The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the previous inspection. You and your deputy headteacher have a clear and exciting vision for the school. You both understand and agree about the strengths of the school and areas which you want to improve; consequently your working relationship is very effective. Your self-evaluation is accurate and the plan you have written to address areas you wish to improve is unambiguous and measurable. You told me that growing the cultural capital (cultural ideas, places and experiences) of the pupils in your care is a key priority. To make this happen, you ensure that pupils experience a rich and varied curriculum, both in school and through interaction with the wider world, which this year has included, for the older pupils, visits to Colchester Museum and the Imperial War Museum Duxford. Younger pupils have been to a country park, the Ipswich Museum and Colchester Zoo. Pupils weave these experiences into their writing back in school. For example, pupils working this term on a Second World War project have produced high-quality pieces of writing about aspects of the war, which are prominently displayed in the school hall. Year 6 pupils read ‘Gorilla Dawn’, which highlights the plight of gorillas whose natural habitat is being destroyed by illegal mining. This moved pupils to write persuasive letters to their local Member of Parliament (MP) to highlight this environmental issue. They were rewarded with a ministerial reply and an invitation to discuss this problem with their MP during a recent visit to the Houses of Parliament. Pupils have also experienced a mock evacuee day, which helped them to empathise with displaced children around the world. The school offers pupils a wide range of sporting opportunities and pupils spoke enthusiastically about enjoying football, using the new play pod and keeping healthy. Pupils are polite, well behaved around the school and enthusiastic learners in lessons. They work willingly together and those spoken to during the inspection agreed that the school was like a ‘family’. A very large majority of parents who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, agree that their children enjoy coming to school are safe and make good progress. Responses to the staff questionnaire show they are proud to work at the school. You, your staff and governors put the welfare of pupils at the heart of the school and care for each pupil as an individual. The parent of a pupil whom you and governors supported recently wrote, ‘The school is doing everything it can and more to help and guide my child educationally and emotionally.’ Governors visit the school frequently and know it well. They have a clear understanding of the priorities for improvement and offer appropriate support and challenge. The school can draw on the wide range of expertise that governors can offer. Safeguarding is effective. Leaders ensure that all pre-employment checks are completed in line with statutory requirements. Records of concerns are logged meticulously and in a timely fashion. You, as the designated safeguarding lead, take appropriate actions, including with outside agencies, to ensure that children are kept safe. Staff and governors receive relevant and regular training. Pupils reported that they feel very safe in the school. They understand well how to keep themselves safe on the internet and the dangers of grooming. They stated that bullying is very rare and, should it occur, that staff always deal with it quickly and effectively. They said they all have an adult they can speak to if worried. A very few parents raised concerns about bullying through Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View; however, inspection evidence indicates that you and your staff do all you can to keep pupils safe. Inspection findings My first line of enquiry was to see how well leaders had addressed areas for improvement identified in the previous inspection. I particularly focused on how well you are identifying pupils who need to catch up in mathematics and writing. Additionally, I wanted to find out whether teachers consistently challenge pupils to reach the highest standards across all subject areas. Key stage 2 results in 2017 showed that the proportion of pupils who entered the school with middle prior attainment achieving the expected standard in writing, mathematics and science was lower than national figures. In mathematics, the proportion of these pupils meeting the higher standard was also below the national average. Pupils who entered key stage 2 with higher prior attainment achieved broadly in line with, but not better than, the national average. You have identified the importance of closely tracking pupil’s progress to ensure that they receive the necessary support to make strong improvements in their knowledge, skills and understanding. You and your deputy have put in place a new assessment system to ensure that pupil progress is checked regularly and used to inform teachers’ planning. We visited a number of mathematics lessons together and witnessed how teachers have used assessment information to adjust their planning over time. Leaders have ensured, for current pupils, that problem-solving and reasoning are taught systematically, so that most pupils acquire these skills well. Teachers have used their expertise to plan interesting and engaging opportunities for pupils to learn and secure their understanding of mathematical skills, such as the use of straws to consolidate their knowledge of quadrilaterals. The pupils we spoke to could explain how they have reached an answer with confidence and certainty. Those who find tasks more challenging are very well supported by other adults who understand their particular needs. Therefore, most pupils make good progress from their respective starting points. However, teachers do not provide the most able mathematicians with regular opportunities to develop sophisticated reasoning by considering and reflecting on their selection of approaches to mathematical problems. As a result, pupils do not extend their skills, understanding or knowledge of mathematics and do not make the rapid progress they are capable of. We agreed that current pupils’ workbooks and the school’s assessment information indicate that effective teaching has allowed most pupils to make good progress in mathematics. Consequently, more pupils this year are likely to reach the expected standard at the end of Year 6. However, not all of the most capable mathematicians are consistently producing work of the very highest standard. The most able pupils do not receive sufficient challenge to extend their mathematical knowledge, skills and understanding. As a result, the most able pupils do not make rapid progress. In response to the previous inspection report, you and your senior team have rewritten the curriculum to improve the teaching of writing and deepen the knowledge and understanding that pupils acquire in the foundation subjects. Middle leaders are enthusiastic about this new approach to learning and are working together to ensure that the implementation of the curriculum is coherent and raises standards across all subject areas. They told me how pupils are using their mathematical skills to create models of ancient pyramids and Second World War victory gardens. The use of other cross-curricular themes, for example the rain forests, the Vikings and a Skellig art project, are enlivening writing across all year groups. You showed me wonderful displays of high-quality, imaginative writing, evidencing pupil progress across all ages, from the start of the school year.