Andalusia Academy Bristol

Andalusia Academy Bristol Old School Building, St Matthias Park, St Philips Bristol BS2 0BA

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement Personal development, behaviour and welfare Inadequate Outcomes for pupils Require improvement Early years provision Inadequate Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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This is an inadequate school

 The school’s arrangements to safeguard pupils are not robust. As a result, pupils are not safe and are exposed to unnecessary risks.  School leaders have not been vigilant enough in ensuring that the school’s arrangements to safeguard pupils meet statutory requirements and are followed rigorously and consistently.  Governance is weak. The school’s trustees have failed in their duty to ensure that the school meets the independent school standards, including those that relate to pupils’ safety.  Leaders’ and trustees’ understanding of the independent school standards is poor. As a result, there are a number of unmet independent school standards that have a negative impact on pupils’ safety and welfare.  As a result of shortcomings in safeguarding procedures, the school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is inadequate.  The school does not meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage statutory framework

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This is an inadequate school

with respect to promoting children’s safety and welfare.  School leaders have a limited understanding of how much progress pupils are making, particularly in the secondary phase. This means they cannot be sure that pupils are achieving as well as they can or precisely where teaching needs to improve to prevent pupils from falling behind.  The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is too variable across the school. As a result, pupils do not make consistently good progress across year groups and different subjects. In particular, boys’ progress in the school’s secondary phase is not good enough.  Boys in the secondary phase do not display positive attitudes to their learning or take sufficient pride in their work. This slows their progress.

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The school has the following strengths

 The school works effectively to create a positive British Muslim identity among its pupils. In so doing, it successfully promotes fundamental British values.  In the early years, a higher proportion of children reach a good level of development than the national average.  At the end of key stage 2, current pupils’ attainment in the national curriculum tests was above the national average in reading and in grammar, punctuation and spelling.  Girls’ progress in the secondary phase of the school is good.

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

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

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Leaders and trustees must act urgently to make certain that pupils are safe by: ensuring the school’s admissions register records accurately the details of the pupils on roll taking effective steps to ascertain the whereabouts of pupils who cease to attend the school fulfilling their statutory responsibility to inform the appropriate authorities when a pupil leaves the school without explanation developing a better understanding of their roles and responsibilities in keeping children safe exercising greater vigilance over any proposed or actual absences from school which might potentially put pupils at risk of abuse undertaking thorough risk assessments of activities that pupils participate in to identify any potential hazards and to minimise the risks to pupils’ welfare and health.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management, including governance, by ensuring that: leaders and trustees have a thorough understanding of the independent school standards and associated statutory requirements and that the school meets them in full the school’s systems for tracking pupils’ progress are robust to provide accurate and useful information for leaders and trustees to act on.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment to more effectively and consistently promote pupils’ making good progress across all year groups, especially for boys in the secondary phase.  Improve outcomes for boys in the secondary phase by ensuring that they develop more positive attitudes to learning and that their behaviour improves.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 The school must meet the following independent school standards. Ensure that arrangements are made to safeguard and promote the welfare of pupils at the school; and that such arrangements have regard to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State (paragraphs 7, 7(a), 7(b)). Ensure that bullying at the school is prevented in so far as reasonably practicable, by the drawing up and implementation of an effective anti-bullying strategy (paragraph 10). Ensure that relevant health and safety laws are complied with by the drawing up and effective implementation of a written health and safety policy (paragraph 11). Ensure compliance with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (paragraph 12). Ensure that an admission and attendance register is maintained in accordance with the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 (paragraph 15). Ensure that the welfare of pupils at the school is safeguarded and promoted by the drawing up and

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

effective implementation of a written risk assessment policy; and that appropriate action is taken to reduce risks that are identified (paragraph 16, 16(a), 16(b)). Ensure that suitable changing accommodation and showers are provided for pupils aged 11 years or over at the start of the school year who receive physical education (paragraph 23(1), 23(1)(c)). Ensure that the school premises and the accommodation and facilities provided therein are maintained to a standard such that, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of pupils are ensured (paragraph 25). Ensure that suitable drinking water facilities are provided; toilets and urinals have an adequate supply of cold water and washing facilities have an adequate supply of hot and cold water; cold water supplies that are suitable for drinking are clearly marked as such; and the temperature of hot water at the point of use does not pose a scalding risk to users (paragraph 28(1), 28(1)(a), 28(1)(b), 28(1)(c),

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

28(1)(d)). Ensure that suitable outdoor space is provided in order to enable pupils to play outside (paragraph 29(1), 29(1)(b)). Ensure that persons with leadership and management responsibilities at the school demonstrate good skills and knowledge appropriate to their role so that the independent school standards are met consistently; fulfil their responsibilities effectively so that the independent school standards are met consistently; and actively promote the well-being of pupils (paragraph 34(1), 34(1)(a), 34(1)(b), 34(1)(c)).

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

 The trustees of the school have not ensured that the school’s leaders have the appropriate level of knowledge and understanding of the independent school standards in order to make certain that they are consistently met. Some of the unmet independent standards have a serious negative impact on the welfare, safety and personal development of the pupils. As a consequence, leadership and management of the school are inadequate.  The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective. The school’s safeguarding processes are not robust enough to keep children safe. Leaders’ and trustees’ understanding of their statutory responsibilities with regard to pupils’ safety is not thorough enough.  The school’s admissions register is not accurate. It includes the details of children who have never attended the school. In addition, it includes the details of pupils who have not attended the school for some time, in one case for over 12 months. The school has failed to ascertain why these pupils are not

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

attending or where they are. Of particular concern is that school leaders have failed to carry out their statutory duty to inform the appropriate authorities of this situation. These shortcomings expose children to significant risks and as a result they are not safe.  The school has not been vigilant over time in ensuring that it rigorously follows up absences or requests for prolonged holidays that might potentially put pupils at risk from, for example, female genital mutilation. School leaders have begun to take their responsibilities in this area more seriously but their understanding of their duties is still not as strong as it needs to be.  The school uses a local park for the boys in the secondary phase to play in at break and lunchtime. They play in an area where litter includes discarded drug paraphernalia and where members of the public can be seen drinking alcohol as the boys play around them. Although the boys are supervised by members of

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

staff, this is not a suitable environment for them to play in and exposes them to unnecessary risk.  The school’s risk assessments of activities that pupils undertake are not fit for purpose. They fail to identify potential hazards accurately and thoroughly enough to enable steps to be taken to reduce potential risks to pupils. This means that pupils are not safe.  Despite repeated requests from inspectors, the school could not produce records to show that they fully complied with the requirements of the fire regulations. Other aspects of the school’s practice with regard to health and safety are also inadequate. For example, the school had been informed by external consultants in October 2015 that a window needed to be fitted with a restrictor to reduce the risk of a pupil falling out; this has still not been done. This is symptomatic of a lack of urgency with regard to safeguarding.  Leaders and trustees are aware that there are significant aspects of the school’s policies, procedures and

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

practices that need to be overhauled. Leadership capacity is limited, however, and is currently dependent on high levels of external support. Half of the parents who responded to Ofsted’s online survey of parental opinion, Parent View, disagree that the school is well led and managed.  Despite being an all-through school, there are separate headteachers of primary and secondary. This means that there is no one in a senior leadership role with a clear, accurate and comprehensive understanding of the quality of education provided across the whole school from Reception to Year 11. The school recognises this shortcoming and is attempting to address it by appointing assistant headteachers for curriculum and for pastoral care who will operate across the full age range.  The school’s systems for tracking pupils’ academic progress are of varying quality. In the secondary phase, in particular, the system produces contradictory and confusing information on the progress that

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

pupils make. As a result, leaders and trustees do not have a clear understanding of academic performance in this phase of the school.  The school has recently restructured its middle leadership into faculty areas. Middle leaders speak positively of the way the new system is working but it is too early for it to have had any significant impact.  The school provides a broad and balanced curriculum for its pupils. The delivery of personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education contributes effectively to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. This area of the curriculum is well led and leaders speak articulately about their aim to create a positive British Muslim identity for the pupils. This positive identity was evident in conversations with pupils, especially girls, including those about to leave from Year 11. The school successfully combines this approach with the promotion of fundamental British values. As a result, pupils are well

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

prepared for life in modern Britain.  Provision for the small number of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is well led by the special educational needs coordinator and this results in these pupils making progress from their starting points that is broadly in line with other pupils in the school and sometimes better.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

 The governance of the school Governance is weak. Trustees do not have a thorough understanding of the independent school standards. This has resulted in the school failing to meet a number of standards that have a detrimental impact on pupils’ safety, welfare and personal development. Trustees have failed to effectively discharge their statutory duty to ensure that pupils are safe. Trustees have an incomplete understanding of the progress that pupils make. As a result, they cannot provide the necessary level of support and challenge to the school’s leadership with regard to academic standards in the school. Trustees’ regular involvement in the day-to-day life of the school results in a blurring of the line between their strategic oversight and involvement in operational matters. This means that they are not well placed to carry out their role of holding school leaders accountable for the effective running of

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

 The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inconsistent across the school and as a consequence it requires improvement. In particular, the impact of teaching over time on the progress that pupils make is too variable. School leaders recognise that the quality of teaching varies across the age range and between the school’s two sites. For example, in secondary English for girls, well-planned activities allow pupils, including the most able, to push themselves and to make good progress; teaching of English to boys, however, is not securing the same rates of progress. Leaders have begun to address this issue by planning for girls’ and boys’ classes to have the same teachers in the secondary phase. It is not clear, however, how this will necessarily improve the quality of teaching overall.  The strength of teachers’ subject knowledge is inconsistent. Where it is typically strong, teaching has a

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

positive impact on pupils’ work and attitudes and they make better progress as a result. This was clear in Years 5 and 6, for example, and in secondary science. Where subject knowledge is less secure, it is a barrier to pupils making the progress that they should. Weaker teaching also has a detrimental impact on the pupils’ attitudes to learning, especially that of boys.  Where teachers’ questioning is used effectively to assess, probe and develop understanding, as it is in secondary science, pupils make faster progress as a result. At other times questioning is not sharp enough to develop pupils’ knowledge, understanding and skills.  Teachers’ planning does not take enough account of pupils’ starting points. As a result, the work that pupils are set does not match their needs closely enough. In particular, there is often insufficient challenge for the most able pupils. This slows down the progress they make, for example in primary

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

mathematics. In addition, by not taking pupils’ starting points fully into account, teaching does not make effective use of lesson time as some pupils are doing work that they can already do rather than moving on to the next challenge.  Teachers’ expectations of pupils and what they can achieve are uneven. Where they are high, for example in secondary history, pupils rise to the challenge and make good progress. In other subjects, expectations and standards are not high enough and this is evident, for example, in the poor condition of pupils’ exercise books.  Some teaching does not effectively establish a positive learning environment and as a consequence pupils lose focus. This is particularly the case with boys in the secondary phase when presented with uninspiring teaching.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is inadequate.  Due to shortcomings in the school’s safeguarding arrangements and its risk assessments, pupils are not safe. This means that the school is not adequately promoting the welfare of its pupils.  Pupils do not consistently display an understanding of how to be a successful learner. This is particularly the case with boys in key stage 3, who often display a lack of engagement with their work or pride in it. This was evident both in their approach to lessons and in the work in their exercise books.  Pupils state that bullying does sometimes occur and that the school does try to tackle it. Nonetheless, the school’s anti-bullying strategy is not effectively implemented. Over one quarter of parents who responded to Parent View do not believe that the school deals effectively with bullying.  The school’s programme to promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development contributes

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Personal development and welfare

strongly to pupils’ personal development. Events such as charitable fund-raising and debating prepare them well to be good and active citizens.  Pupils have a developed understanding of how to stay safe online, including a secure knowledge of what information should and should not be shared on the internet.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.  Pupils’ attendance in the primary phase of the school is broadly at national level. In the secondary phase, however, attendance is lower, with girls having lower attendance rates than boys.  The school has a problem with punctuality which it has yet to tackle effectively. It is not clear that school leaders were aware of the scale of the problem prior to the inspection. On a daily basis, 10% or more of pupils are late to school. As the school has no tutor time at the start of the day, this means that pupils are regularly missing lesson time as a result.  The number of fixed-term exclusions is high, particularly among boys in key stage 3. The school does not analyse its own data on exclusions effectively enough to enable leaders to discern patterns that might enable them to reduce the numbers of exclusions. For example, a significant number of the exclusions are

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Behaviour

for fighting or hitting but there is no sense that the school has a strategy in place to address this.  Pupils in the primary phase and girls in the secondary phase show good conduct and self-discipline in lessons. This helps them to make progress. They want to learn and behave accordingly. Boys’ behaviour in the secondary phase, however, was not as positive and some off-task behaviour was evident.  Pupils’ conduct around the school is good and they generally show politeness to each other and to adults as they go about their daily lives.  Pupils wear their uniform smartly.

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

 Pupils’ achievement across all year groups and subjects is inconsistent. Some pupils do not make the progress that they should.  Extensive scrutiny of work in pupils’ books and observations of learning indicate that rates of progress across the school are too variable. The school’s own academic tracking systems are unhelpful to teachers and school leaders in tackling this because the apparent fluctuations recorded give contradictory and confusing messages about the rates of pupils’ progress. This is a significant barrier to school leaders in identifying areas of underperformance and successfully addressing them.  In particular, the progress of boys in key stage 3 is too slow. The work in their books indicates that in a number of subjects teaching is not having sufficient impact on their knowledge, understanding and skills for them to make rapid progress. This is compounded by poor attitudes to learning. As a result, they are

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

not well prepared for the next stage of their education.  In contrast to boys in the secondary phase, girls make better progress in their studies as a result of higher-quality teaching and more positive attitudes to learning. The proportion of pupils achieving five good passes at GCSE has historically been higher than average, although it must be borne in mind that past cohorts consisted only of girls and the vast majority began their secondary phase with relatively high starting points.  The girls who leave the school after Year 11 are well prepared for the next stage of their education and many go on to study academically demanding post-16 courses at colleges or school sixth forms.  Pupils’ progress is variable in the primary years. In the 2016 key stage 2 national curriculum assessments, a higher proportion of pupils achieved the expected standard in reading and in grammar, punctuation and spelling than the national average. In mathematics, the proportion achieving the expected standard was

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

below the national average. At key stage 1, a similar pattern emerged, with the proportion meeting the expected standard in mathematics being lower than in reading, writing and grammar, punctuation and spelling. The school has identified the need to improve pupils’ literacy in mathematics to enable them to tackle problem solving more effectively. Work scrutiny and observations of learning indicate that teaching is having a more positive impact on primary pupils’ achievement in Years 5 and 6 than in other years.  In the early years, the proportion of children achieving a good level of development is higher than the national average and has been on an upward trend for the last few years, especially for boys.  Due in part to the effective work of the special educational needs coordinator, pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities make progress at similar rates to their peers within the school and

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Early years provision is inadequate

 The same failings in safeguarding procedures and practices that are evident in the main school are also evident in the early years. As a result, provision for the early years is inadequate. Moreover, a number of independent school standards which have a serious impact on children’s welfare, health and safety and personal development are not met. As a consequence, the school does not meet the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the statutory framework of the early years foundation stage.  Trustees and school leaders have not ensured that the safeguarding in the early years is effective or that the independent school standards are met. As a consequence, leadership and management of the early years are inadequate. In addition, the school’s development plan in relation to the early years lacks a long-term vision for improving the quality of education or measurable success criteria, indicating weak

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Early years provision is inadequate

leadership and governance.  Outcomes in the early years are improving and the proportion of children who achieve a good level of development has been improving over recent years. Nearly three quarters of children now reach this benchmark, which is above the average figure nationally. In particular, boys’ performance has improved markedly, with the proportion of them achieving a good level of development in 2016 being nearly double that attained in 2015.  Teaching, learning and assessment are effective in the early years and promote progress well. This progress is supported by efficient and accurate recording of children’s progress using up-to-date technology. Teachers’ assessments of children against the early years foundation stage profile are accurate. They are moderated internally and externally to ensure that they are robust. In addition, teachers make effective early assessments of children’s ability when they enter the Reception class,

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Early years provision is inadequate

including aspects such as pencil grip.  Children who speak English as an additional language are well supported to make speedy progress in acquiring basic English language skills.  Children are keen to learn. This was seen, for example, in an exercise based on the story The Hungry Caterpillar where children enthusiastically looked for caterpillars and eggs under leaves in the outdoor area. Children know how to take turns and to listen carefully to each other. They also demonstrate the ability to work together socially or independently. Children can use their imagination well and can adapt stories that they tell or act out.  The indoor and outdoor spaces provide a wide range of activities and opportunities for children to learn and to explore their environment.  Overall, the early years at Andalusia Academy prepare children well to start Year 1.

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School details

Unique reference number 130391 Inspection number 10020731 DfE registration number 801/6130 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 Other independent school School status Independent school Age range of pupils 4–16 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 307 Number of part-time pupils 0 Proprietor Bristol Islamic Schools Trust Chair Ghassan Nounu Headteachers Taha Hassan (secondary), Anilla Khan (primary) Annual fees (day pupils) £2,750–£3,350 Telephone number 0117 929 1661 Website www.andalusiaacademy.org.uk Email address admin2aab@bist.org.uk Date of previous inspection 2–4 October 2013

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Information about this school

 Andalusia Academy Bristol is an independent Muslim faith school operated by the Bristol Islamic Schools Trust, which is the proprietor. It began operating in 2005.  Of the pupils on roll, about two thirds are girls and one third boys. Pupils are mainly from Pakistani or Somali heritages. A large number speak English as an additional language when they enter the school.  Pupils are educated in mixed classes from Reception Year up to Year 6. After that girls and boys are educated separately. There are girls’ classes in Years 7 to 11 but there are boys’ classes in Years 7 to 9 so far, continuing into Year 10 next year.  No pupils have a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan.  The school does not use alternative provision.  The school had its last standard inspection on 2–4 October 2013.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed lessons across all year groups. Some of these observations were undertaken jointly with members of the school’s senior leadership team. During observations in lessons and at other times inspectors scrutinised pupils’ work.  Inspectors had discussions with the headteacher of the secondary phase, the acting headteacher of the primary phase, middle leaders and other members of staff. The inspectors also met regularly with the chair of trustees and also with other trustees.  Inspectors had formal discussions with pupils. They also talked informally to pupils at other times.  A wide range of documentary evidence was scrutinised, including the school’s policies. Documents relating to safeguarding and child protection were examined, as were the school’s records of the checks it makes on teachers’ backgrounds to ensure they are suitable to work with children.  In making their judgements inspectors took into account 26 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online

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Information about this inspection

parental questionnaire. There were no responses to the staff questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Stephen Lee, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Steffi Penny Her Majesty’s Inspector 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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Inspection team

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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Inspection team

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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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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