The British Muslim School

Jalaliah Educational Institution Wellington Road, Tipton, DY4 8RS

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement 3

Leadership and management Require improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 The proprietor and governors have not implemented effective regular arrangements for checking on the quality of teaching and learning and staff training needs.  Senior leaders and teachers do not have rigorous arrangements for continuously checking that students of all ages are progressing quickly enough compared with national expectations for their ages and starting points.  Senior leaders do not ensure prompt and precise monitoring of all records and staff training needs.  Students have access to a limited range of creative and aesthetic experiences and activities; this impedes their higher achievement in these areas.  Teachers do not have a consistent and rigorous approach to the improvement of students’ handwriting, particularly in Key Stage 3.

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The school has the following strengths

 The quality of teaching is good across the full age range of the school. As a result, students make good progress with their learning in English, mathematics, science and information and communication technology.  Students’ attitudes to learning and their behaviour throughout the school are excellent.  The school provides a safe environment for students; they state that they feel safe and enjoy school.  Proprietors and senior leaders have high aspirations for the academic and personal preparation of students for life in a diverse community.  The Islamic ethos and teaching make a strong and effective contribution to the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of students.

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 The school meets the schedule to The Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 (‘the independent school standards’) and associated requirements.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector visited a number of classrooms to observe the quality of students’ learning across a range of subjects in both the secular and Islamic curriculum. He scrutinised examples of students’ work and records of their progress.  The inspector held discussions with senior leaders, a member of the governing body and a number of members of staff. Questionnaires submitted by six members of staff were considered.  Discussions were held with a number of students. There were no responses to Ofsted’s online Parent View questionnaire.  The inspector scrutinised a number of school documents in order to check the school’s compliance with the independent school standards. These included school policies and procedures, together with records of staff recruitment, incidents and sanctions, fire safety and staff training.

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Inspection team

David Young, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Jalaliah Educational Institution is a small Muslim day school for boys situated in Sandwell in the West Midlands.  The school is registered to admit up to 25 students in the age range 11 to 16 years. The school admits students on the basis of selection by ability.  There are currently 27 students on the roll of the school. No student has a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan.  The school does not use any alternative providers to contribute to students’ education.  The school entered some students for GCSE examinations in January 2015. This is the first year that students are sitting public examinations.  The last standard inspection of the school was in February 2010. An emergency inspection took place in May 2013 and progress monitoring inspections in November 2013 and October 2014.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve students’ achievement to outstanding by implementing regular arrangements for checking students’ progress against national expectations for their ages and starting points.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Implement formal arrangements for the appraisal of staff performance to ensure that: all staff receive regular feedback about the quality of their teaching and its impact on students’ achievement staff development needs are identified and all staff have access to suitable further training governors have a more complete understanding of the quality of teaching and how good performance is assured.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure a consistent approach to the improvement of students’ handwriting, particularly at Key Stage 3.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Broaden the range of aesthetic and creative learning experiences provided for students.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 The proprietors and senior leaders have ensured that all the standards for registration as an independent school are met. Good progress has been made since the emergency inspection in May 2013 to ensure that the school complies with all statutory requirements.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 All the required checks on the suitability of staff are completed efficiently. For example, the school has recently registered to enable checks to be made on any prohibited teachers. Staff are trained appropriately in safe recruitment, safeguarding and first aid.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Leadership and management require improvement because too many of the school’s arrangements for checking on the quality of its work are too informal. Administrative records are not always completed promptly and monitored rigorously.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Senior leaders know the strengths of the school and have identified appropriate areas for improvement, including the allocation of some of these to members of staff. However, these planned improvements are not compiled into a rigorous and effective plan with suitable timescales and arrangements to monitor progress.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Senior leaders have ensured that the quality of teaching is good in both the secular and Islamic elements of the curriculum. As a result, students make good progress from their starting points and are prepared well for entry to GCSE examinations for the first time this year.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Teaching staff are recruited with suitable experience and subject knowledge to meet the learning needs of students. However, senior leaders do not have rigorous arrangements in place for the regular review of teaching and learning. As a result, they are not clear about whether students in all year groups are progressing at an appropriate rate compared with national expectations.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Arrangements for the management of staff performance are not sufficiently robust to ensure that senior leaders are fully aware when staff members require additional time, advice or training to fulfil their responsibilities well.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 There are no middle leaders in this small school. Subject staff take effective responsibility for the management of their subject areas. Staff meetings are used well to create a cooperative and supportive approach to the management of the school between senior leaders and staff.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 All students are provided with equal access to the full range of opportunities provided. Students describe life in the school as ‘like being in a family’. They believe they are known well by the staff and that their teachers provide them with suitable challenge and support to succeed in their studies.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 The curriculum is appropriate to meet students’ needs; all required areas of learning are included. Senior leaders have established a school timetable which allocates broadly appropriate time to the various core subjects. Some subjects are not spread appropriately through the week for some teaching groups due to the part-time availability of a small number of teachers. A satisfactory balance has been achieved between the secular and Islamic subjects. Opportunities for aesthetic and creative activities, while meeting requirements, are nonetheless limited.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Arrangements for the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of students are good. The proprietors and senior leaders are ambitious for students to achieve well and they provide an environment and ethos which equips students appropriately for all aspects of life in modern Britain. Students speak maturely about the peaceful nature of their faith and demonstrate a confident awareness of the dangers of extremism. These values are evident in the teaching of personal, social and health education, citizenship, religious education and in the Fiqh and Hadeeth aspects of the Islamic curriculum.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Students demonstrate a good knowledge and understanding of the democratic process, including through the election of a student councillor and deputy to represent them in discussions with senior staff. They have a good awareness of the civil and criminal legal system, and visitors to the school present appropriate themes on substance abuse and related crimes. Students contribute appropriately to fund raising for local and national charities.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 The school has an effective relationship with the local careers service. During the inspection, representatives visited the school, made a presentation to Key Stage 4 students and met individually with students to enable them to work on their individual career plans.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 The governance of the school: The governing body receives appropriate reports from senior leaders about the quality of what the school provides for students. These include regular information about the progress made by students in their learning and personal development. They understand the challenges of recruiting staff in a small school and the need to provide a curriculum which prepares students well for the next stage of their education. They advise and support senior leaders and staff effectively in fulfilling these responsibilities. Governors ensure that the limited funds available to the school are correctly managed. Governors do not have a sufficiently detailed understanding of the quality of teaching and how any underperformance is tackled. They have not challenged leaders sufficiently to formalise arrangements for managing staff performance and training needs.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of students is outstanding. They demonstrate high levels of commitment to their learning and engage actively in learning across the full range of subjects studied.

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Behaviour

 Students demonstrate respect for the staff and value the feedback they receive about areas for improvement in their work. They respond well to instructions and there is no low-level disruption preventing them from making good progress with their learning in lessons.

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Behaviour

 Students take a pride in their work and in the results obtained in their regular assessments.

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Behaviour

 Arrangements for the spiritual and moral development of students are exemplary. Students state that the Islamic ethos of the school has a positive impact on their attitudes to staff and to each other. This is evident in lessons and around the school. Students understand what is required of them to practise their faith diligently and can explain the basis for their actions in the teachings of Islam.

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Behaviour

 Themes and activities in a number of subjects contribute effectively to students’ social and cultural development. They are made aware of their rights and responsibilities and of the range of services which support them to live responsibly in the community. Close relationships with the neighbouring community centre enable them to see local services in action.

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Behaviour

 Students understand the diversity of cultures and beliefs in the local and wider communities. In discussion, they demonstrate a good understanding of significant similarities and differences between their personal values and those of others.

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Behaviour

 Overall attendance is in line with the national average; attendance by the majority of students in Key Stage 4 is excellent.

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Behaviour

 Students are well prepared to move on to the next stage in their education on leaving the school.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep students safe and secure is good. The quality of relationships, good levels of staff supervision and secure accommodation ensure that students are kept safe.  Students state that they have no concerns about bullying. They believe that the small size of the school enables them to know each student in the school and to develop respect for each other. The school’s policies for the management of students’ behaviour and the prevention of bullying are implemented consistently.

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Safety

 Students are aware of the risks involved in substance abuse, unsuitable relationships and unsafe use of the internet. The staff ensure that all students study these and similar issues within a range of subjects.

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Safety

 Arrangements for the safe recruitment of staff and their training in safeguarding and first aid are implemented effectively. All aspects of fire safety are checked regularly and recorded appropriately; appropriate action is taken to rectify any concerns identified.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching is good and enables students to achieve well in both the secular and Islamic strands of their learning.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers demonstrate excellent subject knowledge and communicate their enthusiasm for learning very effectively. For example, students in a Key Stage 4 English lesson developed a detailed understanding of the use of figurative language as they analysed the text of Touching the Void by Joe Simpson. They understood the use of technical terms and annotated their texts effectively in response to the teacher’s use of imaginative and creative language.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers ensure a good level of challenge for all students, including the most able. Students in mathematics lessons, for example, are challenged to uncover new layers of learning through the use of excellent visual presentation by the teacher. They enjoy the challenge in the teacher’s outstanding questioning which requires them to think deeply and logically as they work out appropriate methods and alternative routes to the required answers.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The good quality of teaching is based on a secure knowledge of each student’s current level of achievement. Teachers organise learning tasks and activities which are well matched to the range of achievement in each teaching group.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching groups are small and this enables teachers to involve all students effectively in discussion and review of what they have learned. The quality of students’ learning is mostly checked regularly throughout lessons by the use of skilful questioning and discussion. However, this is not consistent across all subjects and year groups.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers have high expectations of students’ behaviour. Students respond well to the required routines of each different subject and cooperate extremely well with their teachers and with each other. Science and information and communication technology (ICT) are taught well and students make good progress in their understanding of concepts and the application of skills.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Students enjoy the range of themes introduced in personal, social and health education (PSHE), citizenship and religious education lessons. They are encouraged to evaluate their own values and relationships and can identify how these are relevant to their daily lives.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Reading, writing, oral communication and numeracy are all taught well and students make good progress. There is not a consistent emphasis on the improvement of handwriting, particularly among Key Stage 3 students.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers of Islamic subjects enable students to understand the significance of practices and beliefs in their daily lives. Students are motivated to do well and demonstrate effective development of the use of Arabic as they read and recite accurately.

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The quality of teaching is good

 There is an appropriate focus on the requirements of GCSE courses in Key Stage 4 classes. Homework assignments and revision tasks are used appropriately to extend students’ learning beyond the classroom.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Students’ work is assessed regularly through the marking of books and the use of half-termly tests. Students state that they know how well they are doing and what they need to do next to improve. The information gained from this regular testing is used effectively to check on the progress of individual students and to provide additional support and challenge where this may be needed.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The information gained from regular assessment is collated centrally in order to inform senior leaders’ knowledge of current standards of attainment. The information is not used rigorously to check the extent of students’ progress from their starting points compared with national expectations. Consequently, leaders and teachers do not have a well-informed view of how well students are progressing in comparison with other students nationally.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The achievement of students is good. They make consistently good progress throughout Key Stages 3 and 4 across the range of subjects studied. A number of students exceed national expectations in the extent of their progress over time and there are examples of outstanding achievement in some aspects of students’ work in English and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 No students have yet completed their Key Stage 4 courses and there are no end-of-year GCSE results to judge the ultimate extent of students’ achievement. A small number of Year 11 students were entered for GCSE examinations in January 2015. They appreciated this opportunity to experience the challenges of examination conditions for the first time. Results were mixed, including some C and B grades in English and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Students read well and can apply their reading skills effectively in different contexts. Key Stage 4 students demonstrate an extensive knowledge of the technical vocabulary of English and use this well in their analysis and interpretation of texts.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Students learn to write extensively and creatively. Work in students’ books shows good development of their spelling, punctuation and grammar.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Students make good progress in the development of their mathematical skills. They enjoy the challenge of applying mathematical models and methods to solving new problems. They are confident in the use of the technical vocabulary of the subject.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Students are confident in the use and application of their information and communication technology skills. They use these effectively for research and presentation of work. Students’ progress in science is good because of systematic, methodical teaching which enables them to tackle complex concepts confidently.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The school’s assessment records indicate that students are making good progress towards GCSE accreditation in religious education, PSHE, ICT and history.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Students’ work in the human and social areas of learning, together with Islamic studies, makes a strong positive contribution to the development of their personal qualities and character. Students’ higher achievement in the aesthetic and creative area of learning is restricted by the limited time allocated to the teaching of art and other creative subjects.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Students’ rates of progress from their starting points are good. There are no students with identified special educational needs. They mostly enter the school with attainment in English, mathematics and science in line with or a little above the national average for their age. They are making good progress, ultimately towards their GCSE examinations.

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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.gov.uk/government/publications/non- association-independent-school-inspection-handbook .

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School details

Unique reference number 135792 Inspection number 447301 DfE registration number 333/6005 This inspection was carried out under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008, 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 day school School status Independent school Age range of pupils 11–16 Gender of pupils Boys Number of pupils on the school roll 27 Number of part time pupils 0 Proprietor Latifiah Fultali Complex Chair Nasir Ahmed Principal Muhammad Kadir Al Hasan Date of previous school inspection 21 October 2014 Annual fees (day pupils) £2,100 Telephone number 0121 557 2984 Email address mkh-786@hotmail.co.uk guidance 'Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . 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 and as part of the inspection.

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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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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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 and 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 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit

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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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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