Rochdale Islamic Academy

Rochdale Girls’ School Greenbank Road, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL12 0HZ

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement 3

Leadership and management Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3

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This is a school that requires improvement because

 Leaders do not do all they can to improve the quality of teaching. They rarely monitor teachers’ work and have not provided them with sufficient training.  Teachers do not use their good subject knowledge or what they know about students’ prior achievement to plan interesting and inspiring lessons. Also, they use a limited range of resources. This means that students, especially the most able, do not engage in their learning with enough intellectual or creative effort and make the progress they should.  Achievement varies significantly across the school. In religious education (RE), the majority of students achieve the highest GCSE grades. In others, such as in Arabic, very few gain a grade C or above.  Students do not apply themselves with sufficient effort in the classroom. There are few minimum expectations for what they should accomplish. Consequently, in some subjects, they complete little work and sometimes graffiti is found in their

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This is a school that requires improvement because

books and on their desks.  There are too few opportunities for students to develop their practical skills in science. This prevents them from developing a full understanding of this subject.  Leaders have not established a clear and robust method for tracking students’ progress across subjects. They do not analyse achievement information in a timely manner. As a result, they are unable to identify when additional challenge and support for teachers is needed.

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The school has the following strengths

 Students behave well, co-operate with each other have positive relationships with their teachers. They actively create a warm, welcoming atmosphere in this small school.  Students feel safe because they know their teachers have their best interests at heart. They report that bullying is rare and that individual differences are accepted.  Students learn first-hand about other faiths and demonstrate an appreciation for the similarities and differences between these and their own.  Leaders have worked effectively to improve the accommodation on both of the schools’ sites. As a result, all of the independent school regulations that relate to health and safety are met.

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 The school must take action to meet the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) (England) Regulations 2014 and associated requirements. The details are listed in the full report.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed twelve lessons, some with the headteacher and deputy headteacher. Inspectors also observed an assembly on e-safety and a talk given by an external provider on animal rights. They observed students’ arrival to school and how they behaved during the social times of the school day.  Inspectors evaluated students’ work and spoke informally to students about their work during lessons. Inspectors also met separately with a group of students from the girls’ site and a group from the boys’ site.  Inspectors considered the four responses to Ofsted’s staff questionnaire. The lead inspector also held a meeting with two parents. There were insufficient responses to Parent View for inspectors to consider at the time of the inspection.  The lead inspector met with the proprietor and a representative from the Board of Trustees.  Inspectors scrutinised a range of information relating to students’ academic progress and welfare. They

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Information about this inspection

evaluated the school’s draft self-evaluation report and analysed data on students’ achievement. Inspectors looked at a range of information to support their judgement on the safety of students at the school. This included the school’s child protection policy, the record of external visitors, admissions and registration documentation, alongside health and safety risk assessments.  Inspectors considered a number of policies on behaviour, bullying, curriculum, teaching and learning and assessment.

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Inspection team

Philippa Darley, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Information about this school

 Rochdale Girls’ School opened in 2003. It is an independent day school for secondary-aged Muslim girls and boys. It is a member of the Association of Muslim Schools UK.  The boys’ site opened in September 2014 and currently has students in Years 7 and 8. In September 2013, the girls’ site moved into new accommodation, which is a purpose-built, single storey school previously owned by the local authority.  The headteacher was appointed in September 2014 and is based at the girls’ site.  The school aims to provide an Islamic and National Curriculum to boys and girls aged between 11 and 16 years from all ethnic backgrounds, in a safe environment. ‘Our mission is to provide education in an Islamic environment that encourages good discipline, behaviour, tolerance and respect, in order to achieve goals by developing potential, thereby creating role models for the community.’  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this school

 The school was last inspected by Ofsted in 2010 when it was judged to be good.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching across both sites of the school, and thereby increase the rate of progress that students make in all subjects, by: providing teachers with regular training, including opportunities to observe good teaching in their subjects in other schools monitoring the impact of this training to check that teachers are assessing students’ progress accurately, and using this information to plan effective lessons raising teachers’ and students’ expectations about what they can achieve in their lessons increasing the range of resources that teachers can access in order to make learning interesting, and by this encourage students to investigate their subjects in more depth.  Ensure students are able to develop their skills of scientific enquiry effectively through regular practical work.  Ensure that all staff implement the school’s policies consistently.  Improve the leadership of the school by:

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

ensuring that leaders at all levels have the knowledge and skills to be able to improve the quality of teaching rapidly developing a system of assessment that ensures leaders have the information they need to make judgements about support and challenge for teachers developing the role of subject leaders across both school sites so that they have more impact on improving achievement in their areas of responsibility ensuring that the proprietor and board of trustees build leadership capacity across the school and hold leaders to account for meeting all the independent school standards.

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The school must meet the following independent school standards

 The curriculum must ensure that students receiving secondary education can access accurate, up-to-date career guidance, that this is presented in an impartial manner and enables students to make informed choices about a broad range of career options (paragraph 2(2), 2(2)(e), 2(2)(e)(i) and 2(2)(e)(ii)).  The proprietor must ensure that: teaching enables students to acquire new knowledge and make good progress according to their ability so that they increase their understanding and develop their skills in the subjects taught teaching fosters in students self-motivation, the application of intellectual, physical and creative effort, interest in their work and the ability to think and learn for themselves teaching involves well-planned lessons and effective teaching methods, activities and management of class time teaching shows a good understanding of the aptitudes, needs and prior attainments of the students,

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The school must meet the following independent school standards

and ensures that these are taken into account in the planning of lessons teaching utilises effectively classroom resources of a good quality, quantity and range teaching demonstrates that a framework is in place to assess students’ work regularly and thoroughly and use information from that assessment to plan teaching so that students can progress (paragraph 3, 3(a), 3(b), 3(c), 3(d), 3(f) and 3(g)).  The proprietor must ensure that appropriate checks are carried out to confirm a person’s medical fitness before they are appointed as members of staff at the school (paragraph 18(2), 18(2)(c) and 18(2)(c)(ii)).  The proprietor must ensure that the persons with leadership and management responsibilities at the school demonstrate good skills and knowledge appropriate to their role and fulfil their responsibilities effectively so that the independent school standards are met consistently (paragraph 34(1)(a) and 34

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The leadership and management require improvement

 School leaders have spent insufficient time concentrating on improving the quality of teaching. As a result, it varies enormously. Students make good progress in some subjects but very little in others. Leaders have not tackled these discrepancies with any confidence. Consequently, leadership and management require improvement.  While the new headteacher started the process of checking on teaching at the start of this academic year, she has not had the capacity to follow this up as she has had to use her time to cover for absent teaching staff. She has challenged and removed inadequate teaching, but her impact on improving teaching more broadly has been limited. For example, some teachers’ expectations of what their students can achieve are too low.  Leaders have been unable to establish a secure system for assessing students’ progress across all year groups, particularly at Key Stage 3. Moreover, they do not analyse the information they do have to

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The leadership and management require improvement

challenge teachers to improve or to check that the curriculum is fit for purpose.  The headteacher has started the process of evaluating the school’s effectiveness. Although this is incomplete, she has correctly identified the right areas that leaders need to prioritise in order to rapidly improve the school.  School leaders have recently reviewed the majority of the school’s policies on the academic and personal welfare of the students. These all meet the independent school standards and those relating to the safety of students are conscientiously applied by staff. Leaders rightly recognise that staff do not always implement the school’s policies on behaviour, teaching and assessment consistently. This is preventing improvements from happening.  Students do not receive sufficient guidance about future opportunities, including careers. Leaders have appointed a member of staff to take responsibility for developing this aspect of the school’s work but

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The leadership and management require improvement

have not ensured that students receive impartial advice.  Leaders have ensured that the curriculum followed by both boys and girls gives students experiences in linguistic, mathematical, scientific, technological, human and social, physical and aesthetic and creative education. Some of these aspects are far more developed than others.  Leaders have ensured that access to technology has improved since the last inspection and they continue to make investments in specialist teaching staff so that the number of subjects offered at GCSE level is increasing.  Students are unable to make sufficient progress in science owing to a few opportunities to develop their scientific skills through practical experiments. This currently prevents the school from meeting its stated aim of successfully delivering the National Curriculum.  Opportunities for students to develop their social, moral, spiritual and cultural awareness are a significant

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The leadership and management require improvement

strength of the school. Students spoke of how the ethos of the school, shaped by its Islamic faith is a ‘continuous reminder of who we are and why we are here’. They learn about other world faiths in religious education and spoke with great enthusiasm of the opportunity they had had to meet and talk with someone from the Jewish faith.  Students understand the importance of British law and demonstrate respect and tolerance for those within and outside their own immediate community. They have been well prepared to challenge any extremist ideologies as staff are active in seeking to educate and safeguard them from risk.  The school meets statutory requirements for safeguarding. Policies and procedures are implemented effectively. Until recently, the proprietor did not ensure that the required checks on the medical fitness of new staff were carried out at the correct time. This does not impact adversely on students’ welfare,

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The leadership and management require improvement

health and safety.  The governance of the school: The proprietor and Board of Trustees are ambitious for the school and have secured the necessary improvements to the premises of both sites. They are assiduous in ensuring that students are safe. Consequently, all of the independent standards relating to welfare, health and safety are met. The proprietor has secured significant investment in the school and acknowledges the necessity of building internal leadership capacity. However, the systems they have in place for checking on improvements do not focus enough on the progress being made by students across subjects. As a result, teaching and achievement have not improved since the last inspection.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of students requires improvement. Students’ attitudes to learning vary too much. Where teaching is good and much is expected of them, they work hard, are keen to contribute and make good progress. However, this is not always the case. Some students regularly fail to complete their work and show little care in how they present it. Too many books seen by inspectors were carelessly kept by students. These had unfinished sentences and scribbling on pages where students had become bored and unfocused on their work.  Students behave with courtesy towards each other and to other adults and visitors. They are invariably welcoming and contribute to the very positive culture and ethos of the school.  Students are generally punctual to class and are prepared with the right equipment for work. However, on the days of the inspection, too many students were late to the start of assembly. As a result of this,

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Behaviour

they missed out on some very important messages about keeping safe online. This lack of punctuality reflects the lack of consistency by staff in applying the behaviour policy.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep students safe and secure is good.  All of the school’s policies in relation to child protection, bullying and first-aid are assiduously applied. Staff receive regular safeguarding training and it is rightly seen as everyone’s responsibility. Students know who the designated senior leaders are for child protection. They express confidence in sharing with these staff any concerns they may have about a friend. All staff have been trained by the local police to recognise if someone is vulnerable to radicalisation. Clear systems are in place for reporting this, and any other safeguarding concerns to the local authority.  Those students who spoke with inspectors stated that differences were accepted at the school and that most disputes were due to ‘fallings out’ rather than any serious bullying. Teachers keep a daily record of minor disagreements so they can check if any student is likely to need additional support.

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Safety

 Students pay frequent visits to places of interest and older students follow the Duke of Edinburgh Award programme. This provides them with varied opportunities to understand different risks and to develop their skills in communicating with others.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Not all of the independent school standards relating to the quality of teaching are met. This has a negative impact on students’ academic development.  Teaching requires improvement because it is too varied in its quality. The same student who makes excellent progress in one subject sometimes makes inadequate progress in another. There are too few minimum expectations in place, both for teachers and for students. As a consequence, teaching has not improved since the last inspection.  All teachers have good subject knowledge which they demonstrate well in lessons through the questions they ask and the explanations they give. However, they are insufficiently experienced in knowing how to bring their subject to life so that it inspires their students and enables them to learn in depth.  The majority of learning in lessons is based around following chapter-by-chapter the work that is laid out in a textbook. For some teachers, this is successful as they are able to supplement it with other up-to-

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

date resources, or the activities they plan enable students to engage in the subject material. In other lessons, workbooks show that students quickly switch off and do the minimum, writing short, basic answers to questions without demonstrating any real understanding.  Few teachers use what they know about students’ prior achievement to plan lessons that meet their needs or ability levels. Books show that students are nearly always given the same work to complete even though their targets may be as much as three GCSE grades apart. This means that many students, particularly the more able, do not make the progress they should and fail to reach the highest grades in some subjects.  Teachers do not mark students’ classwork as a matter of course. Consequently, they do not pick up early enough on whether students have misunderstood the work or found it too easy.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Students join the school in Year 7 working at a level that is broadly in line with the national average. Over the last two years, achievement has improved so that the proportions of students achieving the standard of five good GCSE qualifications, including English and mathematics, is now in line with the national average. This shows they make expected progress over their years in school.  Students’ achievement varies widely across subjects. In some subjects, such as in religious education and Urdu, the vast majority of students attain a C grade or above. However, in others such as in Arabic, very few do so.  Students’ achievement in English and mathematics is broadly what would be expected, given their starting points. However, too few reach the higher grades in these subjects. Students have good opportunities to use and develop their literacy skills in other subjects and through extra-curricular

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

debating activities.  Leaders have prioritised reading and have invested in a well-stocked library at the girls’ site. This is valued and used regularly and reading is an established part of the curriculum in Years 7 and 8. This ensures that the vast majority of students are confident readers by the time they start their GCSEs.  Leaders keep a careful check on the destinations of their students after school. This shows that all students are successful in accessing further education at college and many take on highly academic qualifications. The parents who spoke to inspectors were also very keen to express how well-prepared their girls were for success after their GCSEs.  The progress that students make in Key Stage 3 is unclear. While students are frequently tested, these assessments are not moderated. The information that is gathered is not analysed by leaders to see whether progress is good enough. Work seen by inspectors indicates that teachers have lower

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

expectations of the progress students can make across this key stage. Much of the work seen in some subjects only requires students to demonstrate a basic recall of key facts. As a result, they do not develop a deep enough understanding that will prepare them sufficiently well for GCSE study.

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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 134575 Inspection number 463344 DfE registration number 354/6006 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. Type of school Muslim secondary school School status Independent school Age range of pupils 11–16 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 156 Number of part time pupils 0 Proprietor Ikram Akhtar Chair Shahzad Malik Headteacher Aishah Akhtar Date of previous school inspection 24 February 2014 Annual fees (day pupils) £1,400−£1,700 Telephone number 01706 710184 Fax number Not applicable Email address admin@rochdalegirlsschool.com 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

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School details

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

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