The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Teaching continues to motivate and inspire the pupils to try their hardest. Learning takes place in atmosphere of mutual trust and respect. Since becoming headteacher in January 2015, you have maintained the good work of your predecessor and strengthened the quality of teaching further. The impact of this is seen most clearly in reading, where pupils are making markedly faster progress. As a result, pupils’ attainment in reading has risen considerably compared with that of previous years. The proportion of pupils meeting or exceeding age-related expectations by the end of Year 6 in 2017 was much higher than that seen nationally. Pupils who previously had found reading difficult made exceptional progress. You and other staff are achieving your pledge that, ‘every child will leave the school a reader’. At the last inspection, the school was asked to improve teachers’ skills in using assessment. Lessons are now linked more closely to pupils’ previous learning and this aspect of teaching has improved strongly. Teachers have become skilled at identifying quickly which pupils are falling behind. They ensure that the extra support the pupils need is provided quickly and effectively. This explains why the pupils who enter the school with lower standards than expected for their age make such rapid progress. Your review of the way teachers assess and mark pupils’ work has strengthened this practice further. With good support from teaching assistants, teachers quickly and routinely assess pupils’ work during lessons. They use this information to move pupils quickly on to harder work or be give them extra help if it is needed. This ‘live’ use of assessment to guide teaching ensures that pupils quickly receive the support and challenge they need. It also helps teachers to plan future teaching without overburdening them with marking. The last inspection report also asked the school to make sure resources were quickly available to support pupils’ achievement. The introduction of the ‘enable table’ in lessons has proved a simple but effective way of providing pupils with additional resources, such as dictionaries and thesauruses. Very effective provision for pupils’ personal development ensures that pupils behave very well. They are confident and are keen to talk to visitors about their school. I was almost overwhelmed at breaktime by the number of pupils who wanted to tell me all the good things about their school. Many pupils take up the wide-ranging and high-quality opportunities for sport provided for them. The leaders responsible provide a good balance between competitive sports for the most talented pupils and opportunities for all pupils to participate, irrespective of their skills. Leaders have maintained the strong provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils are courteous, curious about the world and respectful of differences. When the school community devised the ‘be rules’ which set out expectations of how pupils should learn and behave, it was the pupils that insisted that one of the rules should be ‘be unique’. Very effective governance arrangements mean that the school is well placed to build on its many strengths. You know that the strong gains made in reading are not yet fully in place in writing and in mathematics, particularly for the most able pupils. You also know that assessment in science and the foundation subjects is not a rigorous as you would like. Safeguarding is effective. You and the other staff ensure that pupils know it is important to be kind to each other. The pupils know that bullying is a horrible thing to do. Almost all always stick to the relevant ‘be rule’: ‘be kind and caring’. Occasional incidents of bullying are sorted out quickly. Pupils know that if they post a note in the worry box, you or one of your colleagues will quickly come and talk to them. Staff model the kindness and courtesy they expect from pupils in the way they teach. Pupils therefore feel safe, secure and happy. You and the other safeguarding leaders are well trained and take every step to ensure that pupils who are at risk of harm are kept safe and protected. The governing body keeps a watchful eye on the school’s safeguarding arrangements to ensure that they are robust and effective. Inspection findings The support provided for disadvantaged pupils is a key strength of the school. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils reaching age-related expectations has increased. In 2017, disadvantaged pupils achieved exceptionally well in reading by the end of Year 6. These improvements are a result of strong leadership of this aspect of the school’s work.