Darul Uloom London School

Darul Uloom Foxbury Avenue, Chislehurst, Kent, BR7 6SD

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate 4

Pupils’ achievement Inadequate 4 Pupils’ behaviour and personal development Good 2 Quality of teaching Inadequate 4 Quality of curriculum Inadequate 4 Pupils’ welfare, health and safety Inadequate 4 Leadership and management Inadequate 4 Overall effectiveness of the boarding experience Adequate 3

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This school is inadequate because

 There are minor infringements in the way that students are safeguarded.  The teaching of secular subjects is inadequate. Teachers do not match what is taught to the needs of their students. Their teaching does not develop students’ understanding or analytical skills. Students are not adequately supported to develop their literacy skills and spoken English.  Students do not make good enough progress in their secular studies. Their overall achievement is inadequate.  The curriculum is not well planned and students are not receiving enough guidance about secular career options.  Leaders, managers and the school’s trustees do not evaluate the quality of provision and hold staff to account and ensure that teaching and achievement are good enough and improvements made.

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The school has the following strengths

 The Islamic studies curriculum is comprehensive and students make good progress in these studies.  Boarders feel safe. They are given good pastoral guidance and the boarding accommodation is adequate.  Students are taught to behave well. Students are courteous, respectful and keen to learn. They are self-disciplined.

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boarding schools

 The school requires improvement and must take action to meet schedule 1 of The Education (independent School Standards)(England)Regulations 2010, as amended by The Education (Independent School Standards)(England)(Amendment) Regulations 2012 (‘the independent school standards’) and associated requirements. The details are listed in the full report.  The school does not meet the national minimum standards for boarding schools. The details are listed in the full report.

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Information about this inspection

 The school had a half day’s notice of the inspection.  Inspectors observed 15 part lessons taught by 11 teachers. They scrutinised students’ work, their examination results and the school’s own assessment data. They examined the school’s policies and documentation. They attended a student-led Anjamen, (religious recital).  Meetings were held with the Principal and his three senior leaders and with teachers. Inspectors also met with students and boarders and heard four Year 7 students read.  There were not enough views expressed on Parent View but inspectors spoke with several parents and carers and considered the results of questionnaires undertaken by the school of both parents and students.  A material change was requested to allow the school to accept students up to the age of 25 years.

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Inspection team

Emma Ing, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Heather Yaxley Her Majesty’s Inspector Tola Akinde-Hummel Social care inspector

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Information about this school

 This Islamic boarding school aims to ‘prepare Muslim students to be good Muslims and responsible citizens; to embed in the student a sense of discipline; to enable them to grow up to become upright, respectable and worthy citizens’.  All 150 students on roll are Muslim males. They all board in accommodation which is co- located with the school. Although the school is registered for students aged from 11 to 19 years, the ages of the students at the school range from 11 to 25 years.  There is no alternative provision made for students, but a very few of the older students are also completing degree-level courses with universities such as The Open University.  Students follow a secular curriculum as well as a religious one and are also trained to become religious leaders in the Muslim community.  No student has a statement of special educational needs.  A few students are at an early stage of learning English.

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Information about this school

 The school was last inspected in July 2012.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching in the secular subjects by ensuring that teachers:  deliver lessons that are matched to the different needs of the individual students in their classes  extend students’ analytical and evaluative learning and use their questioning to prompt students to think things out for themselves and reflect on their answers  mark students’ work regularly, giving detailed feedback to students about how well they are doing and what they need to do to attain the next level of learning  help students develop their reading, writing, speaking and listening skills in all lessons across the curriculum.  Support improvements in teaching by improving the accuracy of assessments and using the information gathered to make checks on the progress made by individual students so that action can be taken to support any who are not making expected progress.  Implement robust systems to plan for improvement and monitor the progress made by the

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

school, ensuring that the trustees and senior leaders are well informed about the achievement of students in all areas of learning and about the extent to which the school meets the independent school standards.  Provide an independent listener that boarders may speak to who is not connected with the school.  Replace the locks on toilets and shower cubicle doors to allow access to boarders in the event of an emergency.  Review all policies and procedures to ensure that they are consistent and personal to the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 The school must meet the following independent school standards  Ensure there is a curriculum policy set out in writing and supported by plans and schemes of work that is implemented effectively (Paragraph (2)(1)).  Ensure that the curriculum gives pupils of compulsory school age a full-time education with experience in the following areas of learning: linguistic, mathematical, scientific, technological, human and social, physical, aesthetic and creative (Paragraph 2(2)(a)).  Make provision for personal, social and health education (Paragraph 2(2)(f)).  Ensure that appropriate careers education is provided (Paragraph 2(2)(g)).  Ensure that the curriculum provides opportunities for all pupils to learn and make progress (Paragraph 2(2)(i))  Provide adequate preparation for pupils in respect of the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life (Paragraph 2(2)(j)).  Ensure that teaching enables pupils to acquire new knowledge and make progress

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

according to their ability so that they increase their understanding and develop their skills in the subjects taught (Paragraph 3(a)).  Ensure that lessons are well planned, effective teaching methods and suitable activities are utilised and that class time is appropriately managed (Paragraph 3(c)).  Ensure that teachers have a good understanding of the aptitudes, needs and prior attainments of their pupils and take account of these when planning lessons (Paragraph 3(d)).  Assess pupils’ work regularly and thoroughly and use the information from the assessment to plan teaching so that pupils can make progress (Paragraph 3(g)).  Enable pupils to distinguish right from wrong and to respect civil and criminal law (Paragraph 5(a)(ii)).  Provide pupils with a broad general knowledge of public institutions and services in England (Paragraph 5(a)(iv)).  Follow the guidance issued by the Secretary of State in respect of the arrangements to

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

safeguard and promote the welfare of pupils at the school (Paragraph 7).  Make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of boarders with regard to the national minimum standards for boarding schools (Paragraph 8).  Ensure that an enhanced criminal record bureau check has been made in respect of all appointments made since 1 September 2003 (Paragraph 19(2)(c)).  Ensure that standard 14 of the national minimum standards (NMS) is met in respect of all staff appointed after 1 September 2003 to look after boarders (Paragraph 19 (2) (e)).  Ensure that the school’s accommodation and facilities are maintained to a sufficient standard to ensure the health, safety and welfare of pupils (Paragraph 23C).  Ensure that the school provides accommodation that has regard to standard 5 of the national minimum standards for boarding schools (Paragraph 23H).  Ensure that the name and address for correspondence of the chair of trustees is made

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

available to parents (Paragraph 24(1)(a)).  Ensure that particulars of the education and welfare provision for pupils who speak English as an additional language, and the academic performance of students, are made available to parents (Paragraph 24(1)(b)).

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 The school must meet the following national minimum standards for boarding schools.  Ensure that the boarding accommodation is appropriately lit, heated and ventilated (NMS 5.4).  Ensure that boarding staff are vetted in line with safe recruitment procedures and regulatory requirements (NMS 14.1).

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Pupils’ achievement Inadequate

The achievement of all groups of pupils below the age of 18 years is inadequate because the teaching of the secular subjects is not good enough. The curriculum in the sixth form is too limited. The three 16+ secular courses in the sixth form (chemistry and mathematics A level and ICT BTEC) are taught sporadically and progress in these is consequently weak. Because numbers are small in both the sixth form and Year 11, it is hard to generalise about attainment. Last year, of the 10 boys who were in Year 11, two left, one was sitting GCSEs as a resit, two were not entered for public examinations, and five achieved five A* to C grades at GCSE including English and mathematics. Students’ work and their learning in lessons, however, indicate that they are underachieving. Clever students are not stretched by the teaching and consequently do not get the top grades that they should attain in examinations. Less able students are not given the support

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Pupils’ achievement Inadequate

they need in lessons to keep up with their peers. Both those who speak English as an additional language and those who do not, do not make sufficient progress with their written and spoken language skills. The progress made by all students in lessons and over time in these secular subjects is weak because they do not give as much time to this area of study as their peers in other schools and they do not learn how to analyse and evaluate ideas effectively. There are few opportunities given to them to write at length in English or develop their spoken English language skills.

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Pupils’ achievement Inadequate

Students achieve more strongly in modern foreign languages, principally Urdu and Arabic. They also make good progress in Islamic Studies, with many achieving Hafeez (the ability to recite the whole of the Qur’an from memory) within three to five years and others achieving Alim (a recognition of Islamic learning) within seven years. Students learn to recite the Qur’an in public and give homilies and explanations of passages from it. They benefit from the opportunities that are made available for them to do work experience in local mosques and with a hospital chaplain. They develop a good theological and practical understanding of Islam.

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Pupils’ behaviour and personal development Good

Students behave well and their personal development is good. They are courteous and aware of others’ needs and frailties. The Islamic curriculum contributes strongly to their understanding of what it means to be human and how they should behave. They have a good understanding of morality and a highly developed spiritual awareness. They routinely make reasoned judgements on moral dilemmas and readily discuss such issues. However, they have not had the opportunity to develop a broad general knowledge of public institutions and services in England. Although there have been opportunities for them to learn about crime and punishment in Britain, it is not clear from the current planning and implementation of the personal, social and health education curriculum that this is still happening. Students develop confidence in public speaking and religious leadership. They undertake some suitable activities such as visiting a church and they study non-

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Pupils’ behaviour and personal development Good

Islamic religions in religious education. They are encouraged to respect other cultures and the institutions of democracy; however, their personal experience of other cultures remains limited.

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Pupils’ behaviour and personal development Good

In lessons, students are keen to learn. The relationships between boys and between boys and their teachers are friendly and respectful. Several boys commented that the school is a brotherhood, and that while the occasional disagreement between boys takes place, there is little or no bullying. Ultimately, it was explained, ‘We all eat from the same plate.’ Older boys look after younger boys and are carefully trained in this role, which gives them experience of leadership and mentoring.

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Pupils’ behaviour and personal development Good

Some students are members of school council and have debated matters of importance to them and their peers, including for example, voicing concerns about coldness of the school buildings in winter. Boarders gain confidence and independent living skills while boarding. They keep their areas neat and tidy and are taught to care for one another.

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Quality of teaching Inadequate

The teaching is inadequate because it does not enable the boys to make adequate progress in secular subjects. In these subjects, teachers do not use assessment information to plan lessons which meet the needs of all the individual students. This means that for some the learning is too hard, while for others it is too easy. The boys are given too few opportunities to develop their analytical and evaluative skills and to think things out for themselves; most teaching is focused on knowledge acquisition. Teachers do not use questioning well to correct misconceptions, probe answers or support students to develop their understanding. Because, although timetabled, no secular sixth form lessons were taught during the inspection, no such lessons were seen.

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Quality of teaching Inadequate

Students’ secular work is not marked often enough. The marking does not provide students with an understanding of what they are doing well and what they need to work on to improve.

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Quality of teaching Inadequate

The teaching of Islamic studies is very effective. Teachers work with the whole class and use questions to revise learning and promote further understanding. They work with individuals to ensure that errors are corrected. The use of assessment in Islamic studies is well established and used effectively to ensure that pupils make good progress and move along with their studies as appropriate. The formal assessment of the secular studies which was being introduced at the last full inspection in December 2011 has stalled. The school is unsure that its assessments are accurate and is not able to demonstrate that this work has had an impact.

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Quality of teaching Inadequate

There are close working relationships between the school and boarding staff. The head of care communicates daily with the head of the academic team in the school and both are kept appraised of any issues that occur in the school. Members of the boarding team and older students offer support with academic studies.

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Quality of curriculum Inadequate

The curriculum is inadequate as it does not enable students to make adequate progress in their secular studies. Secular studies all take place in the afternoons and the timetabling of some core subjects, such as mathematics and English, does not promote good learning. The secular curriculum allows students to take GCSEs in English, mathematics, science, history, Arabic and Urdu. In addition, students study religious education, art, business studies and physical education. Although there is planning for personal and social education and citizenship, students’ books show that these curricula are not delivered as planned. This means that students are not given opportunities to learn about public institutions and services in England. There are no plans for an information and communication technology curriculum and although there is some work in students’ books, there is no evidence that students use computers enough to develop appropriate

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Quality of curriculum Inadequate

Evening activities for students include personal study which takes place in the mosque. The school’s gym is currently out of use, but students do enjoy the opportunity to relax in their rooms. The school has invited speakers, such as a police commissioner and a local vicar, and some trips have been undertaken. Students have been given opportunities for work experience within the Muslim community; however, they are not given enough guidance about secular careers and qualifications for which they might choose to study. Older boys are hazy, as a consequence, about what they would need to do to achieve their aspirations, for example, of becoming a doctor or lawyer. This, coupled with their relative inexperience of life outside the school in multicultural Britain, means that they do not have adequate preparation for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life. Teachers do not support the development of literacy skills across the curriculum, for example, in

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Quality of curriculum Inadequate

helping students understand how to write in a particular genre or the meaning of complex vocabulary. Similarly, although more teachers are using group work, they do not support students to develop their speaking and listening skills so that they can articulate complex ideas. This omission slows the progress of all students but is particularly unhelpful to the many boys whose standard spoken English is not well developed.

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Quality of curriculum Inadequate

The Islamic curriculum is good. Once they have learned the basics of Qur’anic pronunciation (Nazarah), students can opt either to follow the Hifz course in order to learn to recite the Qur’an from memory, or the Alim course, which includes Tafseer (translation of the Qur’an); Hadith (traditional sayings); Aqa’id (fundamental beliefs); Taleemul haq (basic faith teachings), Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence); and Shareef (Islamic law). Many of the post-compulsory students only follow this curriculum. Others, however, seek to follow additional secular courses, but the range that the school offers of these is too small.

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Pupils’ welfare, health and safety Inadequate

The school does not take adequate care to ensure that students’ welfare, health and safety is safeguarded and this area is therefore inadequate. However, most of the national minimum standards for boarding are met, as are most independent school regulations.

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Pupils’ welfare, health and safety Inadequate

Safer recruitment practice is not robust. There are a number of discrepancies around the way in which school and boarding staff have been recruited. All school and boarding staff have been subject to an enhanced criminal records bureau check but records suggest that a gap in employment has meant that one check is no longer valid and has not been updated. Leaders at the school know what to do if an allegation of abuse is made against someone and staff are appropriately trained in this respect.

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Pupils’ welfare, health and safety Inadequate

The school has ensured that there is little bullying, with appropriate procedures in place, and that there are people to listen to any concerns that students have. It would be a further improvement, however, if one of the independent listeners available to boarders had no other relationship with the school. Students’ behaviour is managed well, with clear policies and procedures that promote good behaviour. The parents and carers spoken to by inspectors are happy with the standard of welfare, health and safety offered by the school, and the school’s own questionnaires do not indicate anything different to that.

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Pupils’ welfare, health and safety Inadequate

A number of risk assessments have been completed, but the record keeping is unclear so that the school was not clear about what issues had been resolved and what was still outstanding. A number of minor hazards remain around the school and boarding house. The handles for some toilets and shower cubicles, for example, do not allow for the doors to be opened in an emergency. The lighting of an uneven pathway between the school and boarding area does not work presenting a safety hazard at night, and two internal doors are missing their automatic closing mechanism. Good arrangements are in place for the storage, administration and recording of medication. There are weekly visits by a doctor to the school.

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Pupils’ welfare, health and safety Inadequate

Boys are now getting outdoor exercise through physical education lessons and can spend time outdoors on the school field. The food at the school is plentiful, nutritious and tasty.

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Pupils’ welfare, health and safety Inadequate

Boarders receive good guidance and support on everyday matters that affect them. They value the support they are given by staff; one boy shared his view that ‘It helps that the [boarding staff] are close to us in age and that they have been through the same as us. You can talk to them about it.’ They state that they are able to speak to care staff during key work sessions and individually. They feel safe in the boarding accommodation and know that their views and requests are listened to and, when reasonable, acted upon.

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Leadership and management Inadequate

The leadership and management of the school are inadequate because leaders and managers have not ensured that students make good progress and achieve well in secular subjects. The trustees do not have a good enough understanding of the statutory requirements for independent schools. Minutes of the trustees’ formal meetings, which are not held with sufficient frequency, show that the trustees have not requested enough information to know where the school’s strengths and areas for development lie. They have not pursued with the necessary rigour policies which would ensure that students are able to make good progress in their secular learning. Their detailed school action plan which identifies what needs to be done, by whom and by when, is out of date and their current plan does not give enough information about what needs to be done for it to be effective.

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Leadership and management Inadequate

The school has an appropriate complaints procedure in place and meets most but not all of the regulatory requirements to make available to parents and carers certain information. However, parents are not made aware of the contact details of the Chair of the Trustees, the particulars of education and welfare provision for students who speak English as an additional language, or the academic performance of students. Most required policy documents are in place; however, these along with procedural documents, do not always reflect the particular staffing arrangements of this school, which makes them confusing. Files generally in the school are not kept in good order and there is a lack of attention to detail.

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Leadership and management Inadequate

The head of the Islamic curriculum runs his side of the school's work very precisely. His record keeping of pupil progress is detailed and he is robust in his evaluation of the quality of the school’s work in this area. The head of National Curriculum subjects has taken steps to improve teaching and does monitor teaching regularly. These actions, however, have not had enough effect because they are not sharply enough focused on the key issues that need to be resolved and because the turnover of staff teaching the secular subjects is high.

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Leadership and management Inadequate

Most areas of the school and the boarding accommodation are cold. The boarders have asked for and received additional heating in their rooms but corridors, stairwells and classrooms remain cold. Although students are allowed to personalise their twin bedrooms, bedroom furniture and fittings are basic and the boarding areas are bleak. One boarder, however, commented, ‘I don’t want the place to change; I take this as my home.’ In the school the environment is shabby: displays on classroom walls are very worn and there are various small trip and bump hazards that need to be rectified.

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Leadership and management Inadequate

The head of care provides leadership and direction to the boarding staff through regular meetings, training and appraisals. He has already secured some improvements in the quality of care. He understands the immense task ahead and the issues that hinder swifter improvements. He is approachable and proactive. The inspector recommends that a material change to allow the school to accept students up to the age of 25 years be accepted.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding A school which provides an exceptional quality of education and care and significantly exceeds minimum requirements. Grade 2 Good A school which provides a high quality of education and care that exceeds minimum requirements. Grade 3 Adequate A school which meets minimum requirements but needs to improve the quality of education and care it provides. Grade 4 Inadequate A school where minimum requirements are not met and/or the quality of education and care has serious weaknesses.

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School details

Unique reference number 101695 Social care unique reference number SC006927 Inspection number 408704 DfE registration number 305/6077 This inspection was carried out 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. The inspection of boarding provision was carried out under the Children Act 1989, as amended by the Care Standards Act 2000, having regard to the national minimum standards for boarding schools.

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School details

Type of school Secondary Islamic school School status Independent boarding school Age range of pupils 11–19 Gender of pupils Boys Number of pupils on the school roll 150 Number of boarders on roll 150 Proprietor Darul Uloom, London Chair Mufti Mustafa Musa Headteacher Mufti Mustafa Musa Date of previous school inspection 4 July 2012 Annual fees (boarders) £2,700 Telephone number 020 8295 0637 Email address Darululoom786@hotmail.com guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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School details

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when.

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School details

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk, or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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School details

inspects to 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. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille,

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School details

please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you 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’.

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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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