Tawhid Boys School, Tawhid Educational Trust

School report Tawhid Boys School, Tawhid Educational Trust 21 Cazenove Road, London, N16 6PA

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Overall effectiveness Good 2

Leadership and management Outstanding 1 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Achievement of pupils Outstanding 1

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Summary of key findings

 Teaching is consistently good and sometimes outstanding. This, coupled with an excellent work ethic in school, ensures that all students achieve exceptionally well and make outstanding progress. This is the case in all subjects, especially English, mathematics and science.  The safety of students is a priority. Senior leaders have established robust policies and procedures to help ensure that students are always kept safe.  Behaviour in lessons and around school is usually good. Most students are always keen to learn. They concentrate on their studies and are excited when they learn new things.  The school provides a good variety of subjects and activities which capture students’ interest and help them engage in learning. These help ensure that all students achieve exceptionally well.  Senior leaders promote British values exceptionally well. As a result, students are proud members of British society and embrace people of different

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Summary of key findings

faiths and cultural traditions.  The proprietor and governors consistently challenge senior leaders to improve all aspects of the provision. School leaders have ensured that students have achieved consistently well since the last inspection.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Students are not always careful in the ways that they present their written work.  Marking does not always give students clear guidance on the areas that they need to improve.  Teaching assistants do not always actively help all students learn.  Teachers do not have enough opportunities to share outstanding progress.  A small number of older students display poor attitudes to learning at times.

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 The school meets 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.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection was carried out with one day’s notice.  The inspectors observed 18 lessons taught by ten different teachers. They scrutinised students’ work and held meetings with the headteacher, senior managers, the proprietor and governors, staff and students.  The school’s documentation was checked, including schemes of work, teachers’ planning, assessment records and records pertaining to safeguarding, welfare, health and safety. The inspector checked the school’s compliance with the regulations for independent schools.  There were no responses to Parent View. The inspector took account of the views expressed in 12 questionnaires returned by staff.

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Inspection team

Chanan Tomlin, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Tawhid Boys’ School is an independent Muslim school for boys between the ages of ten and 16 years. It opened in September 2000 in a residential part of Stoke Newington, in the London Borough of Hackney and is located in an end-of-terrace house that has been suitably renovated as a school.  The school has plans to extend the premises considerably. These works are due to be completed by September 2015.  There are now 114 students on roll. The school has ceased to provide education for students in Year 6. Currently all students are in Years 7 to 11 and are aged between eleven and 16 years. Students come from the local area and beyond and are of diverse cultural heritages. All are either bilingual or at various advanced stages of learning English as an additional language. There are no students with a statement of educational needs  There are seven trustees, one of whom is the proprietor, and seven co-opted governors. The governing

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Information about this school

body is split into three committees: finance, building and school development.  The school teaches most subjects of the National Curriculum, with the addition of Arabic and Islamic studies.  The school uses off-site provision for physical education.  The school aims to help students become active members of the wider community and proud citizens of this country. It gives the highest priority to ‘the achievement of excellence, the notion that education extends beyond the ‘purely academic,’ with students being encouraged to develop Islamic moral values and practise Islamic etiquette in their daily lives’.  The school was last inspected by Bridge Schools Inspectorate (BSI) in May 2011. The inspection prior to this was in March 2008. This inspection was conducted by Ofsted.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching to outstanding in order for students to make even more rapid progress by: – ensuring that students are more careful in the ways that they present their written work – improving the quality of marking to ensure that students always know how they can improve – ensuring that teaching assistants always actively support students with their work in lessons – giving teachers more opportunities to share outstanding practice.  Help older students to improve their behaviour and attitudes to learning at all times so that they make even more progress in their learning.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Outstanding leadership and management have ensured that levels of achievement are outstanding in all subjects and have steadily improved in English, mathematics and science. The leadership team have succeeded in raising the commitment of all staff, and middle leaders are very effective in their roles. As a result, all staff are united in a drive to provide an excellent education for all students.  Senior leaders set exacting goals for all staff. They use teaching staff to help all students achieve exceptionally well; they have created an atmosphere where students thrive which is very conducive to learning.  Leaders and managers utilise self-evaluation very well, as reflected in a well-considered document and development plan. This effectively helps them identify strengths and areas that need to be developed.  Leaders and managers have established excellent partnerships with external agencies to help students

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The leadership and management are outstanding

succeed in all aspects of their learning and in their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. These include local sixth form colleges, and Jewish and Catholic schools. As a result, students work hard to achieve excellent grades and are committed to becoming active members of British society.  All staff, including leaders and mangers, maintain regular contact with parents and ensure that schoolwork is consistently reinforced at home. This is a contributing factor to the outstanding progress that students make.  Some aspects of the leadership of teaching are outstanding. Teachers are provided with frequent training of a high standard. This helps them gain expertise in the most effective ways of encouraging learning and in using the resources that are available to them to best effect. On-going improvements to the effectiveness of teachers’ marking and how staff share good practice are among examples of the success

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The leadership and management are outstanding

of self-evaluation and actions taken.  Leaders and managers check teachers’ performance and effectiveness through regular lesson observations. These are used very well to ensure that all staff have relevant goals to raise levels of achievement even further.  The school promotes the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of students exceptionally well. Opportunities to foster students’ appreciation of art and music, and to develop creativity, are provided across the wider curriculum.The school’s Islamic ethos helps students focus on spiritual growth every day through prayer and religious observance. Personal, social, health and citizenship education (PSHCE) helps them understand, and become committed to upholding, high levels of moral and social behaviour. Students learn about British culture, services and institutions during PSHCE, social studies and history and this helps prepare them well for life in modern Britain.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Students learn about other cultures and religions in very meaningful ways through religious education, visits to places of worship, visitors to the school such as a local rabbi, and during assemblies. As a result, they learn to accept people from other cultural and religious backgrounds and work together with them in harmony.  Leaders and managers have ensured that partisan political views are always presented in balanced ways.  The school offers a wide range of subjects that interest students and help them achieve excellent results. These include GCSE courses in English, mathematics, science, religious education (RE), geography, Arabic, information communication technology (ICT) and business studies. Provision for physical education (PE), including swimming, is well-developed. As a result of the richeness of the secular curriculum students are given a wide range of opportunities that not only result in high achievement ,but

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The leadership and management are outstanding

also enabling them make outstanding progress in their personal development.  The premises and accommodation are small but adequately suited to support the subjects taught. All areas of the school are well maintained and decorated. Students feel safe, as routines to do so are well established.  The school meets the requirements related to the provision of information for parents and carers and the complaints procedure includes all of the required details.  The governance of the school: Leaders and managers are strongly held to account for every aspect of their work by the proprietor and governors that serve on the school’s development committee. As a result, all sections of the school’s leadership successfully generate a drive for excellence amongst all staff. The proprietor and governors have been in post since the school was established in 2000. They are extremely devoted to the school and carry out their responsibilities with firm commitment, challenging

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The leadership and management are outstanding

senior leaders regularly and providing them with high levels of support. The proprietor and members of the school development committee check that everything is being done to overcome barriers to learning. They ensure that students are informed about their levels of achievement. Managers ask senior leaders probing questions about how groups of students can be best supported. The proprietor and school development committee are the driving forces that help senior leaders ensure consistently good teaching. They support senior leaders in a consistent drive for improvement through effectively managing the performance of teachers and by providing training courses that meet the needs of staff well. Governors have helped leaders and managers to develop excellent policies and procedures that help keep students safe at all times. Arrangements for the safe recruitment of staff are robust. Safeguarding procedures fully meet statutory requirements.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Behaviour  The behaviour of students is typically good. Students are polite and courteous. They listen carefully when teachers or peers are speaking and carefully concentrate on what is being taught. This is a major contributing factor to high levels of achievement that have been consistently improving.  Students work well in pairs and in groups. For example, during a Year 10 English lesson, students enjoyed analysing a short conversation when different groups read a transcript, using a variety of intonations.  Students have a say in what goes on in school through an active students’ council that has successfully brought about improvements to the school. Prefects help with the running of the school, for example by keeping good order during break times.  Students are involved with the wider community through raising funds for charity. They are currently taking part in a charity drive, collecting foodstuffs for the elderly.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Students are eager to understand and master everything that they learn in school. They are happy to attend regular tutorials and booster sessions to ensure that there are no gaps in their learning.  A small number of older students display poor attitudes to learning at times. When this happens, they misbehave and disturb others. This compromises learning in some lessons. This is why behaviour is good, rather than outstanding.  Students’ behaviour in the playground and around school during breaks is good and they enjoy using the games and sports equipment that are provided. They keep the school and outdoor areas tidy and litter- free.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Safety  The school’s work to keep students safe and secure is good. Students say that they feel safe.  Attendance is broadly average. It is carefully monitored by the school and has improved slightly this year.  The school emphasises safety to students, so that they know how to stay safe when using the internet, on roads and when cycling. During the inspection, a group of Years 7–8 students delivered a Power Point presentation on road safety that they had created by themselves to older students. Students received this very well.  Students say that bullying and name-calling are very rare. They understand the different forms of bullying and know who to turn to if bullying were to occur.  Students learn about respecting all people regardless of their race, ethnicity, background or sexual orientation. The impact of this is that all students, staff and visitors to the school feel comfortable and welcome regardless of their ethnicity.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Consistently good teaching ensures that all students, including those that are less or more able, make exceptional progress in speaking, reading, writing and mathematics.  Teachers always adjust work well according to how well students are doing. For example, during a Year 10 Islamic studies lesson on ‘How and Why Muslims Respect the Qur’an’, the teacher changed the wording of the question and gave various examples to ensure that all students fully understood.  Students are often encouraged to work on their own. For instance, during a Year 7 geography lesson on ordnance survey maps, students were asked to identify the meanings of as many symbols as they could on their own in a short amount of time. This helped them make good progress because they had to come to their own conclusions after considering various options.  Students achieve exceptionally high standards as a result of very effective teaching. However, teaching is

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The quality of teaching is good

typically good rather than outstanding because teaching assistants do not help all students learn effectively; because marking is inconsistent; and because students are not always careful enough about the presentation of their work. Senior leaders agree that this is the case and this is evident in their self- evaluation and notes that they have taken during lesson observations.  Students’ work is marked regularly and usually accurately. Systems to track progress are accurate and fully embedded. However, marking sometimes involves a series of ticks instead of giving students clear guidance on areas that need to improve. Occasionally, teachers do not follow up the guidance that they have given students through marking. For example, when students are told to correct work, teachers do not always ensure that this is done.  During this inspection, some examples of outstanding teaching were observed. Teachers do not have

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The quality of teaching is good

enough opportunities to share outstanding practice. A result of this is that teaching overall is good but not outstanding and students are not enabled to make even more rapid progress in their learning.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 A good number of students that join the school have very low starting points compared with national averages. Records show that over the last few years, at least half of the yearly intake of students had achievement levels below the national averages. Considering this, all students make at least expected progress in all areas of learning over time and a large majority exceed this. GCSE results in all subjects are high with many students achieving higher than national averages especially in English, English literature, mathematics and science. As a result of the excellent progress that they make, students are very well equipped to succeed in their further education.  Many students are at various stages of learning English as an additional language. These students receive all the support that they need to master English quickly and make exceptional progress in their learning.  More-able students are challenged according to their abilities and always start and complete GCSEs early.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

Less-able students receive suitable work and extra support that helps each one work effectively. As a result of carefully planned work, students of all abilities achieve exceptionally well and make outstanding progress.  Reading is a strength across the school. This is because there is a very effective reading programme for Years 7 to 9 that is soon to be extended to Years 10 and 11. Students for whom English is an additional language receive individual support for reading in order to quickly raise their standards. Students take full advantage of the school’s well-stocked library and often read in their spare time. Consequently, students read exceptionally well and enjoy talking about books that they have read.  The vast majority of school leavers go on to take A-Levels at high-performing sixth form colleges.

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Grade Judgement

Grade 1 Outstanding Grade 2 Good Grade 3 Requires improvement Grade 4 Inadequate

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Grade Judgement

Detailed grade characteristics can be viewed in the Non-association independent school inspection handbook which is published on the Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/140053 .

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School details

Unique reference number 132736 Inspection number 447191 DfE registration number 204/6407 This inspection was carried out under section 162A of the Education Act 2002, as inserted 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 Boys’ secondary school School status Independent school Age range of pupils 10–16 Gender of pupils Boys Number of pupils on the school roll 114 Number of part time pupils 0 Proprietor Abdul Ghani Alibhai Chair Abdul Ghani Alibhai Headteacher Usman Mapara Date of previous school inspection 16–19 May 2011 by Bridge Schools Inspectorate (BSI) Annual fees (day pupils) £3,000 Telephone number 0208 806 2999 Fax number 0208 806 2999 Email address info@tawhid.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

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

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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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