Madinatul Uloom Al Islamiya School

Inspection of Madinatul Uloom Al Islamiya School Heath Lane, Summerfield, Kidderminster, Worcestershire, Worcestershire DY10 4BS

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Inspection dates: 20 to 22 February 2024

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

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

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Does the school meet the independent school standards?

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school provides a warm and welcoming environment. Pupils enjoy positive relationships with staff and each other. They treat each other with care and respect, reflecting a genuine family ethos. Pupils feel safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school provides pupils with the opportunity to study both an Islamic and secular curriculum. These courses combine well to give pupils a deep understanding of how they can live out their faith in modern Britain. Pupils describe with pride their understanding of how to behave with respect.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is ambitious for pupils to have the knowledge and skills they require to succeed. Staff have high expectations of pupils, fostering a culture of hard work in lessons. The secular curriculum has improved. Where the curriculum is well planned and delivered, pupils make better progress. However, there remains some inconsistency in parts of the curriculum. This means pupils are not as well prepared as they could be for their next stage.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school provides pupils with an increasing range of opportunities to develop talents and interests. Pupils enjoy calligraphy, martial arts, and other sports. The curriculum is enhanced with trips to places of local interest.

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better?

Leaders, including the proprietor body, want all pupils to develop their full potential spiritually, morally, socially, and academically. Pupils are committed to their faith studies. They deepen their understanding of Islam and its links with fundamental British values. In addition, there is a programme of assemblies and a curriculum for personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education. Together with the secular curriculum, there is a broad offer which prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain.

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better?

Since the last inspection, the school has worked hard to address the weaknesses identified in the secular curriculum. Leaders have prioritised staff development. This has helped to improve most staff’s knowledge of how to teach the curriculum and their subject knowledge. This development work has also helped to improve the provision for pupils who might need additional support with their learning. The school now identifies pupils who may need additional help when they join the school. Leaders then create support plans which identify appropriate strategies and support for these individual pupils. Furthermore, leaders ensure that these plans are implemented and regularly reviewed. This means that these pupils are now learning and remembering more of the curriculum.

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better?

Leaders have also reviewed the curriculum. In some subjects, the curriculum is very carefully sequenced so that learning builds progressively year on year. In mathematics, for example, the key knowledge that pupils need to know and remember is explicitly identified. In lessons, most teachers explain content clearly. 20 to 22 February 2024 They skilfully question pupils to check on their understanding. They use information from these checks to adapt their teaching to fill any gaps in knowledge.

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better?

In some subjects, however, whilst there is a logical sequence to the learning, with identified outcomes, the quality of education is variable. There are several reasons for this. In some cases, teachers are unclear about the small steps needed to build up to the intended final outcomes. This lack of clarity means teachers are not always clear about what to teach and when. This slows pupils’ learning. Where the intended learning is explicit, staff give appropriate input and suitable work. However, at times, the work given to pupils is not well matched to the intended learning. This is because staff do not always know how best to teach a particular part of the curriculum. All of this means that currently, not enough pupils reach the standards they need to in a wide enough range of subjects.

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better?

Reading is a high priority in the school. Pupils read regularly in lessons and outside of lessons. The library has a range of texts for pupils to choose from and pupils say they enjoy reading. In English, pupils study a range of quality texts, including poetry and plays. The curriculum explicitly sets out the key vocabulary that pupils need to know and understand. Teachers pay serious attention to explaining key vocabulary, and support pupils’ understanding of these terms well. Pupils read fluently and with a good understanding of what they read.

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better?

The school prioritises pupils’ personal development. In addition to the faith and PSHE curriculum, there are a wide range of other opportunities to develop pupils personally. Pupils receive a range of information about careers. For example, the school hosts a careers fair on site and there are a range of visiting speakers. Pupils also have employer encounters and the opportunity to visit colleges and universities. These experiences help pupils to make informed decisions about their future.

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better?

The school provides pupils with an increasing range of trips and visits to places such as museums and cathedrals. This enhances the curriculum. There are also a rising number of opportunities to develop talents and interests through sporting activities such as cricket, football and swimming as well as clubs such as a computing club.

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better?

Pupils behave very well around the school and in lessons. They are polite and respectful in all their interactions. Pupils have positive attitudes to their learning and as they get older become highly engaged in their learning.

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better?

Leaders engage well with staff and support them in developing their expertise. They are mindful of workload and wellbeing, which staff appreciate. Leaders also engage well with parents who are very positive about the school.

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better?

The proprietor body holds leaders to account and they make a positive contribution to the school. They meet regularly with leaders at the school, including onsite visits. They ensure that their statutory responsibilities are carried out effectively, including safeguarding pupils appropriately. 20 to 22 February 2024 The proprietor body ensures that the school meets the requirements of schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 Some areas of the curriculum are not as well developed as others. In some parts of the curriculum there is a lack of clarity about the most important knowledge pupils need to know and remember. This means teachers are not always clear about what to teach and when. This lack of clarity slows pupils’ learning. The school should continue to refine the curriculum so that in all subjects the important knowledge that pupils need to know and remember is clearly defined and sequenced.  The school has not ensured that all teachers are confident in how to deliver some aspects of the curriculum. This means that sometimes the work and activities given to pupils do not always align closely to the intended learning outcomes. The school should continue to develop staff expertise and confidence so that all work and activities match the intended learning outcomes and provide a consistent quality of education for all pupils across all areas of the curriculum.

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How can I feed back my views?

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

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school. 20 to 22 February 2024

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School details

Unique reference number 117044 DfE registration number 885/6031

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School details

Inspection number 10299161 Type of school Other Independent School

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School details

School category Independent boarding school

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form

Proprietor Madinatul Uloom Al Islamyia Board of Trustees Chair Ahmed Patas

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form

Date of previous inspection 11 to 13 October 2022 20 to 22 February 2024

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Information about this school

 The last full standard inspection was in October 2022. At that time, the school did not meet all the independent school standards. In July 2023 there was a progress monitoring inspection. At that inspection the school did not meet all the independent school standards checked.  The school is an independent boarding and day school for Muslim pupils and students aged 11 to 28. The vast majority of pupils are boarders.  Pupils undertake Islamic studies during most of the morning, followed by a secular curriculum in the afternoon.  The school has a Muslim ethos.  The school and boarding provision are situated in the grounds of a former teacher training college on the outskirts of Kidderminster in Worcestershire.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors 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 meets the independent school standards. These are the requirements set out in the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, the designated safeguarding leader, the curriculum leader, the leaders responsible for supporting pupils with additional needs, the head of sixth form and subject leaders.  The lead inspector also met with trustees from the proprietor body, including the chair.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in English, mathematics, PSHE and history. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors also visited a science lesson and listened to pupils read.

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Information about this inspection

 To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and 20 to 22 February 2024 considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors scrutinised policies and documents relating to the independent school standards. The lead inspector toured the premises.  Inspectors looked at the suitability of the curriculum for students in the sixth form. However, there was not enough evidence gathered from the secular curriculum to make a judgement about the quality of sixth form provision.

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Inspection team

Helen Forrest, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Mike Onyon Ofsted Inspector 20 to 22 February 2024 regulates and inspects to achieve 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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