The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Your school is a happy place where pupils chatter down ‘the slope’ and across the playground in high spirits, smiling and excited about the day ahead. Parents, staff and pupils used the words, ‘caring’ and ‘partnership’ to describe the sense of togetherness evident at Sidbury. Everyone reported that pupils work and play together well in a supportive environment. The school is highly regarded and popular within the local community, as reflected by the high number of applications for school places and increasing number of pupils on roll. Your approach to developing the conditions that enable effective learning to take place is evident from first entering the school. Adults encourage pupils to respect each other and to play their part as responsible members of the wider community. As a result, pupils enjoy learning and are naturally at ease with their peers. Your strong focus on developing pupils’ learning behaviours is proving successful. Pupils are adept at reviewing their own learning and setting their own goals and challenges. As a result, they are clear about their next steps on their personal learning journey. Your aims and school values lie at the heart of your approach and underpin the actions of those who work and learn at Sidbury. Your mantra of ‘Together Everyone Achieves More’, or T.E.A.M, permeates all you do. It is reflected in the way adults and pupils act, talk and work with each other and has a strong impact on pupils’ academic learning and personal development across the school. Changes to leadership and governance have undoubtedly left your school in a much stronger position than in 2012. Your middle leaders play an increasingly influential and important part in securing school improvement. Weak performance has been robustly tackled. Governors are deeply involved in monitoring the school’s performance and continually challenge you for further improvements. You and your team are moving forward confidently in pursuit of consistency in the quality of teaching and pupils’ outcomes. You are drawing well on the wide variety of support networks and training available from the Ventrus Multi-Academy Trust. Research is used to hone and refine teaching well so that the unique needs of each cohort can be fully met. All those spoken to during the inspection understand the collective goals you are striving to achieve and the part they play in that process. Pupils typically leave Year 6 with standards that are above average in reading, writing, and spelling, punctuation and grammar. You, your staff and governors have worked hard to improve mathematics this academic year following a dip in the 2016 results and your efforts are proving effective; pupils’ progress is improving quickly. Disadvantaged pupils, though small in number, achieve well. Their attainment compares favourably with pupils from non-disadvantaged backgrounds. You are working hard to help some boys perform better in their writing and overcome behavioural and emotional barriers to their learning. There is clear and tangible evidence of the success of your collective initiatives and actions. Safeguarding is effective. Everyone involved in the school community is deeply committed to keeping pupils safe. You make sure that all necessary checks are made to confirm that those who wish to work with children are suitable to do so. Training for safeguarding and child protection is up to date and regular, enabling staff and governors to fully discharge their duties. You report back frequently to the full governing body. You ensure that more than the minimum required number of staff are trained, illustrating your deep commitment to this aspect of the school’s work. Pupils and parents are confident that issues are followed up. Pupils are knowledgeable about matters of safety and well-being through activities planned in the curriculum. For example, your new kitchen chef is playing a prominent part in developing pupils’ understanding of healthy eating and how to live a healthy lifestyle. Your strong emphasis on pupils’ personal development promotes their positive behaviour, with respect and courtesy as the norm. De-escalation strategies are promoted through your anti-bullying and behaviour approaches. Effective links are made with outside agencies to cater for all vulnerable pupils’ needs. All staff are aware of the procedures for passing on concerns. The way you report back to adults following referrals ensures that all are aware and happy that actions are appropriate and completed adequately. Your strong commitment to pupils’ safety is demonstrated through your work to recently update all staff induction procedures, ensuring that all are fully versed in the school’s safeguarding methods and procedures. Your engagement with staff, pupils, parents and governors significantly enhances the school’s culture of safeguarding children. Overall, the leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and of a high quality.