very positive about reading. The creation of your ‘Learning Resource Centre’ has also enabled pupils to access more reading material in a pleasant environment. You have recently implemented a programme to ensure that your most-able pupils in key stage 3 get more exposure to classic texts, so that they can continue to enjoy a rich, varied reading experience. Feedback to pupils has also continued to improve, although there remains some inconsistency, especially around the presentation of some pupils’ work. Pupils say that they get clear guidance in most lessons, so they know how to improve. Inspection evidence confirms this to be the case. Published past data for mathematics shows that pupils have made progress that is broadly in line with the national average. However, the most able pupils have not always attained the highest grades. Results in 2016 show an improvement in the outcomes at A* to C grade, with a rise in the numbers of pupils achieving a grade A or an A*. This is the result of effective leadership and improved teaching.