Al-Mizan School

Al-Mizan School Independent school standard inspection report

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DfE registration number 211/6392 Unique Reference Number (URN) 133646 Inspection number 361405 Inspection dates 5–6 April 2011 Reporting inspector Nasim Butt achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you

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give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’. Royal Exchange Buildings St Ann’s Square Manchester M2 7LA

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T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk No. 090070 Independent school standard inspection report

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Purpose and scope of the inspection

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under Section 162A of the Education Act 2002, as amended by schedule 8 of the Education Act 2005, the purpose of which is to advise the Secretary of State for Education about the school’s suitability for continued registration as an independent school. 1, 2

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Information about the school

Al-Mizan School is a Muslim primary day school for boys which is housed and managed by the East London Mosque Trust Limited situated in the heart of Whitechapel. It provides an education for boys between the ages of seven and 11 years. Also in the same building is a secondary school for boys aged 11 to 18 years under the leadership of the same headteacher and managed by the same trust. The secondary school was not part of the current inspection. There are 91 full-time pupils on roll. Most pupils are of Bangladeshi heritage while some are of Somali and Pakistani heritage. There are no pupils with a statement of special educational needs and none at an early stage of English language acquisition. Al-Mizan School was opened in September 2002 and was last inspected in November 2007. Its aim is ‘To contribute towards preparing a new generation of Quran memorisers, scholars and leaders for Europe.’

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Evaluation of the school

Al-Mizan School provides a good quality of education and successfully meets its aims. As a result of consistently good teaching, pupils make good progress across all areas of the curriculum. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding, as is their behaviour. They leave the school well prepared for the next stage of their education. The school has robust procedures for safeguarding. The school has improved since the last inspection and now meets all but two of the regulations for registration.

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Quality of education

The quality of the curriculum is good. The provision of more National Curriculum subjects has enabled the school to meet one of the recommendations of the previous inspection. A broad and balanced curriculum delivered well by subject specialists enables pupils to make consistently good progress across all areas of learning. Outstanding provision is made for the memorisation of the Qur’an (Tahfiz). Good pace in Tahfiz lessons, coupled with very close monitoring of progress against pupils’ targets, results in very good progress over time. Tahfiz is supplemented by Qur’anic

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Quality of education

1 www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2002/ukpga_20020032_en_14#pt10-ch1-pb4-l1g162 2 www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts2005/ukpga_20050018_en_15#sch8 Independent school standard inspection report Arabic which consolidates pupils’ knowledge and understanding of the Qur’an. Tahfiz comprises just over one third of the taught curriculum. Breadth and balance are ensured by extending the school day so that a good range of subjects from the National Curriculum can be delivered.

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Quality of education

The school’s curriculum provides English, mathematics, science, information and communication technology (ICT), physical education (PE), humanities, citizenship (including personal, social and health education), art, design and technology, religious education (RE) and Arabic as a modern foreign language. Pupils move around the school because their lessons are delivered by subject specialists. The good ICT resources in the secondary school are shared regularly with the primary school. There is satisfactory provision for PE which is delivered weekly at the Whitechapel Sports Centre. Swimming also features in the timetable of Year 4 pupils every year. A good range of trips and visits enriches pupils’ wider learning experience. For example, Year 3 pupils visited London Zoo and Year 6 pupils attended the ‘One World Event’ at the Arsenal football team’s Emirates Stadium on the first day of the inspection.

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Quality of education

Medium-term schemes of work for different areas of the curriculum are in place. They are well adapted to the needs of pupils in literacy, numeracy, art and design and technology.

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Quality of education

Teaching and assessment are good. The quality of teaching seen during the inspection was consistently good. Teachers’ day-to-day planning, based on delivering individual units of work for all areas of the curriculum including Tahfiz, is very detailed and highly effective. In all cases, objectives clearly identify the skills and knowledge to be learnt. All lessons are well structured so that pupils’ learning progresses well. Teachers have very good subject knowledge and use this effectively to extend pupils’ learning. Prompted well by their teacher and supported with a bank of descriptive words, Year 5 pupils make good progress in developing their independent writing skills. Teaching in Tahfiz appropriately employs a formal instructional approach because memorisation of the Qur’an involves much recital and rote repetition to which pupils respond well. In most lessons, teachers create opportunities for pupils to explore problems and learn from each other’s ideas.

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Quality of education

However, sometimes teachers miss opportunities to ask probing, open-ended questions to challenge pupils’ thinking and deepen their learning. While marking in Year 6 is good and often diagnostic, especially for literacy, pupils in Years 3 to 5 get insufficient guidance on how to improve their work.

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Quality of education

Assessments are in place to measure pupils’ attainment on entry to school, at the end of each unit of work and by annual tests to establish National Curriculum attainment levels. With the exception of Tahfiz across Years 3 to 6, the process of tracking pupils’ progress in between these assessments to produce short-term targets is insufficiently developed. Assessments at the start of the year are used well to inform parents and carers and to set longer-term targets. These targets are sufficiently challenging and a minimum of good progress is expected. Independent school standard inspection report Pupils make good progress in their learning. Good teaching ensures that pupils acquire the core skills and knowledge which will equip them well for the next stage of their education. Scrutiny of pupils’ exercise books shows good progress over time.

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Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils

Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding. Behaviour is a considerable strength of the school and is also outstanding. This helps to make the school a very orderly and respectful community and also supports the development of very good attitudes to learning. Pupils’ enjoyment of school is reflected in their very good attendance. Rules and expectations are clearly understood by pupils. The school provides many opportunities for the pupils to reflect on their learning and to discuss with their ‘talk partner’ how to apply their learning to new situations. Self- esteem is very effectively developed in a number of ways, especially through the school’s very well-delivered Tahfiz programme and regular interactive assemblies. A healthy sense of competition is generated through the regular Qur’anic memorisation (Tahfiz) challenges. Pupils make a good contribution to their local community. For

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Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils

example, Years 5 and 6 pupils recently took part in a programme broadcast by a local Bangladeshi TV channel in which they recited verses of the Qur’an, sang nasheeds (Islamic songs) and talked about developments in their school. Pupils’ very good attendance and punctuality, good achievements in key skills and self- confidence contribute very effectively to their future economic well-being and next steps in education.

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Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils

Pupils welcome the opportunities provided to develop their personal skills. For example, Year 3 pupils enjoyed developing conflict resolution skills in humanities when they role-played the scenario of two tribes each accusing the other of over- fishing and depleting the limited stock. Year 6 pupils are aware that they can approach the headteacher at any time to make suggestions for improvements and changes in school but they also indicated that they would like a more formal method to do this.

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Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils

Pupils successfully learn about other cultures and world religions through class discussions about current national and world affairs, assemblies, humanities and religious education. Occasionally, they meet and share ideas and views with others from a different faith. During the inspection, Year 6 pupils interacted with some Jewish pupils at the ‘One World Event’ held at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium. Pupils spoke excitedly about how the game of football was used as a vehicle to stamp out racism and all forms of intolerance. The very well-taught citizenship curriculum ensures that pupils gain a good understanding of the key public services and institutions in the United Kingdom.

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Welfare, health and safety of pupils

Provision for the welfare, health and safety of pupils is good. The school provides a caring environment where pupils feel safe and valued. Staff work closely with parents and carers to help new pupils settle into school. Close attention is paid to Independent school standard inspection report pupils’ safety at all times. All pupils are kept very safe and are very well supervised at all stages of the day, including before and after school. Sound health and safety policies and risk assessments, which cover all aspects of the school’s work, are in place. For example, appropriate risk assessments had been undertaken for the excursions to London Zoo and Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, which took place during the inspection. Good arrangements are in place to safeguard pupils. Staff receive good training as part of their induction and a clear child protection policy is in place and implemented. Consistent implementation of a good behaviour policy has resulted

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Welfare, health and safety of pupils

in very rare incidents of unacceptable behaviour. Fire drills are held regularly by the London Muslim Centre and fire-fighting equipment is checked by a specialist company. While admission registers are completed appropriately, some attendance registers are not maintained in a way that meets the regulations.

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Welfare, health and safety of pupils

The school has a strong emphasis in its current improvement plan on pupils leading a healthy lifestyle. There is a plan to reduce sugar intake and this is being successfully implemented. Pupils visit the local sports centre for physical education and consume healthy food at lunchtime, drinking only milk or water. The school has an appropriate plan for increasing access to the site which meets the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, as amended.

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Suitability of staff, supply staff and proprietors

All the appropriate checks on identity and with the Criminal Records Bureau have been undertaken on staff and the information is recorded as required on the single central register. Recruitment procedures, especially at the interview stage, are robust.

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Premises of and accommodation at the school

The school is situated on the first floor of the East London Mosque and has access to some of it’s and the London Muslim Centre’s wider learning facilities. The premises provide both good quality accommodation and a safe learning environment. All four teaching rooms are well equipped with appropriate furniture and an interactive whiteboard. The school shares the ICT suite situated on the second floor of the secondary school. Throughout the school, the decor is in good condition and motivational messages adorn the walls of the winding corridor. Good use is made of a spacious hall on the ground floor of the Centre during morning break and lunchtime for some light physical activity. However, the school has no outside space for pupils to play safely. There are some facilities for physical education on the school’s premises and additional provision is made on a weekly basis at a local sports centre.

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Provision of information

The school provides all the required information to parents and carers. Some general information about the education provision is provided on the school’s website. The school’s Parents’ Matters pamphlet is a useful document and provides the required Independent school standard inspection report information or makes appropriate reference to it. Detailed reports on pupils’ progress are produced annually and very useful consultation sessions are held with parents and carers twice a year. In these sessions, parents and carers are acquainted with their sons’ progress against their end-of-year targets. Almost all the parents and carers who responded to the pre-inspection questionnaire are supportive of the school and value the quality of education provided. Most say that their child makes good progress at the school. One clearly satisfied parent commented, ‘I would recommend every Muslim parent to send their child to this school.’

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Manner in which complaints are to be handled

The procedures for handling complaints meet all requirements.

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

The proprietor has ensured that the school meets The Education (Independent School Standards) (England) Regulations 2010, schedule 1 (‘the Regulations’), with the exception of those listed below. 3

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

The school does not meet all requirements in respect of provision for welfare, health and safety of pupils (standards in part 3) and must:

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 ensure the attendance registers are maintained in accordance with the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 (paragraph 17).

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

The school does not meet all requirements in respect of the premises of and accommodation at schools (standards in part 5) and must:

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 ensure there are appropriate arrangements for providing outside space for pupils to play safely (paragraph 23(s)).

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What the school could do to improve further

While not required by regulations, the school might wish to consider the following points for development.  Ensure that all teachers consistently give good quality written feedback to pupils to support them in making further improvements.  Establish sharper and more effective systems to track pupils’ progress across Years 3 to 6.

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What the school could do to improve further

3 www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2010/1997/contents/made Independent school standard inspection report Inspection judgements outstanding

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The quality of education

How well the curriculum and other activities meet the range of needs and interests of pupils 

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The quality of education

How effective teaching and assessment are in meeting the full range of pupils’ needs 

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The quality of education

How well pupils make progress in their learning 

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The quality of education

Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Quality of provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 

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Welfare, health and safety of pupils

The overall welfare, health and safety of pupils  Independent school standard inspection report

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School details

Number on roll (full-time pupils) Boys: 91 Girls: 0 Total: 91

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School details

Number on roll (part-time pupils) Boys: 0 Girls: 0 Total: 0

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School details

Number of pupils with a statement of special educational needs Boys: 0 Girls: 0 Total: 0

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School details

Address of school 46 Whitechapel Road London Postcode!

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School details

Proprietor East London Mosque Trust Limited

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