Derby’s Muslim free school has been judged as “inadequate” in all areas and placed in special measures by inspectors who called it “dysfunctional” and “in chaos”.
They said governors had “failed the parents” who “have placed their trust in them”.
The damning report into Al-Madinah School followed an emergency inspection at the beginning of the month, ordered by the Secretary of State.
It came after the Derby Telegraph exclusively revealed that many female staff were uncomfortable with being forced to wear Muslim dress, including a hijab – Islamic head scarf – and some teachers were unqualified.
The school, which opened in September 2012, has 412 pupils, aged four to 16, and was set up by representatives of the community as a trust, headed by chairman Shazia Parveen.
On Thursday afternoon, Derby City Council issued a statement, saying it acknowledged the findings of the Ofsted report.
“Educational attainment for all children and young people in Derby is as always our priority. The council is keen to work with other agencies as partners to address the key issues outlined in the Ofsted report.
“It is imperative that the educational attainment and needs of all children in the school are met while engaging with parents, carers and families. Derby City Council will respond to any specific requests in order to help improve the school and move it out of an Ofsted category. This approach applies to supporting any school in Derby for the benefit of all pupils.”
Derby North MP Chris Williamson said: “Ofsted’s findings are absolutely shocking and a damning indictment of the Government’s obsession with their free school experiment.
“This calamitous situation would never have been allowed to occur in any school overseen by Derby City Council.
“I just hope this debacle will convince Education Secretary Michael Gove that local schools should be overseen by local education authorities.”
A Department for Education spokesman said: “We were already investigating this school before allegations became public. We discussed the problems with Ofsted and it launched an immediate inspection.
“We have received a response from the Al-Madinah Education Trust as well as a report on the school from Ofsted. Any decisions made will take into account all the available evidence.”
INSPECTION JUDGMENTS
- The achievement of pupils is inadequate
Pupils make inadequate progress during the early years foundation stage and key stage one in the primary school. Assessments of pupils in the primary school are incomplete and unreliable. The progress pupils made in all the lessons visited, apart from those for Year 2 pupils, was inadequate.
In the secondary school, pupils’ written work in several subjects confirmed they make slow progress over time.
There are few planned opportunities for pupils to apply their literacy skills. The exception to this is in Islamic studies, where pupils have good opportunities to develop their literacy.
Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make inadequate progress. They are left to struggle.
- The quality of teaching is inadequate
Almost all teaching seen during the inspection was judged inadequate.
Most teaching in the primary school was characterised by poor lesson planning with all pupils given the same work, regardless of whether it was too easy or too difficult for them. In the secondary school, pupils are generally given the same work regardless of their ability.
Teachers have low expectations. Pupils are not learning enough, quickly enough.
Some pupils’ written work is poorly presented and untidy and the quality of their work is deteriorating over time.
- The behaviour and safety of pupils are inadequate
Attendance is worryingly low and declining. At the time of the inspection, the attendance of pupils at the secondary school was 89%, which is very low. It was broadly average in the primary school at 96.4%. Around half of the secondary pupils have unauthorised absences.
Overall attendance for the last academic year of 92.7% places the school in the bottom 10% of all schools nationally. Attendance is recorded manually on paper registers.
Behaviour between lessons in and around the school is closely supervised by staff. It is sometimes a little loud in the secondary school but otherwise the school is an orderly and friendly place.
Older pupils are seated with boys on one side of the class and girls on the other.
Due to limited canteen space, boys and girls have their lunches separately, taking it in turns to eat first.
Pupils of all ages speak positively about the good relationships in the school and the lack of bullying.
Records of behavioural incidents that occur are patchy and unreliable. The school is unaware of where it needs to target its efforts to bring about improvement.
- The leadership and management are inadequate
Failures in leadership and management are at the heart of the school’s dysfunctional situation. There is no coherent staffing structure.
Staff have been appointed to key roles for which they do not have the qualifications and experience. Most of the primary school teachers have not taught before and the head of the primary school is experienced in teaching secondary-age pupils only.
Important data the school is expected to hold is incomplete or unreliable. This is because the staff managing this data have sometimes been left without computers but also because there has been insufficient oversight and direction by managers.
Safeguarding requirements are not met. The interim principal rightly decided to close the school to pupils during the inspection once inspectors had alerted him to failings in the school’s processes.
Arrangements for the training and professional development of staff are woefully insufficient and uncoordinated.
The National Curriculum is followed with distinct religious education lessons provided, in addition to Islamic Studies.
The school engages well with parents by, for example, involving them in promoting high career aspirations for girls as well as for boys. Mothers are encouraged to take an active role in the school.
The budget for last year has not been reconciled. It does not know whether it is carrying forward a surplus or a deficit.
Some teachers bring in their own reading books for pupils because the library has not been resourced.
The interim principal has a verbal agreement with the governing body to lead the school until December 2013.
He knows what to do to put the school right but his current temporary status means leadership and management are in a precarious position.
He is striving, in difficult circumstances, to keep the school going. The governors have not advertised for a substantive principal.
READ THE KEY FINDINGS OF THE REPORT HERE
READ THE FULL OFSTED REPORT HERE
‘NEVER SEEN BEFORE’
During my 16 years as education correspondent with the Derby Telegraph, I have never seen such a damning report on any school, writes Zena Hawley.
Among the hundreds of reports I have seen, there have been many schools that have been placed in special measures after being told they are “inadequate”.
But words such as “chaos” and “dysfunctional” are extremely rare on their own, let alone together.
It’s hard to imagine a more disorganised school where inspectors have found fault with every aspect of its operation, from academic and financial to its governance.
Unqualified teachers, staff inadequately checked out, failing to check why pupils are not in and low attendance are faults previously unseen in any county school.