Institute of Islamic Education

Inspection of Institute of Islamic Education South Street, Savile Town, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire WF12 9NG

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Inadequate Sixth-form provision Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Does the school meet the independent school standards?

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy. They are polite, courteous and respectful. Staff have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. Pupils behave well. They attend well. The school has a distinct Islamic ethos. Pupils learn about British life and traditions. They join in community events and raise money for charities.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils say they feel safe, yet the school’s arrangements to keep them safe give cause for concern. The checks to ensure the safe recruitment of staff have not been carried out fully for some adults at the school. Accumulated rubbish presents a fire hazard. There is not a strong culture of safeguarding.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils work hard. They demonstrate positive attitudes towards learning. However, the curriculum concentrates too much on preparing pupils for tests and examinations. This is especially so in Years 9, 10 and 11. The key stage 3 curriculum is not ambitious enough. Sixth-form students enjoy challenging academic courses. The curriculum is not well planned in some subjects, such as history. Some teachers do not have a strong enough grasp of the subject that they teach. This means that they do not support pupils’ learning well. Pupils are not able to recall what they have learned over time in subjects such as history and science.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There are very good relationships between pupils. Boys routinely support each other’s learning. Leaders do not tolerate bullying. Pupils are confident that staff deal with any issues quickly.

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better?

Leaders, including governors, have not ensured that the independent school standards are fully met. Pupils follow an Islamic curriculum and a broad subject curriculum. There are standards related to the quality of education that the school does not meet. Several curriculum plans do not show the important content that pupils should learn and remember. For example, the history curriculum is poorly sequenced. Teachers are not clear about the order in which content is taught. Pupils do not achieve as well as they can.

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better?

Pupils do a lot of extra work outside of lesson times at key stage 4 to catch up. This is because the curriculum is not ambitious enough at key stage 3. Teachers are inconsistent in providing chances for pupils to revisit their previous learning. In history, Year 7 pupils have covered the same topic as Year 8 pupils. Yet, in science, in Year 8, work on electromagnets builds on earlier work on electric circuits. Limited curriculum planning means that good resources, such as the modern science laboratory, are not used to good effect. Pupils have a limited grasp of the methods of experimental science. They do not do much practical work. Their grasp of scientific vocabulary is not strong.

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better?

Teachers are enthusiastic but do not consistently show good knowledge of the subjects that they teach. They do not receive training to improve their subject 11–13 February 2020

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knowledge. The curriculum in key stage 4 mainly focuses on preparation for GCSE examinations at the end of Year 11. This narrows what pupils learn.

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In English lessons, teachers develop pupils’ skills in speaking. They write across a narrow range of genres. They also complete some analytical work. Pupils enjoy reading for pleasure and regularly take books from the well-stocked library. Pupils learn to communicate well in written and spoken English. However, there are limited chances for pupils to develop their reading and writing skills across the curriculum.

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Pupils learn how to carry out calculations in mathematics well, but they are weaker in their mathematical thinking.

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Leaders promote good behaviour. Pupils move around the school sensibly. They interact well with adults. Pupils are well focussed in lessons and listen carefully to teachers. A rewards and sanctions scheme is highly successful. Pupils rise to the challenge that it provides, and many enjoy the rewards that it offers.

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Staff help to develop pupils’ spiritual and moral understanding. Pupils learn about different religions. They visit different places of worship along the Bradford Faith Trail. They explore environmental issues. They learn about life in modern Britain. Visiting speakers include local councillors, the police and the ambulance service. This helps pupils to understand about public institutions. Staff provide many opportunities to develop pupils’ interests and talents. This includes baking, calligraphy, archery and cycling. Leaders have ensured that their personal, social and health education scheme considers pupils’ learning about the protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act 2010.

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Students in the sixth form follow an ambitious academic Islamic studies curriculum. The curriculum is wide-ranging and includes languages, humanities and the study of Islam. Students engage in debate, discussion and independent research. They are confident, articulate and think deeply about their learning.

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Many students study a small number of A levels, which overlap with their Islamic studies. Their work is of high quality. Students in the sixth form achieve well. The sixth-form curriculum includes a rich personal, social and health education curriculum. Students have appropriate careers guidance and work experience.

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Independent school standards for leadership and management are not met. Governors and the proprietor do not ensure that the school meets its legal duties. Governors give themselves clear responsibilities in school policies. However, they do not regularly carry these out. They do not hold leaders to account for the quality of education or the safety of pupils. Governors have not been effective in identifying failings in the school and ensuring these are dealt with. The school is in breach of its registration agreement with the Department for Education (DfE). The school admits pupils over the maximum age limit that its registration allows. 11–13 February 2020

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders are not ensuring that they do everything possible to safeguard and promote the welfare of pupils. Some staff do not have a secure knowledge of how to keep pupils safe.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have not sufficiently assessed the risks on the school site. Accumulations of rubbish pose a fire risk. Unauthorised people come onto the school site. Leaders have not acted to ensure good site security.

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Safeguarding

Leaders’ checks on students who are over 18 years old are inconsistent. The employment histories of staff are not checked consistently. The record of checks on the safe recruitment of adults is incomplete.

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Safeguarding

The record of pupils on the school roll is incomplete and does not contain all of the pupils at the school. The school does not routinely contact the local authority where a pupil leaves the school in-year. The destinations of pupils are not consistently recorded.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that pupils are supported to be aware of the potential risks to their safety. For example, pupils receive talks from the police about county line gangs. Pupils understand how to stay safe online.

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 Leaders have not established a culture of safeguarding. Leaders do not ensure that the necessary checks are made on all staff and volunteers. This puts pupils at risk. The school must take rapid and appropriate action to ensure that these checks are made. The checks must be clearly recorded in the single central register.  Unauthorised people can enter the school. Parts of the school site are not secure. This puts pupils at risk. The school must take urgent action to ensure that the school premises are secure, and that unauthorised people cannot enter the buildings.  Leaders and governors have not checked that the whole school site is safe. Parts of the school field can be accessed easily from a road. Accumulated rubbish and smoking on the school site present a fire risk. This puts pupils at risk. Leaders and governors need to assess all risks. They need to take action to ensure the safety of pupils.

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 Leaders and governors have not ensured that the school admissions register contains all of the information required. This includes the dates of leaving and precise destinations of pupils who have left the school. The register does not reflect the exact number of pupils at the school. Leaders have not ensured that the relevant authorities are informed when a pupil leaves during the school year. This is a breach of legislation. 11–13 February 2020

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It also puts pupils at risk. The admissions register must be accurately completed, as required by law. It must reflect the exact number of pupils at the school.  The curriculum is not planned well. Leaders have not ensured that curriculum plans for all subjects are complete. Not enough thought has been given to how the curriculum is structured or the crucial content that pupils must learn and remember. This has led to gaps in pupils’ knowledge and understanding, particularly in key stage 3. Leaders should ensure that curriculum plans are well sequenced so that it is clear what pupils should learn and the order in which the content of the curriculum should be taught.  Curriculum planning, particularly in key stage 4 is focused too much on preparing pupils for external examinations. This means that pupils have a narrowed learning experience. Leaders should ensure that pupils enjoy rich learning experiences across

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the curriculum. They should make sure that pupils develop an understanding of the important content in each subject, so that they remember this over time.  Some teachers do not have the subject knowledge they need to be able to teach subjects in depth. This means that pupils do not achieve as well as they could across subjects. Leaders should ensure that staff receive specific training to deepen their own knowledge of the subjects they teach.  Not enough time is allocated to the curriculum in key stage 3 in some subjects. This is exemplified in history. The impact of this is that pupils do not achieve as well as they should. Leaders should ensure that there is an appropriate allocation of time for the non-core subjects, such as history, so that the content can be covered, practised, learned and remembered.  The proprietor and governors do not fulfil their legal responsibilities. They fail to meet a number of independent school standards. Many aspects of the school’s

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management systems, policies and procedures are not effective. This has resulted in risks to pupils’ safety and well-being. In addition, the quality of education is not good. Leaders and governors need training so that they can carry out their roles and responsibilities effectively. They should establish coherent and effective leadership and management systems, policies and procedures that relate to all aspects of the school’s provision. They must ensure that the independent school standards are consistently met so that pupils are safe and have a good quality of education.  Some young men over the age of 25 are registered as pupils at the school. This means that the school is operating outside of its registration status. Governors must ensure that the school operates within the age limits agreed by the DfE.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection. 11–13 February 2020

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The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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If you are the provider and you are not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted . 11–13 February 2020

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School details

Unique reference number 107791 DfE registration number 382/6013

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School details

Inspection number 10126465 Type of school Other independent School

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School details

School category Independent boarding school

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form

Date of previous inspection 28–30 November 2017 11–13 February 2020

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Information about this school

 The Institute of Islamic Education is an independent boarding and day school for Muslim boys and young men between the age of 11 and 25 years. The school is located within the grounds of the Markazi Mosque in Dewsbury. The Institute is managed by the Society for the Reformation of Muslims of the United Kingdom.  Pupils aged 16 years and over study a specialist programme of study in the Islamic sciences, Arabic and Urdu.  The school’s previous full standard inspection took place in November 2017, when it was judged to be good.  The school is registered for up to 300 pupils between the ages of 11 and 25. The school is in breach of its registration agreement by having some pupils over the age of 25 on roll.  Pupils follow an Islamic curriculum for approximately half of the time. The secular curriculum is taught in English.  There are no pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.  The school does not use alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008. The purpose of the inspection 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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Information about this inspection

The school has failed to meet the independent school standards. These are the requirements of the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014.

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Information about this inspection

 We met with the proprietor, governors, headteacher and senior staff.  We looked at policies for all aspects of the school’s work, including the curriculum, safeguarding, equalities and behaviour. We looked at the schemes of work used by the school to plan pupils’ learning.  We carried out deep dives in English, mathematics, science and history. In these subjects, we visited some lessons and looked at pupils’ books. We talked with leaders, teachers and pupils. We made visits to some lessons in the specialist curriculum and an assembly.  We looked closely at the school’s systems for checking the suitability of staff and for admitting pupils. We talked to staff about their training, including training about how to keep pupils safe.  We considered the views that were received to Ofsted’s surveys for parents and carers, staff and pupils.  This inspection was conducted without notice. It was carried out at the same time

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Information about this inspection

as an inspection of the school’s boarding provision. The inspection was 11–13 February 2020

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commissioned by the Department for Education in response to a complaint. The inspection especially focussed on the independent school standards relating to welfare, health and safety, the school’s premises, and leadership and management.

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Inspection team

Steve Rogers, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Michele Costello Her Majesty’s Inspector 11–13 February 2020

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Part 1. Quality of education provided

 2(1) The standard in this paragraph is met if- – 2(1)(a) the proprietor ensures that a written policy on the curriculum, supported by appropriate plans and schemes of work, which provides for the matters specified in sub-paragraph (2) is drawn up and implemented effectively; and – 2(1)(b) the written policy, plans and schemes of work- – 2(1)(b)(i) take into account the ages, aptitudes and needs of all pupils, including those pupils with an EHC plan; and  2(2) For the purposes of paragraph 2(1)(a), the matters are- – 2(2)(h) that all pupils have the opportunity to learn and make progress; and  3 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures that the teaching at the school- – 3(a) 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; – 3(e) demonstrates good knowledge and understanding of the subject matter

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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.  12 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures compliance with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005[12].  15 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures that an admission and attendance register is maintained in accordance with the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006[13].  16 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures that- – 16(a) the welfare of pupils at the school is safeguarded and promoted by the drawing up and effective implementation of a written risk assessment policy; and – 16(b) appropriate action is taken to reduce risks that are identified. 11–13 February 2020

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Part 4. Suitability of staff, supply staff, and proprietors

 18(2) The standard in this paragraph is met if- – 18(2)(c) the proprietor carries out appropriate checks to confirm in respect of each such person- – 18(2)(c)(ii) the person’s medical fitness; – 18(2)(e) in the case of any person for whom, by reason of that person living or having lived outside the United Kingdom, obtaining such a certificate is not sufficient to establish the person’s suitability to work in a school, such further checks are made as the proprietor considers appropriate, having regard to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State; and – 18(2)(f) in the case of staff who care for, train, supervise or are in charge of boarders, in addition to the matters specified in paragraphs (a) to (e), the proprietor checks that Standard 14 of the National Minimum Standards for Boarding Schools or, where applicable, Standard 14 of the National Minimum Standards for Residential Special Schools, is complied with.

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Part 4. Suitability of staff, supply staff, and proprietors

 21(1) The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor keeps a register that shows such of the information referred to in sub-paragraphs (3) to (7) as is applicable to the school in question.  21(3) The information referred to in this sub-paragraph is- – 21(3)(a) in relation to each member of staff ("S") appointed on or after 1st May 2007, whether- – 21(3)(a)(viii) checks were made pursuant to paragraph 18(2)(e).

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Part 5. Premises of and accommodation at schools

 30 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures that, where the school provides accommodation, regard is had to Standard 5 of the National Minimum Standards for Boarding Schools or, where applicable, Standard 5 of the National Minimum Standards for Residential Special Schools.

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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. 11–13 February 2020

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