The Imam Muhammad Adam Institute School

Independent school standard inspection report

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DfE registration number 856/6011 Unique Reference Number (URN) 137561 Inspection number 397684 Inspection dates 19–20 September 2012 Reporting inspector Michèle Messaoudi 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 reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under

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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

The Imam Muhammad Institute School is a new Muslim day school that is located in Evington, Leicester. It opened in August 2011 and was initially registered to provide education for up to 80 boys and girls aged from 11 to 14 years. Since August 2012, the school has widened its age range to include pupils of primary school age and it has increased its numbers on roll. This is the first full inspection of the school. The Department for Education requested that this inspection evaluated whether a material change, to increase the age range from 5 to 14 years and number on roll to 155, is recommended. There are currently 152 pupils aged from five to 14 years who attend full time. None has a statement of special educational needs. Pupils come from diverse cultural backgrounds and most are either bilingual or at various advanced stages of learning English.

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Information about the school

The school aims to ‘develop a quality education environment based upon spiritual values instilling a sense of character and ethics which will help contribute to building an honourable and productive society.’

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Evaluation of the school

The Imam Muhammad Adam Institute School provides a satisfactory quality of education. Pupils make satisfactory progress and acquire sound basic skills as a result of satisfactory teaching and an adequate curriculum. Pupils’ spiritual and moral development is good, and so is their behaviour, as a result of the positive impact made by the Islamic curriculum and the excellent role models provided by the staff. Due to deficiencies in the training of staff in safeguarding matters, the provision for pupils’ welfare, health and safety is inadequate. The school has taken steps to bring about safeguarding improvement. The school meets most of the regulations for independent schools. The material change is recommended for up to 155 pupils aged from five to 14 years, subject to the school providing evidence of complying fully with all safeguarding regulations.

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Quality of education

Throughout the school, the satisfactory curriculum is broad and well balanced between National Curriculum subjects and Islamic subjects. It suitably equips pupils with a broad knowledge base, a wide range of basic skills and a good spiritual and

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Quality of education

1 www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/32/contents . 2 www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005/18/contents . Independent school standard inspection report moral foundation. In the primary department, the extended school day enables appropriate emphasis on literacy, numeracy, Arabic and Qur’anic studies, taught daily, while ensuring that pupils also have weekly or twice-weekly lessons of geography, history, art, information and communication technology (ICT), Urdu, physical education (PE), fiqh (application of Islamic teachings to daily life), aqaid (beliefs), tareekh (Islamic history), akhlaq (moral education) and hadeeth (sayings or actions of Prophet Muhammad). Primary pupils also have three short weekly sessions in which they sing anasheed (Islamic songs). The Key Stage 3 curriculum is suitably constructed to provide the same breadth and balance of subjects as in Key Stage 2. Throughout the school, the teaching of Qur’anic studies by ability grouping is

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Quality of education

managed well and it is a strength of the Islamic curriculum. Personal, social, health and citizenship education (PSHCE) is taught within an Islamic framework through golden time (in Key Stages 1 and 2), a discrete lesson in Key Stage 3, as well as through Islamic subjects and assemblies. There is an appropriate programme of careers education in Key Stage 3 to help pupils make informed choices about their future and visits from professionals are planned to raise their aspirations.

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Quality of education

The curriculum is adequately resourced and pupils say that they regularly use the ICT suite and the science laboratory and that they are particularly pleased with the quality of their textbooks. Long- and medium-term plans are generally sufficiently detailed to support the teaching and clearly indicate how pupils will progress in their learning. The planning of pupils’ learning in mixed-age classes is managed satisfactorily. While some staff use their personal initiative to plan links between subjects to make pupils’ learning more coherent, there is not a whole school approach to ensure subjects are linked together to make learning more meaningful. The curriculum is currently not enriched by any educational visits and extra-curricular activities, so opportunities are missed to further enhance pupils’ cultural, social and overall personal development.

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Quality of education

Teaching and assessment are satisfactory and enable pupils to make satisfactory progress in secular and Islamic subjects. Provision is not good because the quality of teaching and the curriculum provided are not promoting consistently good achievement, social or cultural development. The staff are eager to develop their teaching skills and say that they are satisfied with the programme of continuous professional development provided by the school. All staff establish good working relationships in their classes and manage pupils’ behaviour well. Consequently, pupils enjoy their learning. Most staff promote pupils’ speaking, listening and reading skills very effectively by engaging them in whole class discussion, paired work or presentations. Some of the teaching is good. Good teaching is characterised by good subject knowledge, high expectations of what pupils can achieve, clear learning objectives, probing questions that deepen pupils’ understanding, provide tasks that

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Quality of education

stretch all pupils and frequent checks on pupils’ learning. Where the teaching is satisfactory rather than good, it is mainly because there are inconsistencies in the teaching methods use. For example, there are occasions when the teacher dominates the lesson by talking for too long and so pupils have too few opportunities to participate actively in the lesson; or learning expectations are not always sufficiently clear for pupils of different abilities and so the tasks do not always match pupils’ needs closely. There are times when teachers overly rely on the use of Independent school standard inspection report textbooks and teachers do not always use a variety of resources to support and challenge pupils. In such cases, pupils make no more than satisfactory progress. Occasionally, pupils do not make enough progress because learning expectations are pitched too low for their age group or because undemanding questions requiring just

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Quality of education

a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer do not promote their thinking skills and deepen their understanding.

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Quality of education

There is a satisfactory assessment framework in place to assess pupils’ learning and monitor their progress. Marking is regular and often includes diagnostic comments. This said, there are occasions when pupils do not gain a sufficiently clear picture of how to improve their work because the verbal and written feedback which they receive does not always show them what they have done well and what could be improved to meet particular success criteria. Furthermore, pupils are not always given challenging subject-specific learning targets.

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Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils

While pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is satisfactory overall, their spiritual and moral development is good. The staff are excellent role models who create a warm and caring Islamic ethos and a disciplined working environment. Through the Islamic programme, pupils develop a strong Islamic identity based on adherence to clear moral values and develop a growing understanding of the message of the Qur’an. Pupils are very polite, considerate and respectful. Their behaviour is good and those who joined the school with poor behaviour now readily respond to staff’s expectations. Pupils are encouraged daily to reflect on how to nurture their faith, practise their beliefs and improve their character and their school performance. They develop suitable leadership skills by leading the midday prayer and assemblies and by fulfilling responsibilities around the school. They say that they

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Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils

enjoy school and they attend regularly. Their high levels of participation in class indicate that they are eager to learn.

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Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils

Pupils form very positive relationships with others and live in harmony with peers of different heritages from theirs. ‘We are all brothers and sisters,’ they say. They feel free from harassment and new pupils feel welcome. Pupils contribute to the life and organisation of the school by being class monitors and fulfilling lunch time and home time duties as members of the pupil council. Last academic year, the pupil council helped to raise funds for the school by running stalls. However, while pupils learn the importance of service to the community through the Islamic programme, they have insufficient practical opportunities to develop their awareness of what it means to be a caring and responsible citizen. Pupils learn about British institutions and the cultural diversity of Britain through PSHCE, the Islamic programme and assemblies and they learn to respect and tolerate other points of view and beliefs different from

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Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils

their own. However, their theoretical knowledge is not enhanced by educational visits to further improve their understanding of cultural and religious diversity; to gain first-hand experiences of British institutions and to further improve their social and personal skills. Independent school standard inspection report

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Welfare, health and safety of pupils

Provision for pupils’ welfare, health and safety is inadequate although staff provide good day-to-day care for pupils. Although the policies for child protection, anti- bullying, behaviour, on-site and off-site health and safety, fire safety and first aid comply with the current guidance, insufficient attention has been given to the training of staff to ensure that pupils are properly safeguarded. While the designated person for child protection has been trained to the appropriate standard, none of the staff have. An insufficient proportion of staff has been trained in first aid. The school has taken steps to remedy these deficiencies. The school duly obtains references and checks on the medical fitness of staff and volunteers before confirming their employment. The staff carry out thorough daily risk assessments of the premises and before outings. The school has a satisfactory level of fire safety. The admission and

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Welfare, health and safety of pupils

attendance registers are maintained in accordance with requirements. Supervision is vigilant throughout the day. Pupils say that they feel safe and trust the staff to deal with any concerns effectively. The school does not hesitate to apply serious sanctions when needed. Through the curriculum and the school’s healthy lunch and snack policy, pupils develop a good awareness of healthy lifestyles.

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Suitability of staff, supply staff and proprietors

The proprietor ensures that effective recruitment procedures are implemented and that all of the required checks are carried out on staff and trustees to confirm their suitability to work with children. These checks are appropriately recorded in a single central register.

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Premises and accommodation at the school

The premises provide teaching accommodation that enables safe and at least satisfactory learning for a maximum of 155 pupils. Specialist classrooms include a science laboratory and an ICT suite. The school makes effective use of a local sports centre for PE in Key Stage 3.

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Provision of information

The school provides parents, carers and others with the required range of information that is accurate and up-to-date and includes details of both the primary and secondary education provided by the school.

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Manner in which complaints are to be handled

The procedures for managing and recording complaints meet requirements. Independent school standard inspection report

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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 that arrangements made to safeguard and promote the welfare of pupils at the school have full regard to guidance issued by the Secretary of State by providing the appropriate level of training in child protection for all staff (paragraph 7)  implement the first aid policy fully by ensuring that a sufficient number of staff are trained in first aid (paragraph 14).

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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.

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What the school could do to improve further

 Provide further enrichment activities to support pupils’ personal, social and cultural development.  Ensure that teachers consistently use open-ended questions that deepen pupils’ understanding, challenge their thinking and check on their learning; plan lessons that have success criteria against which pupils can measure their own progress and ensure work is always matched to pupils’ capabilities.  Help pupils to gain a clearer picture of how to improve by ensuring that verbal and written feedback consistently shows them what they have done well and what could be better to achieve particular success criteria; and by giving them challenging and subject-specific learning targets.

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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

Type of school Day Muslim primary and secondary school

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School details

Number on roll (full-time pupils) Boys: 70 Girls: 82 Total: 152

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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

Number of pupils who are looked after Boys: 0 Girls: 0 Total: 0

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School details

Annual fees £1,380 (primary) and £1,440 (secondary)

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School details

Address of school 372 East Park Road Leicester LE5 5AY

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School details

Principal Shaykh Faheem Ibn Ismaeel Sader; Ustadha Zaheda Bint Adam (Vice Principal)

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School details

Proprietor Shaykh Faheem Ibn Ismaeel Sader Independent school standard inspection report

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

main findings from the inspection of their school.

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5AY

Thank you for your welcome and the help that you gave inspectors when we visited your school. We enjoyed talking to you and observing you at work. You impressed us with your good behaviour and your strong desire to learn. You told us that you appreciate having teachers who really care about you and work hard to help you learn. You enjoy attending a school where there is a balance of Islamic and National Curriculum subjects. You see the school community as ‘one big family’ and you feel safe in an Islamic environment. You attend a new school and we found that it provides you with a satisfactory quality of education but safeguarding arrangements are not robust enough.

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5AY

These are the things we liked best about your school:  you learn a wide range of subjects and develop the expected basic skills in reading, writing, numeracy and information and communication technology and good skills in Qur’anic recitation  your teachers enable you to make satisfactory progress in your academic learning and good progress in your spiritual and moral development.

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5AY

To make your school even better than it is, we have asked your headteacher to:  ensure that all staff receive the required child protection and first aid training to help them to keep you safe in all circumstances  provide a programme of educational visits and cultural activities to help you to develop a better understanding of the diverse cultures and religions that exist in Britain and to give you first-hand experiences of British institutions  ensure that teachers always use the best teaching and marking strategies to help you achieve well.

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5AY

You can help your school to achieve this by continuing to behave as well and working as hard as we saw during the inspection.

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