Islamia Primary School is a

voluntary aided A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation), contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In m ...

primary, Islamic

faith school A faith school is a school in the United Kingdom that teaches a general curriculum but which has a particular religious character or formal links with a religious or faith-based organisation. The term is most commonly applied to state-funded fait ...

in Queen's Park, London, England. It is located in the

London Borough of Brent The London Borough of Brent () is a London borough in north-west London. It borders the boroughs of Harrow to the north-west, Barnet to the north-east, Camden to the east, the City of Westminster to the south-east, as well as the Royal Boroug ...

History

Islamia Primary School was founded in October 1983 by Yusuf Islam, the singer/songwriter who was known as

Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later in ...

until his conversion to Islam in 1978. 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 Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

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 Marks Barfield Architects is a London-based architectural firm founded by husband and wife David Marks and Julia Barfield. Their work has included the London Eye, the treetop walkway in Kew Gardens, the i360 observation tower in Brighton, Engla ...

, 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 The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted is responsible for inspecting a range of educational institutions, includ ...

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.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1983 establishments in England Educational institutions established in 1983 Primary schools in the London Borough of Brent Islamic schools in London Voluntary aided schools in London