The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the previous inspection. During this time, there have been several staff and governor changes. The school has also grown to include Year 5 and Year 6 pupils. Since taking up the post of interim headteacher for the autumn term 2017, you have focused resolutely on the pupils in your care. Despite your short time at the school, you are uncompromising in your desire for the school to continually improve. With the support of the very effective deputy headteacher, you have created a positive learning culture through your intent to share responsibilities, increase accountability and give staff ownership of systems and routines. As a result, staff morale is high and together you take collective responsibility for pupils’ outcomes. You are working closely with the substantive headteacher, who will join the school in January 2018. Important decisions are made jointly and information is regularly shared to ensure the continuation of the school’s good provision. You have made sure that pupils’ basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics develop swiftly. Pupils are polite, confident and very cheerful. They feel well looked after in an environment that you have made inclusive and welcoming. Their behaviour and attitudes to learning are good. Parents are supportive of the school and value the work of leaders and teachers. They said that staff are ‘friendly and approachable’. Parents believe that their children are ‘well looked after by teachers and staff who genuinely care for the children as individuals’. Parents also commented that they like ‘the ethos of happiness and well-being’ in the school, in addition to the focus on academic achievements. You, your leadership team and governors are keenly aware of the school’s strengths and the areas which need further development. You have clear plans to ensure that the school continues to improve. The local authority has been a valuable source of support in evaluating the school’s work and developing the role of governors. Leaders appreciate the local authority’s involvement in providing support for vulnerable pupils, and organising opportunities for staff to visit other schools to see best practice. This support has helped you and governors to move forward improvement rapidly. Governors are highly committed to their work and passionate about the school, and they know the school well. They understand their roles in holding the leadership team firmly to account to ensure that the school continues to deliver high-quality education to its pupils. Governors and leaders have taken effective action to address the areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection. At that time, inspectors reported the need to increase the contribution of middle leaders to school improvement. Your middle leaders are confident and knowledgeable. They spoke enthusiastically about the range of activities they carry out as part of their responsibilities. This includes checking on the planning, teaching and standards of pupils’ work in the teams they lead. Importantly, middle leaders feel that they have a say in what happens, are listened to, and are trusted and valued as colleagues. They also demonstrated where their work is making a positive difference to teaching and learning. You and governors recognise that there are still areas to develop to move the school forward. For example, you have correctly identified that the school’s assessment system needs developing further to enable teachers to monitor the progress of pupils more closely, so that they achieve as well as they can from their different starting points. Safeguarding is effective. Leaders and governors work together effectively to ensure that all policies and practices are fit for purpose and adhere to a culture of safety. Rigorous checks are carried out on all adults who work or volunteer in the school. Staff are well trained and diligent in their duties around keeping children safe. Leaders and governors work effectively with the local authority to meet the needs of vulnerable pupils. Leaders promote good attendance, using positive praise and reinforcement effectively. Staff carefully track the reasons for absence and work closely with parents to manage situations that affect attendance. As a result, leaders are increasingly successful in preventing persistent absence, including that of disadvantaged pupils, through engagement with parents and by encouraging pupils to come to school every day and on time.