The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection, although the journey between the inspections necessitated actions to implement some far-reaching changes at St George’s in order to do so. In a relatively short period of time, you have led those changes very effectively, identified the school’s key issues and ensured that your staff are fully behind your agenda for improvement. You have been supported well by the school’s governors in making these changes, not least by their agreement to a much needed bolstering of management capacity at assistant headteacher level this year. The school, on both sites, is now characterised by a calm atmosphere for learning in which pupils treat each other and their teachers with respect. Initiatives, like the peer mediators who look out for sad or unhappy pupils on the ‘top site’ playground, engender a caring ethos in the school. The pupils are proud to tell teachers and visitors how their day is going in terms of their behaviour. This is supported well by the relatively new system put in place to ensure that pupils understand which behaviours help or hinder their learning and that of others. Pupils confirm that behaviour in the school has improved dramatically over the last year; they also agree that this has enabled them to learn more effectively. Playtime activities, provided as a result of the advice given by the pupil play leaders, help to keep the pupils fit and healthy. Residential trips to the Conway Centre for Year 6 pupils are popular and timed near the start of the academic year to promote team building and positive relationships for their last year together before leaving St George’s. As a result, this experience forms an integral and effective part of the school’s curriculum. Those pupils who currently find mainstream classes stressful are well cared for and educated in the school’s small nurture class; they grow in confidence as a result. In the last 12 months, leaders realised that, following the previous inspection, the school had not responded well to the rigours of the new national curriculum introduced in September 2014. In particular, the curriculum for mathematics did not prepare pupils well for secondary school and too many lacked the necessary basic knowledge and skills. On joining the school full time earlier this year, you ensured that the mathematics curriculum was reviewed, given greater coherence across and within key stages and that realistic assessments were made of pupils’ attainment in the subject. These changes have already started to increase the pupils’ understanding and confidence in mathematics, especially for pupils in key stage 1. Those in Years 5 and 6 still have ground to catch up. While leaders also sensibly carried out a root and branch review of some other subjects, for example science and computing, they have retained the elements that have clearly been beneficial and have demonstrated positive impact on pupils’ learning over time. The teaching of systematic synthetic phonics, for example, has provided a solid foundation for virtually all pupils, regardless of background, for good progress in their early reading. That early progress has been reflected in the pupils’ good general competency in reading and is seen throughout the school. Leaders are aware that some parents feel they have not been kept sufficiently up to date with the changes put in place since January. In some respects, this is inevitable because of the pace and scale of those changes. However, communications with parents about the new curriculum in mathematics, the expectations of pupils and parents in supporting better reading and how the new behaviour system is applied have not been fully effective. Safeguarding is effective. The school provides a safe, caring environment for the pupils. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. However, beyond that, the pupils are also aware that they need to help to look after themselves and each other. Initiatives, like the ‘mini police’, have been developed to involve the pupils and have ensured that they know their responsibilities, including who they should ask for help when issues such as bullying arise. Training for teachers on safeguarding pupils is effective and up to date. This training is available to school staff and governors, which ensures a clear, joint understanding of roles and responsibilities. Work by the school’s learning mentors with the families of pupils who have had severe problems with absences has been effective and ensured that attendance has improved and exclusions have reduced.