Islamic Tarbiyyah Preparatory School

Islamic Tarbiyah Preparatory School Ambler Street, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD8 8AW

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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 Good

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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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

 Leaders and managers do not plan enough opportunities for pupils to contribute positively to the lives of others which limits pupil’s personal and social development.  Leaders and managers have not ensured that pupils have opportunities to fully develop their social and cultural development.  Leaders and managers have not ensured that all the independent school standards have been met. Therefore, leadership and management require improvement.  Teachers do not ensure that most-able pupils are challenged and therefore working at a depth that they are capable of.  Leaders and managers are not using evaluations of teaching and learning effectively to support improvement and development plans.  Although pupils enjoy coming to school, attendance is not as good as it could be.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leaders and managers have made sure that weaknesses identified at the last inspection have been addressed.  Leaders and managers know their school well.  Teaching is good as teachers act as good role models, particularly in the use of appropriate vocabulary in English and mathematics.  Pupils have excellent attitudes to learning.  Pupils behave well, are respectful and polite.  Children in the early years benefit from extremely valuable interactions with adults, which supports their good progress.  Pupils make good progress, particularly in English and mathematics.  Pupils know how to keep themselves safe in a range of situations.

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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 the quality of leadership and management to ensure that: – pupils have a better understanding of, and more opportunities, to make a positive contribution to the lives of others – pupils have more experiences of life in British society, including that of different religions, cultures and lifestyles, so that they are better prepared for life in modern Britain – there is a more systematic approach to using evaluations of teaching and learning to consistently identify strengths and weaknesses and lead to faster improvement – information gathered on pupil progress and the quality of teaching is used more effectively to identify areas of school development.  Improve the quality of teaching and learning by ensuring that most-able pupils are more consistently challenged, including being moved on more quickly to work that stretches their understanding.

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The school must meet the following independent school standards

 Part 1. Quality of education provided (paragraph 2(2), 2(2)(d)(ii), 2(2)(i)) – The proprietor has not ensured that pupils are well prepared for experiences of life in British society, nor has he encouraged respect for other people, paying particular regard to protected characteristics.  Part 2. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils (paragraph 5, 5(a), 5(b), 5(b)(iii), 5(b)(v), 5(b)(vi)) – The proprietor has not actively promoted mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and encouraged respect, paying particular regard to protected characteristics. The proprietor has not actively encouraged pupils to show initiative and understand how they can contribute positively to the lives of those in the locality and to society more widely.  Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools (paragraph 34(1), 34(1)(a), 34(1)(b)) – The proprietor has not ensured that those responsible for leadership and management

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The school must meet the following independent school standards

have ensured that the independent school standards are met consistently.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 Leaders complete regular observations of learning to support improvement. However, the lack of a systematic approach means these evaluations are not as effective at improving teaching as they could be.  Leaders have a sound knowledge of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. However, the information on the quality of teaching and pupil progress is not analysed in detail to see where improvements can be made.  Pupils do not have the opportunity to contribute positively to, or take part in, society beyond the school and its community. Therefore, they have little opportunity to demonstrate the respect and courtesy that they exhibit in school, in different social situations. The proprietor has therefore not ensured that all the independent school standards are consistently met.  Leaders ensure that lessons engage pupils and that they learn about a whole range of interesting subjects. Although lessons are enhanced by annual trips, activities outside

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

lessons are few as the building is not available at the end of the school day.  Middle leaders are highly competent in their roles. They work tirelessly to improve the quality of teaching and learning through rigorous evaluations and support given to teaching staff. Staff feel very well supported, even though a formal structure of performance management is not fully in place.  Senior leaders have recognised the need to ensure the continued capacity and effectiveness of leadership and management. Consequently, trustees have clear roles and responsibilities to support the school in matters such as finance, building and safeguarding and middle leaders are being trained to take on roles of senior leadership.  Senior leaders have worked well to tackle areas of improvements identified at the last inspection. Money and time have been invested in ensuring that pupils now receive a better-quality, broader curriculum. Subjects other than English and mathematics are now

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

well taught and issues such as more opportunities for practical work in science have been addressed. Leaders have reviewed an appropriate information and communication technology programme and are awaiting the financial resources to secure this area of improvement.  Parents are highly supportive of the school. One hundred percent of parents who responded to the Ofsted online questionnaire would recommend this school to other parents. They consider their children are safe, happy and making good progress. The inspectors would agree with these opinions.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. All suitable checks are made on all adults. A comprehensive induction system ensures that all staff are well prepared and know their roles and responsibilities.  The proprietor ensures that a safeguarding policy that follows all government guidelines is available for parents. Teachers and school leaders work well with parents to ensure that pupils are safe, and information is gathered and taken into account when needed, for example about those pupils who may need inhalers.  The proprietor has gone to great lengths when completing refurbishments to ensure that pupils are safe. He has also adapted entrance and exit routes to maintain the security of perimeter fences.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 Teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve, particularly regarding presentation of work, spelling and grammar. They ensure that high expectations of literacy work can be evidenced in all subjects.  Teachers use good questioning to probe pupils’ understanding, to challenge them and help them learn.  Pupils like their teachers and teachers have good relationships with pupils. Consequently, pupils confidently answer questions and are not afraid to make mistakes.  Teachers and teaching assistants are well deployed and highly effective in helping pupils learn.  Teachers are very good at modelling appropriate technical language to pupils. This helps pupils in the growth of their own vocabulary as they are seen to mirror that used by adults.  Teachers use a range of assessments throughout the year, including those taken after a unit of study has been completed, as well as end-of-year standardised tests. They use

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

these to plan appropriately to meet the needs of pupils.  Some teachers lack confidence in subject knowledge. This means that some lessons are not always as interactive for pupils as they could be.  Some teachers challenge most-able pupils well; for example, a Year 2 pupil observed during the inspection was encouraged to include higher-order punctuation in their descriptive writing. This type of challenge and working at greater depth is not happening enough for the most able pupils. At times, these pupils spend too long completing easy work along with their peers when they could more quickly move onto harder work.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement as pupils do not have enough experience of contributing to and engaging with society beyond their own school and community.  Pupils are keen to learn and have excellent attitudes to learning.  School leaders have ensured, by focusing on issues such as healthy lunches and the importance of physical education, that pupils understand the value of health and well- being.  Although some pupils are quiet around visitors, most are confident and articulate. Year 6 pupils confidently and eloquently wrote to the headteacher and made a presentation to the whole school when senior leaders tried to introduce changes to the contents of packed lunches.  Pupils have great respect for their environment and those people within it. They take care of the equipment well and take great pride in wearing their uniform.  Pupils are well educated on how to keep themselves safe in a range of situations.

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Personal development and welfare

Although they do not have access to the internet in school, teachers help them understand what they should and should not do when they use the internet in other environments. Pupils learn about road and health safety, for example how harmful smoking is to their health. They also have a strong awareness of how to keep themselves safe around the renovation work currently in the school.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. They are polite and courteous and this helps create the calm and friendly environment which has been established in school.  Pupils of all different ages play well together, girls and boys of all ages play games such as football harmoniously together.  Pupils conduct themselves well around the school and are well prepared and ready to learn as soon as lessons begin.  Pupils’ behaviour rarely disrupts learning in lessons.  Pupils enjoy coming to school but rates of attendance are not as good as they could be.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 Pupils’ progress in mathematics and English is good. By the time they leave the school pupils are reaching levels of attainment which are similar to, or higher than, other pupils of the same age nationally. They are well prepared for the next stage of their education.  Teachers’ high expectations in literacy across all subjects mean that pupils are continually improving their skills and raising their attainment in this subject.  In mathematics, pupils make good progress as their needs are well met. Less-able pupils are supported well by additional adults and by a range of resources such as counters and number squares.  Pupils read well and are encouraged to read regularly from a range of genres available. Some classes visit the local library on a weekly basis to develop literacy skills and a love of literature further.  The most able pupils are sometimes challenged well, as observed in a mathematics

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Outcomes for pupils Good

lesson, when they were encouraged to stretch themselves and use multiplication and division as well as addition and subtraction to solve problems. However, this is not seen consistently enough in lessons.  Pupils are making good progress across a range of subjects, such as in science, where pupils talk enthusiastically about how they learned about the human body and reflexes. However, their progress in these subjects is not as strong as that seen in English and mathematics.

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Early years provision Good

 Children enter the Reception class with a range of abilities and generally with little or no pre-school experience. By the time they leave they have made at least good and often outstanding progress across all areas of learning, so that they reach levels that are typical of or higher than children of their age.  Children are very well prepared to start Year 1 as they are enthusiastic and willing learners who have reached good levels of attainment and have good social skills.  Adults have high expectations of both pupils’ behaviour and academic outcomes. Children rise to these high expectations, as seen by their correct letter formation, good letter sound knowledge and use of correct terminology such as transparent, translucent and opaque.  Adults are well deployed to support learning throughout the day. Their interactions with children are extremely valuable. They model complex vocabulary, as well as taking every

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Early years provision Good

opportunity to link learning to children’s interests and expand their knowledge.  Leaders of the early years have a clear idea of the strengths and areas for improvement in this key stage. They have worked with other providers to copy and model good practice to ensure that improvement is continuous. Leaders hold regular supervision meetings with teachers to challenge and support them.  Leaders have ensured that the welfare requirements of the early years have been met. However, not all the independent school standards have been met.  Children behave extremely well at all times. They share the equipment well and follow safety rules, for example when using scissors and the climbing apparatus.  Although space is limited, the indoor environment allows pupils access to all areas of learning. However, the outdoor space is more limited; this, combined with its shared use with older pupils during the day and the madrasa in the evenings, means that children do

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Early years provision Good

not learn as well as they could. Leaders have an action plan in place to deal with this issue.

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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

Type of school Independent Muslim preparatory school

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School details

Date of previous inspection 14–16 May 2014

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Information about this school

 The Islamic Tarbiyah Preparatory School opened in 2001. It is registered to accept up to 179 Muslim boys and girls aged between four and 11 years old. There are currently 174 pupils on roll. The school also accepts pupils who are not of the Muslim faith.  No pupils currently on roll have a disability, a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan.  The school has two sites, which are within very close proximity of each other.  The Islamic Tarbiyah Preparatory School was last inspected in May 2014, when it was judged to require improvement.  The school no longer has a board of governors. A board of trustees has been established since the last inspection to support the proprietor by taking some responsibility for areas such as building works, finance and safeguarding.  The school aims to provide ‘children with an excellent standard of education that will see them through this world, and more importantly, the hereafter’ and ‘to reinforce and

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Information about this school

incorporate Islamic etiquettes and values throughout the school day’.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection was carried out over two and a half days by one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors and an Ofsted Inspector.  The inspectors held meetings with the proprietor and two school managers. The inspectors also spoke to a number of teaching staff.  Pupils’ learning and behaviour was observed throughout the day inside and outside.  The inspectors listened to several pupils read and spoke to a number of pupils about their work and their well-being. The work in pupils’ books in a range of year groups and a range of subjects was considered.  Twenty-six responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, were received and these opinions were taken into account.  The inspectors toured both buildings inside and outside to ensure that the relevant independent school standards were met and that pupils’ welfare is taken into account.  The inspectors examined school documentation, including a range of policies required as

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Information about this inspection

part of the independent school standards. Documents relating to safeguarding, behaviour and welfare, as well as health and safety documents, were also studied.

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Inspection team

Jo Sharpe, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Phil Scott Ofsted 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

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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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