The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. The school has gone through significant changes in recent years. There have been two changes of headteacher in the last two years. You were appointed interim headteacher in September 2018. The school joined a local school, St Michael on the Mount CE VC Primary, to form a federation in October 2018. The governing body of the federation plans to appoint a substantive headteacher to lead both schools in the federation early in 2019. As interim headteacher, you are building on the significant achievements of the previous headteacher. You are an effective leader, showing determination and passion to improve the school further. Staff, parents and carers speak highly of you. You reach out to your local community in a very real way. Parents welcome your presence at the school and the interventions you and your staff have made on their behalf. One parent spoke for many, saying: ‘This school is brilliant. The interim head, teachers and all the supporting staff have made this school a wonderful place for my child. With all the changes that have been made, the teachers have risen to the challenge and kept the family-like feel to learning.’ You effectively lead an enthusiastic staff team that is successfully providing exciting learning experiences for all your pupils. In 2017, pupils’ progress in reading, writing and mathematics was in the top 2% of schools in the country – a substantial improvement on the previous year. In 2018, you maintained these strong gains, and progress in reading, writing and mathematics continued to be well above average. Disadvantaged pupils did equally well. Pupils enter the school with low starting points. Pupils make secure improvements year on year because teaching builds on what they know, can do and understand. The school’s approaches – including reading high-quality texts and providing an interesting and motivating curriculum – are effective in extending and deepening pupils’ knowledge and skills. Despite these strong gains, you show no signs of complacency. For instance, you recognise that, although pupils’ progress has improved, still too few pupils are reaching the higher standards in the early years and in key stage 1. Governors are ambitious champions for the school and provide the right balance of support and challenge to leaders. They understand the importance of holding leaders to account and they make sure that they are well informed about how well the school is doing. You and your governors have a good understanding of what the school does well and what it needs to do to be even better. At the previous inspection, the school was asked to develop the quality of teaching so that pupils make stronger progress and to make sure that pupils act on the advice that teachers give them on how to improve their work. You and your predecessor headteacher have made sure that challenging teaching is spurring pupils on to make strong gains in their learning, particularly at key stage 2. Precise and helpful feedback given to pupils by their teachers is routinely followed through in all classes. Safeguarding is effective You and your staff are vigilant in ensuring that pupils are kept safe. All pupils – particularly those that may be thought of as vulnerable or at risk because of circumstances in their lives – are kept safe and out of harm. Strong pastoral and multi-agency work provides concerted support to vulnerable pupils and their families. Staff make prompt referrals of any concerns, reliably using the school’s well-established reporting systems and their comprehensive knowledge of the local community. You make sure that pupils have access to a wealth of curriculum and pastoral guidance so that they know how to keep themselves safe. You review the needs of your vulnerable pupils daily. Staff use the full range of information available to them to focus on pupils with the most urgent need, including those new to the country and those new to learning English. Leaders ensure that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and that effective action is taken to safeguard pupils. Training is up to date, records are meticulously maintained and the pre-employment checks on teachers and other staff are thorough.