The Muslim News - Muslim primary school results exceed national average

Issue 213, Friday 26 January 2007 - 6 Muharram 1428

Muslim primary school results exceed national average

By Elham Asaad Buaras

Muslim primary schools have exceeded England’s national average in the Key Stage 2 Level 4 (KS2L4) SAT exams, a level expected for 11 year olds. 85% of children sitting their exams in Muslim primary schools across England reached level 4, 4% higher than the national average of 81%. The Muslim News 2006 KS2L4 table is the most comprehensive yet with 12 extra schools featured since 2005 taking the tally up to 35. The number of children sitting the exam in Muslim schools has thus increased to 592, that is, 105 more than 2005.
The 35 Muslim schools featured have also improved at a faster rate than the national average jumping by 6% compared to a national improvement rate of 1%. And 9 schools featured have a 100% pass rate in Level 4. For 2006, the Government had set itself the Public Service Agreement target of 85% of pupils reaching Level 4 in the English and Math and as The Muslim News table illustrates mainstream schools have fallen short in both subjects with only 79% reaching Level 4 in English and 76% reaching the same level in Math. Muslim schools on the other hand, are much closer to the set target falling only by two percent in Math and surpassing the target by one percent in English.
One of the newly featured schools is Date Valley School in Merton. The school, which has been running for a few years now, had its first group of children sit their exam last year. Speaking to The Muslim News, school Principal, Razina, said, “Our children did very well with a 100 percent pass rate. This is mostly due to the dedication and hard work of the teachers involved. Date Valley School has a team of staff who are prepared to put in the extra time and effort required to help our children achieve their own personal best.”
Another new entrant in The Muslim News table is Jame’ah Girls Academy. The Leicester primary school attained an impressive 97% pass rate a remarkable 23% higher than Leicester city average. School Head Teacher, Sabina Patel, told The Muslim News, “The number of girls achieving Level 5 in English, Math and Science at Key Stage 2 has risen. At present our results at Level 4 and above is above the national average.”
Similarly, one of the earliest schools featured in The Muslim News continues to shine. Islamia Primary School in Brent has for the fifth year running outperformed its local education authority. 94% of the 27 children who sat the exam in the Brent based co-ed school last year passed Level 4, that figure is 16% higher than the local average and 13% higher the national average.
Last summer, the school had its first Ofsted inspection and was commended for their high standards in literacy and numeracy as well as on the care and attention the children get. Talking about the future she said the school aims to “establish the school curriculum in Arabic and Qur’an.” She added school officials were ready to assist other schools in various areas.
Feversham Primary School in Bradford had 59% pass rate at KS2L4, that’s 6% higher than 2005. The school’s improvement rate is higher than Bradford’s and England’s improvement rate. However, the 59% results falls short of both the national average of 81% and Bradford average of 73%. Of the 59 children who sat the exam, 73% passed their English test, exactly matching the Bradford’s average in the subject. Unfortunately, the exam is not matched in Math and English, only 45% and 60% passed KS2L4 that is short of Bradford’s 68% and 79% respectively. Feversham was unable to match the national percentage pass rate of any of the three subjects.
Iqra Primary School, also in Bradford, fell short of the national and LEA average. Of the 18 children who sat the science test only two failed to pass KS2L4, that is 89% pass rate higher than both the national average (of 87%) and Bradford’s average. Unfortunately, seven students failed to pass in English and eight failed in Math. Despite the poor performance, Iqra’s results had improved by a remarkable 42% in 2005, only 27% of the pupils passed the KS2L4 exam. By 2006, that result has shot up to 69%.
Muslim primary schools based in Leicester have done exceptionally well. Jameah Girls Academy, Leicester Islamic Academy and Al-Aqsa Primary School, all improving on their 2005 results. Although Al-Aqsa’s pass rate is slightly lower (4%) than Leicester’s average the schools, 71% pass rate is an improvement on their 2005 64% pass rate. For the fourth consecutive year, Jameah Girls Academy and Leicester Islamic Academy continue to surpass both their local and national pass rates.
If you know of a Muslim primary school not featured in The Muslim News table email or alternatively call (during office hours) 020 8863 8586.

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