The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. The headteacher and governing body have steered the school through an unsettled time in recent years with calmness, clarity and an ambition for pupils to succeed. They have ensured that staff feel valued and are motivated to work hard. As a result, pupils continue to learn well. The relatively new leadership team works effectively as a cohesive unit. The assistant headteachers and phase leaders support the headteacher well. This provides considerable strength and depth in leadership capacity. As a result, leaders are well placed to overcome obstacles in the journey of further improvement. For example, in addition to their own roles, the headteacher and phase leaders are, at present, covering the responsibilities normally carried out by the two assistant headteachers due to periods of absence. While this adds to their workload, the remaining leaders have ensured that the school continues to function effectively. Leaders have an honest view of what is working well and what needs to improve. Where something is not as good as it should be, leaders consider carefully what action is required. They ensure that staff feel well supported in making any necessary changes and that they are suitably trained to do so. In this way, leaders implement new initiatives successfully. For example, teachers received specialist training to help them embed the recently introduced approaches to teaching writing and mathematics. These strategies have worked well. Pupils’ outcomes in these subjects have improved after a dip in recent years. They now make secure progress and gain good knowledge and skills. Leaders have tackled the areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection with the same high degree of thought and care. As a result, the quality of teaching has improved further. Pupils make better progress in writing and mathematics now because teachers set work that is appropriately challenging and move them on to harder work when they are ready. Leaders, rightly, identified the need to improve the teaching of reading. In recent years, pupils have not made as much progress in reading as they should. They have not learned to read as accurately as they must to help them make sense of harder texts. Leaders have begun to tackle the weaknesses that caused this issue. Early successes are evident. For example, many pupils now read more frequently than in the past. Pupils across the school are learning to analyse and understand more complex texts. However, there is still work to do. Some pupils need to be more convinced about the benefits and pleasures of reading. Some still struggle to read confidently because weaknesses in their knowledge remain. Safeguarding is effective. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Leaders care deeply about pupils’ welfare. They make sure that the school’s policies and procedures for safeguarding actively promote the safety and well-being of each pupil. For example, leaders ensure that staff are well trained in how to identify causes for concern and to act appropriately when the need arises. Staff are vigilant. Because they know their pupils so well, they are well attuned to spotting a potential problem. They take all concerns very seriously and pass on any worries to the headteacher, who is the designated leader for safeguarding. The headteacher monitors pupils who may be at risk and is quick to act if there are signs that a pupil may need protection. She works closely with relevant agencies who can provide support so that pupils, and their families, get the help they need. Inspection findings Staff work very hard to make the school a happy, worthwhile place to be. They do whatever their pupils need to feel safe, settled and ready to learn. Many of the parents and carers who commented on the online survey said how much they appreciate the lengths staff go to to look after their children and help them succeed. Leaders look out for signs that a pupil might be unhappy in school and do their best to help. For example, leaders keep a close eye on pupils’ attendance. If a pupil is absent too often, leaders work with parents to try to find a solution to whatever is the cause of the low attendance. In many cases, this makes a big difference. Pupils’ attendance improves. However, leaders’ efforts to increase attendance rates remain frustrated. This occurs when parents keep their children off school at the beginning or end of terms in order to extend their holidays.