An Islamic girls’ school top of the tables?

[Uthman]

The secret of success is the same for all faith schools

Jack Straw

You might expect Priory Academy, Lincoln, or Watford Grammar School for Boys to be top of the tree for their exam results. But Tauheedul Islam Girls High School, Blackburn? Third-best in the country with 98 per cent of pupils getting five or more good GCSEs including maths and English. What’s going on?

The school is not in a leafy suburb, but in confined premises in the heart of Blackburn’s inner-urban mill terraces. Tauheedul began as a private school 25 years ago and did well.

But I had argued for years in opposition that if the country had Catholic, Anglican and Jewish faith schools then we either had to get rid of them all (bad idea) or to allow schools from all faiths to become state aided, provided they met the same criteria.

Tauheedul became a state-funded voluntary-aided school three years ago — and it has really taken off. What’s its secret? There is no secret. Instead, as its chairman of governors, Kam Kothia, puts it, it has “a perfect combination — committed parents, committed students and, crucially, personalised learning.”

So all students are assessed when they arrive in Year Seven and a strategy is established to help them to achieve the best results possible.

Yes, the faith of the school does makes a big difference. An Ofsted report in 2006 praised not only its outstanding academic achievement but its spiritual and moral ethos. “The commitment to excellence and the values of Islam, which are at the heart of the school, shine out in many ways,” it said.

This should come as no surprise — Catholic, Anglican and Jewish schools generally perform better than non-faith schools. But Tauheedul is not introspective. It is designated as a specialist humanities school, with citizenship as its lead subject. I have seen for myself how its pupils really are engaged and interested in the outside world.

The other component in Tauheedul’s success is that it is an all-girls school. As every parent knows, while boys tend to do better in mixed schools, girls tend to do better when learning with other girls.

The high achievement does not stop at the school gates. In 2007 more than 95 per cent of Year 11 students at Tauheedul went on to further education, most of them taking A levels. This is much higher than the average for other schools in Blackburn.

The old saw is that Asian parents are not committed to the academic success of their daughters. The success of this school proves exactly the opposite.

Jack Straw is Justice Secretary and Labour MP for Blackburn.

Source

[latiffa]

So interesting this article!

It prooves that the succes come to someone only when want to have it...but must work for it!

[Star]

bumpty bump! :statisfie

the results are 4 the GCSE's taking in Jun 09?

[جوري]

like I have been saying all along.. private and all girls (or all boys), the formula for success plus if I may add a uniform for all .. focus needs to be on study in those formative years, not looking like a run away hooker, and how you appear to the opposite sex.. or even same sex!

:w:

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[barney]

Theres no doubt that I used to listen all the better in Mr Kews class because there was the threat of violence. Mr Kew was Ex Army, an officer, and if a child talked or giggled in his lesson he would beat them, He was fiercely Christian.

If he was still alive today, he would grace a faith school.

The recent post on these boards regarding faith schools beating little muslim children with sticks breaks my heart. These schools, apart from their obvious no-brainer deviceivness and mockery of the UK's attempts to embrace humanity as a whole, are exempt from practical steps to rein in the stick wielding teachers as they parrot the words.

I took my Daughter out of R.E last year. Why oh Why did I wait so long? Out of tolerance and equality? Yeah, and now she at 8 years old, has a fear of some imaginary fire in a fairyland called hell made up by ancestors who diddnt understand germ theory let alone that the world was round.

[Star]

you know what barney, just because you have some twisted idea of what you think islamic schools are like, doesnt make them true! i dont know about other faith schools, but islamic schools certainly do NOT encourage hitting kids regardless of what they did...

you seriously need a reality check.

[جوري]

Theres no doubt that I used to listen all the better in Mr Kews class because there was the threat of violence. Mr Kew was Ex Army, an officer, and if a child talked or giggled in his lesson he would beat them, He was fiercely Christian.

If he was still alive today, he would grace a faith school.

The recent post on these boards regarding faith schools beating little muslim children with sticks breaks my heart. These schools, apart from their obvious no-brainer deviceivness and mockery of the UK's attempts to embrace humanity as a whole, are exempt from practical steps to rein in the stick wielding teachers as they parrot the words.

Maybe if you had a stick to your bottom every now and then you'd have mounted for something more than a psych nurse with a ten month course in theology?

I took my Daughter out of R.E last year. Why oh Why did I wait so long? Out of tolerance and equality? Yeah, and now she at 8 years old, has a fear of some imaginary fire in a fairyland called hell made up by ancestors who diddnt understand germ theory let alone that the world was round.

Perhaps the blame lies with you and your wife rather than 'R.E'?

all the best

[سيف الله]

Salaam

Its good to see a girls school do so well much to the annoyance of the liberal secular types. Here's hoping to the continued success of the school ;)

Barneys attitude displays the percise reason why faiths should be permitted to have their own schools.

[Froggy]

like I have been saying all along.. private and all girls (or all boys), the formula for success plus if I may add a uniform for all .. focus needs to be on study in those formative years, not looking like a run away hooker, and how you appear to the opposite sex.. or even same sex!

:w:

The article says boys do better in mixed schools.

[Supreme]

like I have been saying all along.. private and all girls (or all boys), the formula for success plus if I may add a uniform for all .. focus needs to be on study in those formative years, not looking like a run away hooker, and how you appear to the opposite sex.. or even same sex!

:w:

I concur. I went to an all boys Church of England school (St Olave's, best school in London, look it up), and I agree. It is the formula for success, or at least was in my case. There were no girls to distract me, and when I converted to Christianity in year 11, the chapel part of the building became very useful, for prayer and studying privately.

[Danah]

like I have been saying all along.. private and all girls (or all boys), the formula for success plus if I may add a uniform for all .. focus needs to be on study in those formative years, not looking like a run away hooker, and how you appear to the opposite sex.. or even same sex!

:w:

I second that!
They focus on more important things than going on dates and relationships and all those stuff

[barney]

you know what barney, just because you have some twisted idea of what you think islamic schools are like, doesnt make them true! i dont know about other faith schools, but islamic schools certainly do NOT encourage hitting kids regardless of what they did...

you seriously need a reality check.

Reality check? Theres a thread within the last day about a London Madrassa beating the snot out of the kiddys.
Thats in my own country in this 21st Century:raging:

I know this. If a secular school teacher lays a hand on a child they are suspended.Thats the law.

I oppose any faith based school anyway. The only thing thats needed to rid the world of religion is one generation being taught about the world they can see and not a magical world made up by Bronze age societys.

If they really want to beleive in such things, let them discover them by their own truths as an adult, not injecting the supernatural onto unformed minds.

[Star]

Islamic schools and Madrassa's arent the same. (from my experience anyway..)

i was talking specifically about schools, you know the places that typically run between 9 & 3...
i know theres an issue in some mosques about disciplining kids.

some kids want to attend faith schools, whats your problem with that?

[CosmicPathos]

Reality check? Theres a thread within the last day about a London Madrassa beating the snot out of the kiddys.
Thats in my own country in this 21st Century:raging:

I know this. If a secular school teacher lays a hand on a child they are suspended.Thats the law.

I oppose any faith based school anyway. The only thing thats needed to rid the world of religion is one generation being taught about the world they can see and not a magical world made up by Bronze age societys.

If they really want to beleive in such things, let them discover them by their own truths as an adult, not injecting the supernatural onto unformed minds.

You equally could have an atheist teacher, albeit devoid of morals, beating the hell out of students. Also make him an ex army officer.

I concur with what sr skye has said, a stick to your bottoms in childhood should have done some good.

The evidence that boys seem to do well in mixed school seems to be shady. All-boy and all-girls are the two ways to go where focus is on education, development of extracurricular activities, discipline, perseverance (according to age), physical and mental development. No opportunity for discrimination, inferiority complexes just cuz one's parents are poor or something.

[Froggy]

The evidence that boys seem to do well in mixed school seems to be shady.

What do you mean?

[syilla]

Same here in Malaysia... the islamic schools scored higher...than the others. And i really believe it is because of the commitment from everyone :)

[PouringRain]

You equally could have an atheist teacher, albeit devoid of morals, beating the hell out of students. Also make him an ex army officer.

I concur with what sr skye has said, a stick to your bottoms in childhood should have done some good.

The evidence that boys seem to do well in mixed school seems to be shady. All-boy and all-girls are the two ways to go where focus is on education, development of extracurricular activities, discipline, perseverance (according to age), physical and mental development. No opportunity for discrimination, inferiority complexes just cuz one's parents are poor or something.

I agree with most of the posts in the thread, including your point about how it could just as well have been an atheist teacher beating students. The public schools in my area still spank kids, and even as old as age 14.

I think it is great to see a school, like the one mentioned in the OP, that is performing as this one is!