Islamia Primary School


Islamia Primary School is a voluntary aided primary, Islamic faith school in Queen's Park, London, England. It is located in the London Borough of Brent.

History

Islamia Primary School was founded in October 1983 by Yusuf Islam, the singer/songwriter who was known as Cat Stevens until his conversion to Islam in 1977. In 1998, the school was the first Muslim school in Britain to be granted public funding by the Government. This funding was secured after a campaign of thirteen years and several rejections of their applications for voluntary state aid.
Prince Charles visited to officially inaugurate the school's voluntary aided status on 10 May 2000. He praised their approach of providing both secular and religious education.
The school applied, in September 2010, for permission to construct an £8 million extension including a new two-storey building. It would be funded jointly by Brent Council, the school and the government. The scheme, designed by Marks Barfield, was granted planning permission in December 2010 but has proved controversial with residents groups threatening to take legal action to stop it. Brent Council announced, in November 2013, that the development had been included in Phase 3 of their Permanent Primary School Expansion project.

Academic education

The school is two form entry with approximately 420 pupils aged between the ages of 4 and 11. The school was intended to have 10% non-Muslim pupils. It has just 210 official places and 3,500 pupils on the waiting list. Islamia follows the national curriculum supplemented with classes on religion and studies of the Arabic language.
The Ofsted inspection on 28 February/1 March 2013 rated the school as "Good", point 2 on a four-point scale. This was up from point 3 at the last inspection. The report states that "the quality of teaching has improved since the previous inspection and is now good with some examples of outstanding teaching" but highlights attainment in mathematics as requiring improvement. Ofsted reported positively on the school community, and the way that the children were engaged in their learning.
In 2013, the school won the Global Peace and Unity Education Award for Excellence, for UK primary schools.

Linked schools

The Islamia Branch consists of three schools; the primary school, Islamia Girls High School, and the boys' school, Brondesbury College.