Al-Ihsaan Community College

Al-Ihsaan Community College 1 Kamloops Crescent, Leicester LE1 2HX

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Satisfactory

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that requires improvement

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The proprietor has not ensured that the school meets all of the independent school standards.  The quality of teaching is not good enough across the school to ensure that pupils make consistently strong progress, both academically and in their personal development.  Pupils, including the most able, do not make as much progress as they should in a range of subjects.  Pupils in Year 8 do not receive impartial careers guidance.  Until recently, leaders’ checks on the progress pupils make have not been sharp enough.  The training that teachers receive has not focused well enough on developing their classroom practice.  Teachers do not ensure that pupils are secure in their learning across the whole curriculum.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The headteacher has a precise understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. He has been quick to take effective action to raise teachers’ expectations of their pupils.  Pupils’ attendance is in line with national levels.  Pupils’ behaviour is good. Pupils have strong relationships with each other and their teachers.  Extra-curricular activities allow pupils to enhance their learning beyond the classroom, to meet people from the local community and to learn about other faiths and cultures.  Pupils have a secure understanding of how to keep themselves safe and how to raise any welfare concerns that they may have.  All staff are vigilant about pupils’ welfare. Staff take immediate action to support pupils when they have a concern about their well-being.  Pupils have a secure understanding of the need to respect all people, including those from different cultures, or those who have different values, beliefs or opinions.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Pupils attain well and make good progress in their Arabic studies.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 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?

 Improve leadership and management by ensuring that: – leaders check that all teachers plan effective learning activities which enable pupils to make consistently strong progress across all areas of the curriculum – pupils in Year 8 receive the impartial careers guidance to which they are entitled – the school works with other local schools to learn from their best practice, and to provide governors with external evaluations of the quality of the school’s provision – leaders embed the changes that they have made to the systems by which they check on pupils’ achievement, manage teachers’ performance and provide effective training.  Improve the quality of teaching, to ensure that all pupils make good progress, both academically and in their personal development, by ensuring that all teachers: – take into account pupils’ prior attainment and prior learning when planning learning activities – have higher expectations of the quantity and quality of the work that all pupils,

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

including the most able, can complete – provide suitably challenging work that enables all pupils, including the most able, to make consistently strong progress.

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The school must meet the following independent school standards

 For pupils receiving secondary education, there is access to accurate, up-to-date careers guidance that is presented in an impartial manner (paragraphs 2(1), 2(2), (2)(2)(e) and 2(2)(e)(i)).  The proprietor ensures that teaching at the school: – enables pupils 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 (paragraph 3, 3(a)) – involves well-planned lessons and effective teaching methods, activities and management of class time (paragraph 3, 3(c)) – shows a good understanding of the aptitudes, needs and prior attainments of the pupils, and ensures that these are taken into account in the planning of lessons (paragraph 3, 3(d)) – demonstrates that a framework is in place to assess pupils’ work regularly and thoroughly and use information from that assessment to plan teaching so that pupils

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The school must meet the following independent school standards

can progress (paragraph 3, 3(g)).  The proprietor ensures 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, and that they fulfil their responsibilities effectively so that the independent school standards are met consistently (paragraphs 34(1), 34(1)(a) and 34(1)(b)).

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 The proprietor has not ensured that the school meets all of the independent school standards.  The school does not meet the standards that relate to the quality of education that pupils receive. Senior leaders have not ensured that the quality of teaching is consistently good across the school. Due to this, pupils, including the most able, do not make as much progress as they should, both academically and in their personal development.  The school does not meet the standard that relates to the provision of impartial careers guidance. Year 8 pupils do not currently receive such guidance.  The broad curriculum provides pupils with opportunities to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding across a wide range of subjects. However, in their planning, not all teachers set sufficiently challenging activities to allow pupils to make consistently strong progress in all subjects.  The school currently does not work with other schools. This means that the opportunities

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

that leaders and teachers have to learn from the practice of others are limited. There are also few occasions when leaders and governors can benefit from external evaluations of the quality of the school’s provision.  Until recently, leaders’ checks on the progress pupils make have not been sharp enough. The headteacher has taken appropriate steps to ensure that senior leaders and governors now have a more precise understanding of pupils’ achievement.  Since the last inspection, the proprietor and senior leaders have taken effective action to resolve the inspector’s concerns regarding safeguarding, pupils’ access to outside spaces, and the quality of pupils’ personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education.  The school now meets all of the standards relating to pupils’ welfare, health and safety. The school leaders have created a culture where pupils feel safe and can raise any concerns that they may have about their own, or others’, welfare.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 The headteacher has acted quickly to raise teachers’ expectations in relation to the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement. He has ensured that teachers understand the need to provide all pupils with challenging work that allows them to make good progress.  The headteacher has undertaken a thorough review of the quality of teaching at the school. He has a precise understanding of where classroom practice is not strong enough. Where this is the case, he has ensured that teachers receive appropriate support.  The headteacher has ensured that teachers now receive appropriate training to improve their classroom practice. Teachers now work together to share best practice and to learn from each other, something that has been lacking in the past. They are appreciative of such opportunities.  The process for managing teachers’ performance now links more closely to the quality of teaching. Teachers’ targets link to the quality of their classroom practice and to pupils’

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

achievement. Teachers understand the link between developing their own classroom practice and securing greater progress in pupils’ learning.  Pupils take advantage of a range of extra-curricular activities to broaden their knowledge, skills and understanding beyond the classroom. Pupils take part in inter-school sporting activities and engage in local community projects, including providing food parcels for a local homeless charity.  Extra-curricular activities also provide pupils with effective opportunities to become secure in their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Visits to Leicester Cathedral, a local synagogue and a local museum have allowed pupils to develop their understanding of different faiths and cultures. This prepares them well for life in modern Britain.  Visits from external speakers further enhance pupils’ opportunities to find out about other cultures and belief systems, including those that exist in the school’s local area. Pupils

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

have received visits from police officers and representatives of a local church. These opportunities broaden pupils’ opportunities to mix with people from outside the school.  Pupils have a secure understanding of fundamental British values. They understand their rights, including the right to vote. They know the difference between right and wrong. Teachers have ensured that the pupils have a secure understanding of how to be effective citizens.

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Governance

 The proprietor and the members of the governing body are ambitious for the school and its pupils. They know the improvements that are necessary to ensure that pupils make good progress, both academically and in their personal development.  Since the last inspection, the governors have undertaken a thorough evaluation of the quality of the school’s provision. They know the school’s strengths and weaknesses well.  In appointing the new headteacher, governors have ensured that he has the time and resources to lead the necessary improvements to the school’s provision.  Governors meet regularly with the headteacher to maintain an up-to-date oversight of the impact of his drive to improve the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement.  Governors fully understand their responsibilities to keep pupils safe. They have undertaken safeguarding training with the school’s staff.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  The school’s safeguarding policy reflects the latest government guidance. It is available on the school’s website.  Safeguarding leaders are sensitive to the welfare needs of their pupils. They are aware of issues in the local area, and in their pupils’ cultures, that may affect pupils’ well-being.  Safeguarding leaders take effective action to ensure that pupils about whose welfare they have a concern receive the support that they need. In so doing, safeguarding leaders work closely with parents and external agencies.  The headteacher attends safeguarding meetings organised by the local authority. These enable him to keep up to date on current local safeguarding issues, including child sexual exploitation, extremism and crime.  All staff receive regular safeguarding training. They understand their responsibility to keep pupils safe and are vigilant of their pupils’ welfare. They know what they must do when

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Safeguarding

they have a concern about a pupil’s well-being.  Pupils have a secure understanding of safeguarding issues that may affect them, including female genital mutilation, forced marriage and extremism. Pupils know the routes that they should take to raise any concerns that they may have, including national helplines that they can contact.  Leaders recognise how absence from school may be an indicator of a safeguarding concern. To this end, safeguarding leaders closely monitor pupils’ attendance. They inform the local authority of the concerns that they have about any pupil’s attendance.  Those pupils with whom the inspector met said that they feel safe at the school. They said they are able to approach any member of staff at the school if they have a concern. They are confident the staff will listen to them, and will help them to resolve their concern.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 The quality of teaching is not consistently good across the whole school. As a result, pupils do not make as much progress as they could across a range of subjects.  When planning lessons, not all teachers use information about pupils’ prior learning and attainment well enough. On these occasions, pupils receive work that is either too easy or too difficult. Such work does not enable pupils to make as much progress as they could.  Some teachers do not have high enough expectations of their pupils, particularly of the most able. Where this is the case, they do not set pupils work that challenges them, and that enables them to become fully secure in their knowledge, skills and understanding.  Teachers encourage pupils to read. However, they do not check that pupils read books that are suitably challenging.  Teachers have secure subject knowledge. They do not always use this knowledge effectively to ensure that pupils make consistently strong progress.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 Where learning is most effective, teachers plan challenging activities that engage pupils in their learning, and enable them to make strong progress.  In so doing, teachers ask targeted questions to explore pupils’ learning. These questions enable pupils to become secure in their understanding.  Where such questions highlight weaknesses in pupils’ understanding, teachers provide further support. In mathematics, for example, a teacher identified that pupils did not fully understand how to expand algebraic expressions. She provided close support to enable the pupils to practise this skill successfully.  The strong relationships between pupils and their teachers ensure that pupils behave well, even when the work that they receive lacks sufficient challenge.  Teachers regularly provide pupils with opportunities to explore their spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding through their subject studies. Pupils in a combined Year 9 and

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

10 English class considered the observations on social class contained within the play ‘An Inspector Calls’, relating these observations to current British society. In mathematics, pupils considered how they may encounter negative numbers in their own lives, including in their own finances. Pupils engaged enthusiastically in both discussions.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.  Pupils receive wide-ranging opportunities to consider their next steps for when they leave school. Such opportunities include visiting local colleges, attending national employment information events and undertaking work experience. Pupils in Year 9 and above receive impartial careers guidance. However, such guidance is not available to pupils in Year 8. Therefore, pupils cannot plan appropriately for their next steps in education.  Pupils have positive attitudes to their learning. They are keen to do well, and have appropriately ambitious career plans. However, pupils do not receive sufficient opportunities to achieve as highly as they can and to make the progress that they should.  Pupils know how to stay safe, including when out in the local community and when online. They understand the actions that they must take if they are the victim of sexting.

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Personal development and welfare

 Pupils understand how having a balanced diet and taking exercise helps them to live healthy lives. Pupils know the different risks to their health, including alcohol and drugs.  Pupils know the school’s local area well. They undertake community-based projects which allow them to engage with the school’s neighbourhood. Year 11 pupils, for example, are involved in a project to raise money to finance a minibus that will serve local people who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.  Pupils understand the need to respect people who are different to them, including those whose differences meet the protected characteristics of the 2010 Equality Act. As one pupil said, in discussing the need to accept people’s differences, ‘It’s 2017. It’s normal.’  Pupils recognise people’s right to hold different beliefs, values and opinions. Pupils understand that they should respect differences in opinion. However, they are also aware

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Personal development and welfare

of the need to be vigilant of those who hold prejudiced or discriminatory points of view.  Pupils understand the different forms of bullying, including physical, relational, racial and homophobic bullying. Pupils say that bullying is very rare at the school and that, when it does occur, staff deal with it quickly and effectively. All staff and parents who expressed a view agreed that bullying is rare. The school records confirm this to be the case.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Pupils conduct themselves well around the school site, between lessons and during social times. The strong relationships that pupils have with each other and with their teachers ensure that all pupils behave well.  Pupils’ behaviour in lessons is good. They show respect to each other, including when listening to other pupils’ opinions.  Pupils’ attendance is in line with national levels. Very few pupils are absent regularly from school. This is due to leaders’ close monitoring of pupils’ attendance, including contacting home when pupils are absent.  Incidents of behaviour that result in pupils receiving an exclusion from the school are very rare. This is because pupils understand and abide by the school’s clear behaviour policy.  The headteacher has taken effective action to reduce significantly the proportion of pupils who are late to school. Pupils are now punctual to school.

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 While many pupils attain well, given their age and stage of education, not all pupils, including the most able, make consistently strong progress across a range of subjects. This is because pupils do not always receive work that is sufficiently challenging.  The majority of Year 11 pupils in 2017 attained well in GCSE mathematics, English language, English literature and science. In so doing, however, some pupils, including the most able, did not make as much progress as they could have done.  Year 11 pupils in 2017 did not attain as highly in GCSE history and citizenship as they did in English language and English literature.  The books the inspector looked at indicated that current pupils, including the most able, across all year groups make varying levels of progress in a range of subjects, including in computing and history.  In all year groups, pupils make stronger progress in mathematics and English. This is

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

because teachers of these subjects provide pupils with work that is more challenging, and offer pupils more regular opportunities to consider topics in greater depth.  Given their different ages and stages of education, current pupils in Years 8, 9 and 10 attain more highly in science than pupils in Year 11, whose attainment is inconsistent.  Nearly all Year 11 pupils in 2017 attained well in GCSE Arabic, making good progress.  The proportion of pupils who successfully progress to further education courses at college at the end of Year 11 is very high. Almost all Year 11 pupils who left the school in 2017 continued with their education at local colleges.

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School details

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

Date of previous inspection 15–18 June 2015

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Information about this school

 Al-Ihsaan Community College is an independent Muslim day school for boys and girls aged from 11 to 16 years old. To date, it has not had any male pupils on roll.  There are no pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.  Most, but not all, pupils are of Somali heritage.  The proportion of pupils who are at an early stage of learning English as an additional language is well above average.  The school offers the national curriculum for key stages 3 and 4, alongside Islamic studies.  The school does not make use of alternative provision.  The headteacher started at the school in September 2017.  The proprietor took over ownership of the school in September 2017. The Department for Education is aware of this change in proprietor.  The school’s last standard inspection was 15 to 18 June 2015. The Bridge Schools Inspectorate undertook this inspection. This inspection inspected the school’s compliance

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Information about this school

in meeting the independent school standards, and the school’s suitability for registration as an independent school.  Previous to this, Ofsted undertook a standard inspection on 20 June 2012. The outcome of the inspection was that the quality of the school’s education was satisfactory.  Progress monitoring inspections of the school took place on 14 June 2016 and 21 February 2017.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed learning in 11 lessons. During this time, he spoke with pupils and looked at pupils’ books.  The inspector also looked at pupils’ books as a separate activity.  The inspector held meetings with: the headteacher; the proprietor; a governor; the personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education leader; the careers advice and guidance leader; the school’s administration support colleague; and a selection of staff.  The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour between lessons, at breaktime and at lunchtime.  The inspector met formally with all the pupils who were present at the school during the first full day of the inspection. In so doing, he met with 29 pupils in total.  The inspector spoke with a representative of the local authority’s education welfare service and a representative of the local authority who is responsible for delivering safeguarding training.  The inspector took into account the 11 responses to the staff survey and the 38

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Information about this inspection

responses to the school’s latest pupil point-in-time survey. Pupil point-in-time surveys are annual surveys that Ofsted conducts of the views of pupils at non-association independent schools.  The inspector took into account the 10 responses to the online survey, Parent View, and the one response to the free-text service.  The inspector took into account the school’s self-evaluation and improvement plan. He also reviewed a range of documentation relating to behaviour and attendance, achievement, complaints against the school, accessibility, and safeguarding.  The inspector checked the school’s single central register and the school’s system for recruiting staff.

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Inspection team

Simon Hollingsworth, lead inspector 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

Parent View 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

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, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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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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