Iqra Slough Islamic Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Raise teaching and achievement to outstanding by ensuring that: teachers use their assessments of how well pupils are doing to identify what they need to do next tasks are consistently well matched to pupils’ abilities, particularly the most able pupils have opportunities to evaluate their own learning and challenge themselves.
• Ensure that leadership and management are outstanding by refining assessment processes further, so leaders can analyse more clearly how well pupils, classes and year groups are doing.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher provides strong direction and clear leadership for the school community. He is ably supported by the two deputy headteachers in creating an environment where everyone is valued. Leaders have worked with commitment and passion to embed consistency and drive further improvements. As a result, the school provides a good standard of education and is well placed to become even more effective.
• Leaders observe teaching and provide useful feedback about what can be improved. They support staff through well-planned training and development, such as useful coaching. Teachers and teaching assistants appreciate leaders’ work to enable them to become more skilled. One of the teaching assistants commented, ‘Watching each other builds our self-esteem.’ There is a rigorous system for annual staff appraisals. Leaders set useful targets which enable staff to become even better and link well to the school development plan.
• Staff and parents comment on the effective communication processes the headteacher has implemented. Staff know the priorities for the school and are committed to helping the school to improve further.
• Leaders check how well pupils are doing by meeting with teachers to identify any pupils who are not making enough progress. They agree what additional support is required to help them catch up. This has ensured that most pupils make good or better progress. However, the school’s assessment processes do not enable leaders to analyse as clearly as they could, how well pupils in each class and year group are doing.
• The curriculum is broad, balanced and well planned. Through carefully selected topics, pupils learn about a range of subjects such as history, art and music. Writing is woven seamlessly into the topic work so pupils also practise their writing skills across the curriculum.
• Funding to support disadvantaged pupils enables these pupils to progress at the same rate as their peers. Leaders consider carefully what will make a difference to pupils and check that it is having a positive impact.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is supported extremely well. As a Muslim school, faith is embedded in school life. The beliefs are taught explicitly, then threaded through their learning about community, moral issues and other faiths and cultures. Pupils speak articulately about everyone being ‘different but the same’, no matter what their beliefs are.
• In personal, social and health education lessons (PSHE), pupils reflected on thought-provoking questions such as, ‘Should doctors be allowed to strike?’ and ‘Should Auschwitz be used as a tourist attraction?’ British values are taught well so pupils have respect and tolerance for others and a good understanding of the rule of law and democracy. All of this ensures that pupils are well placed to become responsible and caring citizens in modern Britain.
• It is sensible that the school seeks external validation from a range of sources. However, some feedback was slightly too positive about how well the school was doing, which has not helped leaders and governors.

Governance of the school

• Governors provide useful support and challenge to school leaders. They are passionate about the school’s role in the local and wider community and are proud of all the school has achieved in meeting the needs of families from different ethnic groups.
• Governors know how well pupils are doing and are determined for all to be successful. They visit the school to make their own judgements on how well the school is doing, using this information to hold leaders to account.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Rigorous assessments are carried out to ensure that staff are safe to work with children, through detailed references and relevant police checks. Staff receive the relevant training appropriate to their roles and responsibilities. All staff know what to do if they have a concern and records confirm that even minor issues are raised.
• When required, external agencies are informed and advice taken. Referrals are followed up in a timely way and record-keeping is detailed and well organised to enable staff to see important information easily.
• School leaders and governors have taken a lead on helping other schools to understand the threats of radicalisation and how to tackle it. They are rightly very proud of their work in this area and the positive impact it has on keeping their pupils safe.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teaching across the school is good. The consistency of approach seen across classes and year groups reflects leaders’ work to improve teaching and raise standards. Teachers identify clearly what they want pupils to learn and make sure that pupils know what they need to do to be successful. Teachers’ explanations are clear and enable pupils to understand the learning and activities. Pupils are confident about what they have to do and why they are doing it.
• Activities to support learning are interesting and motivating so pupils are always keen to get started. In the majority of lessons tasks are well matched to pupils’ abilities. However, occasionally, activities are not quite as well planned to meet pupils’ learning needs, so pupils do work that is too easy or too hard for them. In the lessons when this happens, progress slows.
• Reading is taught well. In the younger year groups, phonics lessons enable pupils to develop a good understanding of letters and sounds and how to decode simple words. These effective skills are built upon as pupils move through the school. Leaders rightly identified that inference skills were not as strong as other reading skills, so lessons now include opportunities for pupils to infer and interpret meaning. This is helping the most able pupils to develop higher-level reading skills and achieve more, but this has not yet shown in national end-of-year results.
• Mathematics teaching is effective, with number being a particular strength. Pupils build up their skills and understanding of mathematics effectively from the early years, using practical equipment to embed concepts. The problem-solving opportunities provided are useful at deepening pupils’ number skills.
• Writing is taught well. There has been a successful focus on increasing opportunities to write across the curriculum. Pupils now write more frequently and at greater length. Grammar and punctuation skills are taught effectively alongside other aspects of writing. As a result, pupils achieve well.
• Teachers plan activities to meet the needs of the most able pupils but these are not always quite as well matched as they could be. In some classes, teachers use a ‘learning detective’ approach to enable pupils to take ownership of their learning and push themselves on further.
• Disadvantaged pupils are taught well. There is very little difference between the progress and attainment these pupils make, when compared to other pupils, from the time they join the school to when they leave. Leaders and teachers know which pupils need additional support and ensure that it is provided.
• Pupils who have special needs and/or disabilities are taught very well. The high-quality support planned by teachers and provided by teaching assistants means that these pupils make rapid progress. Teaching assistants provide sensitive and timely interventions to encourage pupils to stay on task or to develop their understanding.
• PSHE lessons are very effective and help to support pupils’ personal development and welfare very well. In a Year 4 lesson, pupils discussed the impact their behaviour has on themselves and on others. Their answers were thoughtful and developed well by the teacher.
• Teachers check work during and after lessons, providing useful feedback to enable pupils to improve their work. In some classes, pupils take responsibility for their learning and reflect on how well they have developed during the lesson or sequence of lessons.
• Other subjects, such as science, history and art, are taught well. Pupils learn the skills which relate to the different subjects and apply them in a range of situations. The work in topic books shows that pupils do well in these subjects.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• Pupils are able to explain their thoughts and feelings extremely well; they are very articulate and self-aware. This is encouraged from a very early age; even the youngest children are able to explain how they feel at a basic level.
• Pupils have a detailed understanding of how to keep themselves safe. They can explain the complexities of using the internet safely and told inspectors why it is important to protect their identity. Younger pupils talk about crossing the road carefully and telling adults if they are worried about anything. All pupils spoken to were confident that they could speak to staff if they were worried. Several pupils mentioned the pastoral support available at lunch and breaktimes.
• Pupils’ understanding of being healthy and taking exercise is similarly very strong. They explained that they are only allowed healthy food in school, ‘not packets of crisps, unless they are baked’.
• Pupils take extremely good care of their environment; learning spaces and outside areas are immaculate.
• Pupils say bullying is very rare and, if it does happen, it is stopped quickly by staff. The quality and quantity of supervision is very high and ensures that pupils feel safe and happy.
• Pupils talk with conviction about how all at the school respect each other. They explain in detail what tolerance is and how it is an essential part of their everyday life in school. This reflects the high priority the school places on equality and British values.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils demonstrate good manners and respect towards each other and to adults. In the lunch hall, the atmosphere is calm and harmonious. Pupils wait patiently for their turn and are unfailingly polite to the staff.
• Pupils tend to be passive in lessons, carrying out learning activities as instructed. On occasion, they are given opportunities to take ownership of their learning and be more independent. When this happens, pupils respond with confidence and enjoyment, taking ownership of their learning, so they learn more.
• Previously boisterous behaviour at playtimes was tackled head-on by leaders. There is now a wide range of enjoyable and well-structured activities, led or supervised by staff. As a result, behaviour is calm and appropriate. Pupils understand there are consequences to their actions and they know what these are.
• Across the school pupils demonstrate very positive attitudes to learning and they value greatly the opportunities the school gives them. This is reflected in the pride with which they wear their uniforms. They have an excellent understanding of the importance of education and this drives them to try hard and do well. They make the most of every learning opportunity provided.
• Leaders check attendance very carefully. In spite of the challenges posed by some groups of parents taking their children out of school for extended holidays, attendance is broadly in line with other schools nationally. Leaders are innovative in their approach to improving attendance further, such as changing holidays in order to discourage these extended absences.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils do well and achieve at least in line with other schools across the country. From the time children join the school to the time they leave, the majority make at least good progress.
• A larger proportion of children reach a good level of development in the early years than do so in other schools across the country. This reflects the good-quality teaching and support they receive.
• Strong teaching in phonics has resulted in consistently high outcomes in the Year 1 phonics check.
• At key stage 1, the percentage of pupils who reach the expected standards, and better than expected standards, is above other schools nationally. This is the case in reading, writing and mathematics.
• At key stage 2, in 2016, the end-of-year results for reading and mathematics are in line with other schools nationally. The percentages of pupils who attained the expected standard and better than expected standard are very similar. In writing, the proportion of pupils who achieved the expected standard was significantly above that of other schools, reflecting the good-quality opportunities pupils have to write across the curriculum.
• All ethnic groups do as well as each other. Where there was previously some variation in achievement, leaders took steps to tackle this and there are no longer significant differences in progress or attainment.
• In 2016, the proportion of most-able pupils who achieved better than expected standards was in line with other schools nationally. However, if activities were always well matched to pupils’ levels and they were consistently challenged, these pupils could do even better.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities achieve very well, reflecting the high-quality provision and carefully targeted teaching they receive. In lessons, these pupils make the most gains and this was reflected in the significant progress made by many individuals.
• Across the school, disadvantaged pupils achieve broadly the same as other pupils. The support they receive enables them to do well and to have the same opportunities as other pupils. As with other most-able pupils, disadvantaged most-able pupils could achieve more.
• Pupils take pride in their work and presentation is of a high standard. Generally, handwriting is fluent, cursive and legible.
• Pupils enjoy a range of subjects and make good progress across the curriculum. Subject-specific skills and knowledge are developed well, such as scientific enquiry and exploring geographical features. Pupils’ work in these subjects is of a similar quality to English and mathematics, reflecting the high priority leaders place on a broad and balanced curriculum.

Early years provision Good

• Provision in the early years meets children’s needs well.
• Structured routines and high expectations ensure that children settle quickly. At the time of the inspection, children had only been in school full-time for two weeks, but they had settled very quickly and were following routines well. Many were already able to discuss their learning and what they would like to do next.
• Most children join the school with skills that are appropriate for their age. They are supported well to make good progress. Any with language difficulties receive additional focused help so they catch up quickly.
• The early years leader, who is also one of the deputy headteachers, is effective in her role. She is clear about the priorities for development and is keen for the setting to become even more effective.
• Teaching of phonics in the early years is good, whether the lesson is taught by teachers or teaching assistants. All staff have a good understanding of children’s interests through effective communication with parents and home visits.
• The indoor and outdoor learning spaces are well organised and the outdoor environment is particularly appealing for children to learn and play. The activities are well planned to support children’s play and develop their knowledge, understanding and skills. At times, some children are not as engaged as they could be, and adults do not intervene quite as quickly as they could.
• Children are well cared for and their needs are met very well. They learn about hygiene routines as soon as they join the school and are supported well during lunch and snack times.
• The children play well together and share their thoughts and ideas articulately. When retelling a story, one child recalled the word colander and explained that it was used for vegetables.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 135099 Slough 10000875 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Voluntary aided 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 630 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Zafar Ali Noeman Anwar 01753 520 018 www.iqra.slough.sch.uk office@iqra.slough.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 14–15 March 2012

Information about this school

• Iqra is a larger than average-sized primary school, with three classes in each year group.
• Pupils come from a range of different ethnic backgrounds, with the largest group being Pakistani.
• The large majority of pupils speak English as an additional language.
• The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is above the national average, as is the percentage of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• In 2015, the school met the government’s floor standards, which sets minimum expectations for attainment and progress in English and mathematics.
• A new headteacher has been appointed since the previous inspection. The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed 22 lessons, several which were with senior leaders. Inspectors also made a number of shorter visits to classes. They looked at pupils’ work in books from the current academic year and from last year.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher, the two deputy headteachers, other senior and middle leaders, a group of staff and members of the governing body, including the chair. The lead inspector also spoke to a representative from the local authority.
• Pupils’ opinions were gathered through meetings with different groups of pupils and through informal conversations at lunch and playtime.
• Inspectors took account of parents’ views through the 32 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, and through informal conversations at the beginning of the school day.
• The inspector scrutinised a range of school documentation, including the school’s information on pupils’ progress, the school improvement plan, minutes of governors’ meetings and documents related to safeguarding.

Inspection team

Louise Adams, lead inspector Timothy Rome Sue Cox Darren Aisthorpe Bill James Her Majesty's Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector