The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You demonstrate that you know the school well and the self-evaluation is accurate. You have high expectations and are not complacent about what needs improving. The areas you identify which require improvement match those identified by the inspection team. The detailed plans to address any areas that require improvement are clear and appropriate. You and senior colleagues work well as a team. Consequently, you have been able to improve on the school’s strengths and address many areas of weakness. The governing body provides you with effective support and challenge. Your governors also have a detailed awareness of the school’s strengths and of the areas requiring development and what needs to be done to bring about improvement. Governors are provided with timely information by leaders and have a clear understanding of data. As a result, they are well equipped to provide you with critical challenge. Leaders’ actions to improve teaching and learning have had some success. In lessons, teachers generally demonstrate strong subject knowledge and have high expectations. They plan lessons effectively and encourage pupils to participate well. Teachers use questioning effectively to probe pupils’ knowledge and understanding. Consequently, most pupils make progress in most subjects. However, there is some lack of consistency and patchy improvement in some subjects. Teachers and pupils have very positive relationships. Pupils are polite, well mannered and behave very well in lessons and around the school. Pupils generally demonstrate positive attitudes to learning. However, not all pupils, particularly boys, take enough pride in their work. Pupils follow instructions quickly and lessons flow with minimal disruption. Instances of serious poor behaviour are rare and, consequently, exclusions are low. Most pupils attend school regularly and overall attendance has been broadly in line with the national average in recent years. At the beginning of the inspection, we agreed the key lines of enquiry to be considered during the day. These included establishing the effectiveness of leaders’ actions to raise the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and students, specifically girls, in the sixth form. We looked at the effectiveness of leaders’ actions to raise the achievement of pupils in the key subject of English. We also looked at the progress you have made in addressing the areas for improvement identified in the school’s last inspection. Lastly, we checked whether safeguarding is effective. These lines of enquiry are considered below. You have responded very well to the areas for improvement from the last inspection. At the time of the last inspection, inspectors asked the school to increase the challenge in lessons for the most able pupils. This has been, and remains, a key priority in the school’s improvement plans, and teachers have received additional training to help improve their skills in this area. While not fully addressed, inspection evidence indicates that leaders have made good progress in challenging the most able pupils, especially in key stages 3 and 4. Since the last inspection, there has been a whole-school drive on improving extended writing, and pupils are now writing at greater length. Safeguarding is effective. Leaders and governors have ensured that the school’s policies and procedures for keeping pupils safe are fit for purpose. Systems to check that adults who work at the school are suitable to work with children are appropriate. Record-keeping is of a good quality and any concerns are logged promptly and followed up appropriately. The school works well with a range of outside agencies to support pupils and make sure that they are kept safe. Pupils with whom inspectors spoke explained that they know who to talk to if they have any worries or concerns. Pupils are well informed about what they can do to keep themselves safe. Pupils also say bullying is rare and, if it occurs, is generally dealt with well by staff. You make sure that all staff and governors fully understand their safeguarding responsibilities. You provide regular training to ensure that their knowledge is kept up to date. Consequently, staff understand the procedures they must follow if they have concerns about a pupil, and you have established a culture of vigilance in the school.