Assunnah Primary School

Inspection of Assunnah Primary School 565 A, High Road, Tottenham N17 6SB

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Good

Does the school meet the independent school standards?

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils arrive at school highly motivated to learn. They enjoy attending and are warmly welcomed by staff, who are pleased to see them. Pupils are happy and safe here. Staff have high expectations, expecting the very best from all pupils. Pupils show enthusiasm and enjoyment when learning. They achieve highly. In the early years, children grow in confidence and develop their language skills soon after joining.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have a secure understanding of what makes healthy relationships and friendships. Staff build positive working relationships with pupils across the school. This helps them both motivate pupils and tailor their learning. In lessons and around the school, pupils’ behaviour is positive.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils gain leadership experience by taking on roles and responsibilities in their classrooms and around the school. These range from being a member of the school council, to online safety and environmental warriors. Through these roles, pupils make a positive contribution to the school. Pupils benefit from some educational visits. Pupils across school enjoy clubs organised by the school, such as basketball, art club and debating club. Activities such as environmental cleanups, fundraising events and awareness days help pupils to understand their role in society.

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better?

Since the last standard inspection, the school has made significant efforts to address previous weaknesses in the curriculum. The curriculum now offers a clear progression of learning across most subjects. In most subjects, gaps in content have been addressed, and subjects are now taught in a well-structured, logical sequence. Leaders have been identified for each subject, and they have all attended subject knowledge training. They, in turn, have begun to train all teaching staff. Pupils are already experiencing the positive impact of these changes.

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better?

In some areas of the wider curriculum, the changes have been more recent and in the earlier stages of design. In those subjects, the curriculum is not ambitious enough and does not enable pupils to build their knowledge and skills deeply over time. Sometimes, activities for pupils do not focus on the explicit subject content pupils need to know and remember. This can make it unclear for pupils to acquire the subject-specific knowledge that they need to learn the curriculum deeply.

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better?

Where the curriculum is better established, such as in mathematics, teachers build carefully on pupils’ prior knowledge. They check pupils’ knowledge to identify any gaps or misconceptions. Teachers then adapt their teaching appropriately for each pupil. In mathematics lessons, older pupils recall number facts accurately. They confidently choose the appropriate methods to work problems out. Children in early years are encouraged to notice patterns and spot differences. They learn through approaches such as exploration, songs and rhymes and repetition. 8 to 10 July 2025 Pupils read with fluency, confidence and enthusiasm. Teachers deliver the school’s chosen phonics programme with clarity and consistency. Those who fall behind receive timely support to help them catch up. Reading books are closely matched to pupils’ phonics knowledge. A love of reading is fostered throughout the school, with pupils able to choose from a selection of books in both their classroom and the

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better?

There is a clear and well-established process for identifying pupils’ needs. The school works closely with the local authority and external professionals to ensure effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders support teachers in making appropriate adaptations to the curriculum. Parents and carers appreciate the guidance provided, which helps them to better understand and meet their child’s needs.

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better?

Staff encourage pupils to consistently follow the school’s behaviour policy in their daily practice. The school works closely with families to keep pupils’ attendance high and help them if they are struggling to bring their children to school on time. Leaders, including the proprietor, work closely with staff to ensure they feel supported and are not overwhelmed by workload. As a result, staff enjoy working at the school and have a strong impact on pupils’ learning and development. Safeguarding always remains the school’s highest priority. Parents are, quite rightly, highly positive about the school.

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better?

The school has thoughtfully developed a programme to support pupils’ personal development. It builds on the foundations laid by the school’s ethos and is further enriched through assemblies. Pupils learn how to be respectful and responsible members of the community. The curriculum gives pupils an understanding of other people’s customs and traditions. They are encouraged to appreciate and respect differences.

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better?

The proprietor, supported by the board of directors, fulfils their statutory duties, for example by making sure that arrangements to promote pupils’ safety are suitable.

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better?

All of the requirements of the independent school standards are met. 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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What does the school need to do to improve?

 In a few subjects, the curriculum is not ambitious enough. In these subjects, the school’s curricular thinking does not provide opportunities for pupils to review, revisit and deepen their understanding. As a result, pupils do not build up a broad body of knowledge in each subject. The school must ensure that the curriculum for every subject is ambitious and is given enough time to be taught 8 to 10 July 2025 systematically across the year in order to enable pupils to develop a deepen their knowledge and understanding over time.  Some activities in lessons are not well suited to support pupils’ understanding of important subject content. This limits pupils’ learning of important subject-specific knowledge and skills. The school must ensure that teaching focuses on important subject content, so that pupils learn and remember more over time.

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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. 8 to 10 July 2025

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School details

Unique reference number 135988 DfE registration number 309/6088

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School details

Inspection number 10391751 Type of school Other Independent School

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School details

Email address admin@assunnahschool.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 5 to 7 December 2023 8 to 10 July 2025

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Information about this school

 Assunnah Primary School is an independent Muslim day school.  The school’s last standard inspection took place in December 2023.  The school has provision for two-year-olds.  The school currently uses no alternative provision.  Arabic and Islamic studies are taught as part of the timetable.  The primary school shares its site with a mosque complex. The early years provision operates from a separate site across the road from the school at 594 High Road, Tottenham N17 9TA.

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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 evaluation 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 carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, art and design and geography. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, talked to pupils about their learning in these subjects and looked at their work.  Inspectors also considered curriculum plans and spoke to leaders about some other subjects. The lead inspector also met with leaders representing the proprietary and governing body.  Inspectors met with groups of pupils to discuss their views about the school, behaviour and safety. Inspectors met with some staff. Inspectors analysed the survey responses of pupils, staff and parents.

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Information about this inspection

 Several meetings were held with the proprietor, the headteacher and many subject leaders.  Inspectors scrutinised a range of policies and documents. Inspectors checked the school’s compliance with the independent school standards. 8 to 10 July 2025

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Inspection team

Aliki Constantopoulou, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Luke Stubbles His Majesty’s Inspector 8 to 10 July 2025 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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