The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You and your head of school have worked closely with senior leaders to ensure that the school is a welcoming and happy place. Pupils make good progress, in reading, writing and mathematics. You and your senior leaders have introduced significant changes to the teaching of reading. The pupils with whom I spoke are very proud of the progress they are now making in reading and enjoy the range of books available to them. They explained that the ‘reading road map’ encourages them to read and also challenges them to read a range of books. Leaders have introduced changes to the way phonics is taught, including additional sessions for selected pupils. Assessment information shows this is raising pupils’ achievement in reading. In 2017, outcomes in the phonics screening check were well above the national average. Pupils like coming to school and are very proud of their school. They particularly like opportunities to discuss and debate issues. One pupil said: ‘I enjoy philosophy lessons because I can debate, give my opinion but know there is no right or wrong answer. It will help us because we can speak up if things aren’t quite right.’ Pupils and parents said that instances of bullying are rare. Pupils said they enjoy playtimes and that other pupils and adults are kind. They explained that adults help sort out any problems. Parents spoke highly about the leadership of the school. One parent said, ‘The school celebrates difference and makes us belong to a special community.’ Parents and children appreciate the many activities available to them. Parents said the coffee morning workshops help them to understand e-safety and how to support their children with reading at home. Parents of pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities believe the school successfully adapts the curriculum to meet their children’s needs. You and your head of school have worked on the areas identified at the time of the previous inspection. You have provided training for teachers so they have improved their teaching and leaders sensitively provide feedback where necessary. Teachers have developed more opportunities for pupils to understand their targets. Pupils know how to improve their writing by using dictionaries, a thesaurus and peer assessment. They know their writing targets and work hard to achieve them. There remain some areas for further development, including challenge for boys and developing children’s communication and language skills in the early years. You, your senior leaders and staff are very well supported by a committed and reflective governing body. Together with your leadership team, they are highly ambitious for the school. Governors visit the school often and are well informed. You provide governors with detailed information which they carefully scrutinise. They assess the success of the federation with Moreland Community Primary School to ensure that standards are maintained. The diocesan primary adviser and local authority adviser provide challenge and support to the school. Safeguarding is effective. The culture of safeguarding in the school is strong. The head of school, who is the designated safeguarding lead officer, along with leaders, has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements and records are of a high quality. Staff and governors receive annual training and regular updates about current safeguarding practice. All staff know how to recognise warning signs that a pupil may be at risk of harm and how to report their concerns. Records are comprehensive and show swift action is taken should the need arise. The head of school’s knowledge of families and pupils ensures that pupils are safe and well supported. Leaders with specific safeguarding responsibilities work closely with outside agencies to safeguard pupils’ well-being. Pupils’ safety is of paramount importance to all. Pupils report they feel safe in school and parents agree that they are safe. Pupils have a good understanding and knowledge of issues such as e-safety and speak confidently about the school’s safeguarding team. They think school assemblies and class lessons on safeguarding help them recognise any dangers. Risk assessments are thorough and ensure that visits to places outside the school are safe and measures are in place to protect pupils from harm. Inspection findings At the start of the inspection, we agreed the first line of enquiry would focus on leaders’ actions to improve standards in communication and language for all children in Nursery and Reception. In 2017, assessments show that children made stronger progress in reading, writing and number than in this area. You and your leadership team have introduced changes to the teaching in early years. The teaching of traditional tales captures the children’s imagination and they enjoy listening to the stories, retelling them and acting them out.