Darul Hadis Latifiah

Darul Hadis Latifiah 1 Cornwall Avenue, London E2 0HW

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Inadequate

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Inadequate

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The proprietor and senior leaders have not ensured that the independent school standards have been met in full.  Leaders have not established a culture where the school’s systems and processes to identify, help and manage child protection concerns are working. This puts the welfare of vulnerable pupils at risk and does not comply with the statutory requirements of the latest Department for Education guidance on keeping children safe. As a result, safeguarding is ineffective.  The background checks on the proprietor were not carried out prior to the inspection.  The concerns identified at the inspection in relation to safeguarding equally apply to students in the sixth form. Therefore, overall the sixth-form provision is inadequate.  Leaders, including governors, are not thorough enough when checking on the impact of their work on school improvement. The professional development provided for teaching staff is not

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

ensuring that pupils make good or better progress across the curriculum, particularly in improving their writing skills.  Teachers do not provide work that is sufficiently challenging. They do not consistently assess pupils’ work in line with the school’s policy.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 All areas of the premises are safe and hygienic.  Behaviour is good. Pupils have positive attitudes to learning. Attendance is high.  Pupils achieve well in mathematics and creative subjects such as art.  Leaders take their responsibilities for meeting the ‘Prevent’ duty seriously. They support pupils in learning about and debating a wide range of topical issues. Pupils of all ages are mature and resilient. They speak confidently about local, national and international issues.

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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 effectiveness of leadership and management by: – urgently ensuring that leaders have the capacity, operational skills and knowledge to manage child protection and safeguarding concerns effectively – urgently ensuring that the school’s systems and processes to record and share child protection concerns accurately and in sufficient detail are effective – ensuring that leaders, including governors, focus on the impact of their work when self-evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of their school improvement strategies – ensuring that governors give sufficient consideration and challenge to leaders on the progress that pupils make across the school, particularly for the most able and pupils in key stage 3 – equipping teachers with the skills and knowledge to be consistent in the way that they deliver the tutorial programme at the start of the school day – ensuring that all of the independent school standards are met.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so that pupils make strong progress over time, particularly in subjects other than mathematics and creative studies, by: – ensuring that teachers challenge pupils more consistently in their learning – further improving the professional development of teachers so that they can assess pupils’ learning effectively and move pupils on to more demanding activities quickly – helping pupils to become confident writers, especially in their ability to analyse and evaluate effectively across all the subjects that they study.  The school must meet the independent school standards, as set out in the annex of this report.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Leaders, including governors, have not ensured that the school meets all the independent school standards.  At the time of the inspection, the current proprietor did not have the required background checks that are stipulated in the independent school standards. The school had not requested to make the material change to the current proprietor in writing to the Department for Education. The Department for Education stated that paragraphs 20 and 21 relating to the checks on the proprietor had therefore not been met.  Leaders’ self-evaluation of the school is in place. However, it is too descriptive. While leaders are implementing their school improvement strategies they are not evaluating deeply enough whether their strategies are working the way they want them to. As a result, they have an overgenerous view of the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress.  There has been a ‘step up’ in terms of the work that leaders are doing to improve

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

teaching. There are regular checks taking place on the quality of teaching. However, the professional development provided to teachers is not making enough of a difference. The school’s work to improve pupils’ literacy is not sharply focused enough on developing pupils’ writing skills, both in English and across the curriculum. This is despite the fact that leaders have identified that pupils’ progress in English is weaker than the progress they make in mathematics.  Teachers do not apply school policies consistently. This is particularly in relation to the school’s assessment policy, literacy policy and the use of tutor time. Not all teachers ensure that the start to the school day is as effective as it should be.  Leaders have been successful in improving the quality of teaching and outcomes for pupils and students in the sixth form. However, there is still too much variability in the quality of teaching over time.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 The whole-school curriculum is broad and balanced. Creative subjects are a strength of the curriculum. Pupils produce high-quality work in art, for example. The teaching of the curriculum varies too much in quality. While pupils develop sophisticated skills in subjects like art, the same cannot be said for their skills development in physical education or information and communication technology. Pupils have access to some extra-curricular activities, for example table tennis.  Leaders and governors have made some significant improvements to the school’s work since the last inspection. These include: – ensuring that all areas of the premises are safe, hygienic and welcoming – improvements to the cleanliness of the toilets and showers. Pupils confirmed that they have seen a significant improvement in these facilities. As a result, more boys now use the showers after physical education lessons – a new system to barcode and log the use of books in the library. Inspectors visited

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

the library and considered the monitoring records of checks on books in the library, including those undertaken by the governors – a clear and deep commitment from leaders to continually improve their work around the ‘Prevent’ duty, particularly in ensuring that pupils have opportunities to debate controversial issues in order to help improve their resilience – ensuring that pupils have a deep understanding of the Equality Act 2010 and the full range of the protected characteristics. It is not tokenistic but serious and meaningful. This helps pupils to understand life in modern Britain and beyond – raising the profile of reading. Pupils told inspectors they visit the library regularly and routinely write book reviews. One inspector saw pupils reading and writing reviews during tutor time.

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Governance

 The governing body has not ensured that the school’s approach to safeguarding is compliant with the latest statutory guidance.  Governors are involved in monitoring school life. They have decided to have a committee structure, for example on curriculum and standards. They receive regular information from the principal. However, the minutes of these meetings suggest that leaders are not challenging enough, including on holding leaders to account for the progress that pupils make at key stage 3. Also, they have not ensured that sufficient checks take place to give them confidence that safeguarding is effective in areas such as managing child protection.  The governors have engaged in external training around the ‘Prevent’ duty and understand their duties well.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.  The safeguarding policy is available on the school website. It is comprehensive in its scope but it is not effectively put into practice. The school’s systems and processes to help pupils where there are child protection concerns are not working. They do not meet the requirements of the latest statutory guidance published by the Department for Education. Leaders do not make every reasonable effort to attend meetings in relation to child protection. The recording, sharing and tracking of information is poor. Leaders had to call children’s services during the inspection to confirm when child protection cases were closed. Leaders fully agreed with the inspection findings. They understand that the current situation is not acceptable.  The required background checks on the proprietor, who resides outside of the United Kingdom, had not been undertaken prior to the inspection.

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Safeguarding

 Leaders and governors have responded fully since the previous inspection to ensure that they take their obligations in relation to the ‘Prevent’ duty seriously. They have worked well with the local authority to train themselves, teachers, and all pupils on extremism and radicalisation. A detailed and comprehensive risk assessment is in place. The local authority confirmed that leaders are welcoming and take their commitments seriously. Leaders are now considering a ‘train the trainer’ approach to further develop in-school expertise.  Leaders have followed up on the local authority training on the ‘Prevent’ duty. There is a curriculum map showing how pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and information related to the ‘Prevent’ duty are embedded in different subject areas as well as assemblies. Access to outside speakers about the danger of gang violence, the internet, drugs and alcohol misuse, all work well. Pupils talk with confidence about how to

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Safeguarding

stay safe, including when online. They know about the ‘dark web’ and how to avoid risks to their emotional, physical and mental well-being.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 There is inconsistency in the quality of teaching across different subject areas. Consequently, the progress that pupils make over time varies.  The school has a clear assessment system in place. Leaders regularly collect information and look at pupils’ progress every six weeks. They have established a secure method of establishing pupils’ different starting points. However: – teachers are not consistently effective in using this information to challenge pupils and ensure that they tackle work that is sufficiently demanding – the quality of teachers’ feedback to pupils varies in quality and is not consistently in line with the school policy – teachers do not support pupils enough in developing their writing skills, particularly giving pupils the skills to analyse and evaluate effectively.  Teachers challenge stereotypes. Pupils are also given regular opportunities to debate and discuss topical issues, including in personal, social, health and economic education. Pupils

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

speak confidently and deeply about issues including: acid attacks in London, different faiths and beliefs and what the Equality Act 2010 means to them. They celebrate their own faith while having respect and understanding of others. They are aware of and talk about the role of women, including learning about suffragettes. One pupil said to an inspector when talking about the death of Emily Pankhurst, that it ‘was sad that it had to go that far’. Another said that they are ‘proud that the British prime minister is a woman’. Overall, pupils have highly positive attitudes to their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  Where teaching is more effective, for example in creative subjects, teachers use their subject knowledge well to engage and motivate pupils. As a result, pupils make stronger progress over time and develop deeper subject-specific skills.  Teaching over time in mathematics is stronger than English. Pupils benefit from more

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

regular challenge in their learning and are much more confident mathematicians than writers.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is inadequate.  Leaders put the welfare of vulnerable pupils at risk because their safeguarding processes and procedures are not effective. This group of pupils is not safe.  Leaders have been successful in improving the personal development of pupils. They reflect and think deeply about issues that face them and society. They are articulate, resilient, thoughtful and respectful young men.  Pupils of all ages are well prepared for life in modern Britain. They learn about being a good citizen and what that means. Pupils in Year 7 told inspectors that they learned about fundamental British values from their very first day at the school. During an informal chat at the school gates, a group of Year 7 pupils spoke to an inspector with comments imagining what Britain would be like without tolerance. Another pupil told inspectors that

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Personal development and welfare

teachers say, ‘be what you want to be’. Such views on tolerance and mutual respect were echoed by the many pupils spoken to by inspectors, both formally and informally.  The school provides effective impartial and supportive careers advice and guidance. This includes work experience and university visits alongside one-to-one careers interviews.  Members of the school council feel that leaders listen to their views. They can give examples of changes that have been made as a result of their requests, for example, replacing unhealthy drinks with bottled water.  Parents and carers who replied to Parent View, Ofsted’s questionnaire, and those that met inspectors, feel that their children are safe, happy and well looked after. Bullying is rare and pupils are confident that adults will deal with any issues quickly.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Attendance is high. Leaders monitor attendance well and take quick action when required, including following up on any absences.  Pupils behave well, they show respect for themselves and to those around them.  Leaders record sanctions, including detentions. These records support the judgement that behaviour is good over time. Pupils feel that behaviour is good.  Pupils behave sensibly and safely when they move around the school building. They have positive attitudes to learning and are keen to get involved in learning. As teaching is not typically challenging enough, this limits pupils in taking full responsibility for their own learning, particularly as they get older.

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 Outcomes are improving. However, pupils’ progress varies over time and is not sufficient for it to be good overall. This is particularly the case in English where pupils are not achieving as well as they should be.  Leaders judged pupils’ achievement in English from the GCSE results in 2017 as requiring improvement. Evaluations of pupils’ work for current pupils, particularly their writing, show that pupils are not confident writers. They do not analyse and evaluate with the level of vocabulary and sophistication of which they are capable.  This is largely because teachers across the curriculum do not give sufficient help to pupils for them to be able to develop their writing well enough. Furthermore, teachers’ feedback does not follow the school’s policy. It does not help pupils to improve their work so that their literacy skills, including their spelling, punctuation and grammar, improve over time.

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 In some subjects, teaching is not challenging enough. This is holding pupils back, including the most able, from making the progress of which they are capable. However, some improvements to the curriculum are enabling the school to challenge most-able pupils through additional courses in science and mathematics. The most able pupils are making better progress than they were at the last inspection.  Pupils are typically confident mathematicians. Their attainment in 2017 GCSE examinations was high compared to the national average. Similarly, current pupils make stronger progress in mathematics. The proportion of pupils attaining the English Baccalaureate in 2017 was also high.  Overall, taking into account pupils’ personal and academic development, they are being better prepared for the next steps in their education. However, more needs to be done to improve pupils’ English skills, particularly in writing.

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Sixth form provision Inadequate

 The sixth-form provision is inadequate because safeguarding is ineffective.  It was not possible to observe teaching during the inspection as students were taking examinations. Inspectors evaluated outcomes and teaching over time through talking to students, looking at their work and evaluating a variety of assessment information in relation to their progress.  Students did not achieve as well as expected in A-level mathematics (the course with the highest number of entries) in the 2017 summer examinations. However, the most able students did well, not only in mathematics but in the other courses that they studied. The school also offers a work-related course in business studies. This is popular and successful with many students achieving the highest grades.  Students are successful when they resit their GCSE English. No students have needed to resit GCSE mathematics as they achieve well in this subject in Year 11.

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Sixth form provision Inadequate

 The school offers an appropriate range of work experience and careers advice. Students find this useful. They also benefit from visits to universities and wider enrichment activities, including first-aid training. Some students have started the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme. Students behave well, have high attendance and are positive role models for other pupils.  Students are supported effectively in preparation for their next steps, including apprenticeship, work and university applications. For example, 11 students have applied to university courses at the end of the 2018 school year.  An evaluation of students’ work and internal assessment information that was available during the inspection shows some variability in the progress being made. Work that contributes to students’ final assessments on their work-related business course is of a higher standard than the work and notes that they keep in their books. In A-level science,

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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

Of which, number on roll in sixth form 20

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School details

Chair Hafiz Malauna Mohammed Abdul Jalil

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School details

Annual fees (day pupils) £2,500 (£1,750 in the sixth form)

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School details

Date of previous inspection 5–7 October 2016

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Information about this school

 The school is an independent day school for Muslim boys. The previous full standard inspection took place in October 2016 where the overall judgement was inadequate. The school had a progress monitoring inspection in April 2017 where it was judged to meet all the independent school standards that were checked.  The school moved to its current location in 2005. Admission to the school is after an admissions test and interview.  Students in the sixth form embark on a four-year ‘Alim’ programme when they begin their studies. They are entered for AS- and A-level examinations flexibly either at the end of Year 13, 14 or 15. This inspection focused on students following courses as part of the 16 to 19 study programmes.  The school does not use any alternative provision.  The vast majority of pupils are of Bangladeshi heritage. No pupils have special educational needs and/or disabilities. No pupils are identified as being from

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Information about this school

disadvantaged backgrounds. School baseline information of prior attainment on entry shows most pupils have mixed- or high-ability starting points.

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Information about this inspection

 This full standard inspection was unannounced.  This inspection took place during assessment week. Where possible, the inspection team visited lessons in a range of subjects, some of which were accompanied by school leaders. To evaluate the quality of pupils’ learning over time, inspectors also reviewed their work in a range of subjects.  The inspection team held meetings with leaders to evaluate the impact of their work. Inspectors also held meetings with the governing body and a group of staff. Inspectors spoke to a wide range of pupils, formally and informally. The lead inspector also spoke to the local authority ‘Prevent’ duty education officer.  Inspectors evaluated 29 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s questionnaire for parents. An inspector also met with a group of parents. Inspectors evaluated eight responses to Ofsted’s survey for staff.  Inspectors scrutinised a variety of documentation provided by leaders, including: internal

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Information about this inspection

assessment information for pupils in all year groups; leaders’ self-evaluation; an analysis of 2017 GCSE and A-level outcomes; the school improvement plan; performance management documentation, minutes of governing body meetings; attendance and behaviour information; a variety of school policies; the single central record of recruitment checks and a wide range of other information relating to the safeguarding of pupils, including case files and child protection records.

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Inspection team

Sam Hainey, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Part 3. Welfare, health and safety of pupils

 7 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures that – 7(a) arrangements are made to safeguard and promote the welfare of pupils at the school; and – 7(b) such arrangements have regard to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State.  Ensure that background checks have been undertaken in relation to the proprietor as relevant including barred list checks, any prohibition orders, S128 direction, an enhanced criminal record check, checks confirming the individual’s identity and right to work in the United Kingdom and any further checks required when an individual is living or has lived outside the United Kingdom. (Paragraphs 20(1); 20(2); 20(3); 20(3)(a); 20(3)(a)(i); 20(3)(a)(ii); 20(3)(b); 20(3)(b)(i); 20(3)(b)(ii); 20(3)(b)(iii))  Ensure that there is an accurate register of background checks including those of the proprietor. (Paragraph 21(1))

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

 34(1) The standard about the quality of leadership and management is met if the proprietor ensures that persons with leadership and management responsibilities at the school – 34(1)(a) demonstrate good skills and knowledge appropriate to their role so that the independent school standards are met consistently; – 34(1)(b) fulfil their responsibilities effectively so that the independent school standards are met consistently; and – 34(1)(c) actively promote the well-being of pupils. 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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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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