Lantern of Knowledge Secondary School

Lantern of Knowledge Secondary School 30-36 Lindley Road, Leyton, London, E10 6QT

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Overall effectiveness Adequate 3

Pupils’ achievement Adequate 3 Pupils’ behaviour and personal development Good 2 Quality of teaching Adequate 3 Quality of curriculum Good 2 Pupils’ welfare, health and safety Adequate 3 Leadership and management Adequate 3

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This school is adequate because

 Students make adequate rather than consistently good progress.  Not enough teaching is consistently good.  While the school takes adequate care of its students, the monitoring of the effectiveness of some of its policies is not as robust as it should be.  School leaders have made improvements since the last inspection. They have started to take appropriate action to regularly check how well the school is doing. However, the actions taken have not yet secured consistently good teaching and achievement.

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The school has the following strengths

 A high proportion of students achieve five A* to C grades at GCSE including English and mathematics compared nationally.  The school has achieved national recognition as the highest achieving independent school nationally in for GCSE citizenship examinations.  The curriculum effectively meets the school’s aims of enabling students to have a good understanding of their Islamic faith while successfully developing both academic and personal skills.

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 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.

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Information about this inspection

 This inspection was carried out with one day’s notice.  Inspectors observed 17 lessons or parts of lessons. They had a discussion with students in a mixed-age group. Inspectors had discussions throughout the inspection with senior leaders and other staff.  It was not possible to gather information from the online Parent View survey because not enough parents and carers had entered their views. The lead inspector met with a small group of randomly chosen parents and carers, representing different age groups, and also received a phone call from one parent or carer.  Inspectors reviewed key documents and policies. They scrutinised students’ books and the school’s information about students’ attainment and progress.

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Inspection team

Daniel Towl, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Usman Mapara Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The Lantern of Knowledge is an independent Islamic secondary day school for boys and is situated in the Leyton area of East London. It opened in 2006.  It educates students aged from 11 to 16 years. There are 92 students on roll.  Most boys are from Black African or Asian heritage.  No students have a statement of special educational needs.  The school was last inspected in March 2010.  The school aims ‘to produce well-educated and mature young men, who possess the knowledge and skills to succeed in their lives, and who make positive contributions to society in general’.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so that none is less than good by ensuring that:  the planned activities are taught clearly, precisely and are well timed to allow students to successfully complete the expected amount of work  students’ learning is developed and checked thoroughly in lessons before moving on to the next task  marking is of consistently high quality and very effective in ensuring that mistakes once identified do not continue in students’ future work, especially in their writing.  Provide more opportunities for pupils in Key Stage 3 to write at length and develop their accuracy and neatness.  Make more effective use of the current monitoring procedures by:  developing stronger links between the outcomes of lesson observations, book monitoring and students’ achievements  ensuring that plans and targets for improving teaching have shorter completion dates.  Check that staff have a good understanding of school procedures and policies.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 The school must meet the following independent school standard.  Ensure that there is suitable space to enable pupils to play outside. (Paragraph 23G(1)(b))

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Pupils’ achievement Adequate

Students’ achievement and progress are adequate. While students make adequate and some good progress it is not consistent. It is variable across subjects and age groups This reflects variations in the quality of teaching.

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Pupils’ achievement Adequate

Most students are successful in their GCSE examinations in gaining at least five A* to C grades at GCSE. This allows them to move confidently on to their next steps in education. Students’ attainment has improved in recent years. Students do very well in their citizenship studies, nearly all gaining high grades at GCSE. Students also do well in their studies of the Qur'an because lessons are expertly and precisely taught. Much attention is given to the exact pronunciation of Qur'anic words and phrases. Students try hard to succeed.

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Pupils’ achievement Adequate

Students’ speaking and listening skills develop well because there are opportunities in lessons to answer questions. Subjects such as citizenship and business studies give good opportunities to discuss issues more widely. Older students, for example, were able to explain clearly their own ideas about the impact on employees of a company raising wages.

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Pupils’ achievement Adequate

The quality of learning improves as students move into their GCSE courses where teaching carefully follows examination syllabuses. The quality of students’ writing is too variable, especially in Key Stage 3. Writing is not always accurate or neat enough. Teachers are missing opportunities to help students to write at length across the curriculum. Students successfully develop key mathematical skills, especially at GCSE level. The few pupils who have special educational needs make adequate progress.

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Pupils’ achievement Adequate

Parents and carers told the lead inspector that they were pleased with their children’s progress. Most students are motivated to do well.

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Pupils’ behaviour and personal development Good

Students’ behaviour and personal development is good. Provision to promote students' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is effective and students’ development in these areas is good. Attendance is high and punctuality is good. Lessons run smoothly with minimal interruption from students’ inattention or poor behaviour. Most students move carefully around the building. Recorded incidents of serious misbehaviour are few. In discussion with inspectors, students were clear that incidents of bullying were rare. Students get on well with each other.

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Pupils’ behaviour and personal development Good

Students are proud of their faith and draw personal strength from learning in a community of young people who have the same beliefs. They also enjoy and welcome the opportunities that they have to mix with others from different backgrounds, for example, through their involvement in a multi-faith project and local sporting events. They are very aware of their responsibilities as British citizens. They are developing a good awareness and understand the importance of showing tolerance towards others who have different faiths and backgrounds.

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Pupils’ behaviour and personal development Good

They successfully take on roles as prefects in school and also have the chance to represent their class on the school council. They take part in the local schools' student forum and work with other local community organisations who promote integrated activities between students of different backgrounds. Students have worked effectively with the local authority to promote environmental issues, for example helping in a ‘clean-up’ project in the borough.

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Pupils’ behaviour and personal development Good

Students understand the key issues of democracy in Britain, how Parliament works and the importance of civil law. This is well supported through visits to the Houses of Parliament and the Royal Courts of Justice. Senior leaders are very clear about the importance of maintaining a strong and broad curriculum for personal development as part of giving students a chance to develop balanced views of controversial matters in society.

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Quality of teaching Adequate

Teaching is adequate. No inadequate teaching was observed but not enough lessons are enabling students to make consistently good progress. Some teaching is good. Teachers have good subject knowledge which enables them to be confident in what they are teaching and are able to confidently answer queries and questions from students. Classroom relationships are mostly good.

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Quality of teaching Adequate

Lessons about the Qur’an are well managed and precisely taught. Much attention is given to developing students’ accuracy in recitation. No time is wasted and teachers are very aware of how each student is doing. Students make good progress in these studies.

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Quality of teaching Adequate

Most teachers follow commercial schemes and examination syllabuses for academic subjects. This means that work is nearly always set at an appropriate level. While teachers use appropriate exercises for students to practise and develop their skills, they do not always manage the activities expertly. This means there are missed opportunities to develop students’ deeper learning. The timing of tasks and activities is sometimes rushed. Teachers do not always ensure that all students have finished their work. They are not always aware that tasks may not be challenging enough for the more able. This means that students make adequate rather than good and accelerated progress.

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Quality of teaching Adequate

Teachers regularly assess students’ work using national levels as a comparison. Outcomes of these assessments are used effectively to measure progress and to set targets. Students know their targets. The quality of marking is variable. At key points in their work students receive more detailed comments about how well they have done and what they need to improve next. Ongoing marking does not always build on these targets well enough to promote more accurate work and faster progress, especially in relation to writing. There is no clear and systematic approach to ensure that the mistakes and weaknesses identified in marking are quickly rectified and not repeated.

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Quality of curriculum Good

The curriculum is good. There is a good balance between faith and academic studies, which successfully helps the school to meet its aims. Despite inconsistent progress, it offers students the range of subjects they need to achieve well in their Islamic studies and also to reach the levels in their academic studies that enable them to move confidently to their next steps in education, usually A levels.

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Quality of curriculum Good

A strength of the curriculum is the programme followed for citizenship. This covers not only moral and social matters but also successfully develops knowledge on how to be healthy and safe. These studies are covered in class lessons and daily assemblies. The success of this programme is evident in students’ good personal development, their knowledge of British society and high level of attainment in their citizenship GCSE. Older students discuss and debate in a balanced way difficult issues such as children’s rights and matters of law surrounding the detention of terror and murder suspects.

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Quality of curriculum Good

The curriculum for Islamic studies is well planned. The academic curriculum is well organised and timetabled to give the right balance of studies. The curriculum is more effective in Key Stage 4 where it is very focused on examination courses and leads students to achieve an overall high proportion of passes and at A* to C grades in GCSE. Core subjects such English, mathematics, science and information and communication technology have due prominence. The creative curriculum is least well developed but students successfully learn the art of calligraphy and have opportunities for drama, debating and developing the skills of recitation.

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Quality of curriculum Good

Parents and carers are pleased that the school is now offering regular physical education lessons to promote a wider range of physical skills and support healthy living. The school uses a local sports ground and specialist teaching. Students also take part in some local sports tournaments. There is a good range of visits to places of interest including museums and significant exhibitions, for example, to the British Library. There is also a good number of visiting speakers to the school to help students develop knowledge of local and national matters and an understanding of other faiths. The curriculum successfully supports students’ knowledge about future careers and getting ready for work.

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Pupils’ welfare, health and safety Adequate

Provision for maintaining students’ welfare, health and safety is adequate. The school meets all the independent school regulations for this standard. Safeguarding procedures are adequate. Staff, including the designated person for child protection, have received the right level of training about child protection. However, senior leaders have not checked carefully to ensure that teachers have a good rather than adequate understanding of all the procedures. All the required checks on the suitability of staff to work with children have been made prior to their appointment and they are recorded, as required, on a single central register. Procedures to appoint staff follow the national guidance for safer recruitment.

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Pupils’ welfare, health and safety Adequate

Risk assessments for fire, general health and safety and outside visits are adequate. Fire drills, evacuation procedures and fire appliances are tested and checked regularly. First-aid provision is adequate though not all first-aid kits are checked regularly enough. A suitable number of staff have first-aid and fire-safety training. Attendance registers are marked accurately. Students are supervised appropriately and this leads to generally good and safe behaviour around the school.

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Pupils’ welfare, health and safety Adequate

Students told inspectors that there is always a member of staff that they could talk to if they have concerns. Parents and carers are content that the school keeps their children safe and are fully aware of the school’s approach to encouraging students to eat healthy lunches. The tuck shop, run by the students, stocks healthy snacks. Suitable anti-bullying procedures are in place and students told inspectors that any issues of bullying or poor behaviour were dealt with adequately and quickly.

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Leadership and management Adequate

Leadership and management are adequate and improving. The school meets all but one of the standards for independent schools. The more robust management procedures, now in place, have not yet had sufficient impact in raising the quality of teaching to ensure that more is consistently good across all age groups and all subjects.

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Leadership and management Adequate

School leaders have improved the curriculum and the way they monitor the work of the school. They have recently rearranged responsibilities to strengthen teaching. The school has completed a comprehensive audit of its performance and has a sound understanding of where it needs to improve. However, it is over generous in its key judgements.

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Leadership and management Adequate

There is now closer monitoring of the quality of teaching and teachers’ performance. There is more rigorous checking of students’ progress, involving regular discussions between school leaders and class teachers. The links between the outcomes of monitoring teaching and students’ ongoing progress, through assessments and workbook scrutiny, are not yet leading to sharp and short time-limited improvement targets.

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Leadership and management Adequate

Procedures to answer complaints and to provide parents and carers with information are clear and followed appropriately. A small group of parents and carers told inspectors that they were very happy with the level of communication between them and the school. They have confidence in the school leadership, a view supported by the school’s own larger survey of parents and carers. The returned questionnaires from staff were fully supportive of the leadership and management of the school.

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Leadership and management Adequate

The school adequately maintains appropriate accommodation for the numbers of students on roll, though there is not enough outside space for students to relax properly at break times. School leaders are already actively seeking suitable alternative off-site provision for this purpose.

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Grade Judgement Description

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

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School details

Unique reference number 132848 Inspection number 420198 DfE registration number 320/6501 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.

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School details

Type of school Muslim secondary School status Independent school Age range of pupils 11–16 Gender of pupils Boys Number of pupils on the school roll 92 Proprietor Lantern of Knowledge Educational Trust Chair Imran Sidyot Headteacher Irfan Sidyot Date of previous school inspection 9–10 March 2010 Annual fees (day pupils) £2,650 Telephone number 020 8539 5183 Email address info@lanternof knowledge.org.uk 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

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School details

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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

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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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