The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Since being appointed earlier this month, you, along with your deputy headteacher and middle leaders, have lost no time in developing a clear vision for improvement. Staff and governors share your aspiration to create a ‘culture of excellence’ so as to provide the best education for pupils. The school is a calm and nurturing environment where staff help pupils to develop well, academically and personally. Without doubt, pupils enjoy being at the school and they enjoy learning. The overwhelming majority of parents think that the school provides a very good standard of education. They particularly appreciate the caring ethos that allows their children to thrive. One parent captured this ethos, stating that ‘the school provides a loving, nurturing environment in which [their children] have been able to flourish.’ Behaviour across the school, in and outside lessons, continues to be exemplary. Pupils are welcoming, well-mannered and polite. Their positive attitudes to learning make a notable contribution to their progress in the classroom. Since the last inspection, leaders have successfully tackled those areas which inspectors asked you to address. Leaders have made significant improvements to the opportunities that pupils have to learn about the main faiths represented in the United Kingdom. Leaders have trained staff so that they regularly check the quality of pupils’ learning and provide useful feedback. Safeguarding is effective. You and your leadership team ensure that all safeguarding arrangements are robust and fit for purpose. There is a strong culture of safeguarding in your school, backed up by good record-keeping. Pupils talk knowledgeably about the opportunities that they have to learn about staying safe online. They told me that they feel confident that all pupils from different backgrounds, cultures or beliefs are accepted by their peers. They also say that bullying does not happen at the school, but should it occur, they are confident that staff would deal with it quickly. Leaders, nonetheless, need to do more to ensure that pupils have sufficient awareness of the dangers of radicalisation and extremism. Leaders ensure that staff receive regular training and that those responsible for safeguarding and recruitment have appropriate and up-to-date qualifications. Governors also receive relevant training. Leaders show vigilance in ensuring that children are not missing in education. Staff regularly discuss safeguarding arrangements at their meetings. Those parents that responded to Ofsted’s online inspection surveys are confident that the school is a safe place. Inspection findings The inspection focused on a number of key lines of enquiry, one of which related to the attendance of disadvantaged pupils in the school. Over recent years, some of these pupils have not been attending school regularly. Due to the relatively low numbers of disadvantaged pupils overall, this had a disproportionate effect on figures. Leaders know these pupils well and have identified the different reasons why they have a high absence rate. They are working very closely with parents and other agencies to improve these pupils’ attendance. This work is making an impact, although the school recognises that more still needs to be done. Observations of lessons indicate that disadvantaged pupils currently in school are making progress that is similar to that of other pupils. We agreed that I would look at what the school has done to address the dip in key stage 2 results in 2015, particularly in writing. Leaders took effective action by introducing new curriculums and employing additional teachers. They have ensured a consistent focus on writing and on developing writing skills throughout the school. They successfully used external help to train teachers, ensuring that reading, writing and mathematics skills are taught systematically. Leaders recognise that there is more work to do in making sure that this focus is maintained and teaching time is used effectively. Current school information shows that key stage 2 pupils currently in the school are on track to sustain high standards at the end of Year 6 in mathematics, writing and reading, and in grammar, punctuation and spelling.