The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Riverside Primary School is a vibrant, friendly place where all children are welcomed and well supported. Parents say that their children are happy and feel safe in school. Pupils say that they love learning because teachers make lessons fun. Since the last inspection, there have been some significant changes to leadership. You took up the post of headteacher at the beginning of September 2017 and the chair of governors took up his role shortly after the last inspection. The school is currently without a deputy headteacher but a new deputy headteacher will take up the post in January 2019. Senior leaders have a clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school. Together you have evaluated the quality of education thoroughly. You have identified the correct priorities for improvement based on a detailed analysis of how pupils have achieved in the past, as well as the needs of all pupils currently in the school. Pupils behave very well throughout the school. They are cheerful, respectful and polite. They recognise and celebrate their different cultures, faiths and beliefs. They enjoy learning because lessons are lively and engaging. There is no disruption to learning through poor behaviour. Pupils value the many opportunities they have to take on roles of responsibility, such as school councillors, sports leaders, playground leaders or reading champions. They also enjoy a broad range of after-school clubs, including Latin and sign language as well as sports activities and music groups. Parents are fully involved in the life of the school. Every class has a parent forum representative. They meet regularly to plan fundraising activities such as school discos. The funds help to pay for educational trips and special treats for pupils. At Christmas, every pupil receives a book as a present from Santa in the grotto run by parents. Pastoral support is one of the strengths of the school. Many pupils join the school part-way through the year, but they settle in very quickly because they are made to feel at home by other pupils and staff. Parents value this and appreciate the support they themselves receive. One parent reflected the views of many by saying, ‘The teachers have a real passion for their work. They are approachable and friendly and always willing to listen and help.’ Staff provide comprehensive support to families to help them to get their children to school. When necessary, leaders challenge parents’ decisions not to send children to school. As a result, attendance has improved recently. Attendance for disadvantaged pupils needs to improve further so that they do not miss any learning time. The school has a number of areas of strong practice, including safeguarding and assessment. Good practice is regularly exchanged with other local schools. Leaders and teachers track pupils’ progress closely to identify any gaps in learning and address them quickly. Many of the school’s teachers work with the local authority, checking teachers’ assessments in other schools. Parents say that communication between school and home is very good. They are actively encouraged to support their children’s learning, and an increasing number of parents attend workshops to help them understand how they can do this. Through newsletters, parents are kept up to date on current topics. For example, the whole school focuses on a different value each month. Parents were able to support the recent focus on perseverance because they learn about it in the newsletter. Parents say that they appreciate the opportunity to reinforce these valuable life lessons. Governors are well informed. They know the school well because they visit often and report back to the full governing body on their findings. For example, one governor took part in the recent review of the impact of pupil premium funding. Leaders have addressed the areas for improvement from the last inspection well. There have been steady improvements in pupils’ achievements over the last few years. Pupils made good progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of key stage 2 in 2018. Attainment is also improving. For those pupils who had been in school since the Reception Year and who did not have special educational needs and/or disabilities, a higher proportion than nationally achieved the expected standard for their age in 2018. However, there is potential for more pupils to achieve at the higher standard. Currently, not all teachers have high enough expectations of what all pupils can achieve.