Ofsted inspectors highlight safeguarding issues at Institute of Islamic Education in Savile Town, Dewsbury, after third visit in 13 months

The education watchdog’s June inspection of the Institute of Islamic Education in Savile Town was a third visit within 13 months, with the overall outcome stating that “the school does not meet all of the independent school standards that were checked.”

The report, published on 21 September, goes on to say: “At the previous inspection, inspectors found that safeguarding continued to be ineffective. They found that leaders did not recognise when there is a serious safeguarding concern, or make referrals to the appropriate agency in a timely manner.

“At this inspection, it was found that safeguarding records for more serious and complex cases are still not as thorough as they need to be.

“Leaders continue to fail to act with sufficient understanding of when there are serious safeguarding concerns. During this inspection, inspectors identified a significant safeguarding concern which had not been identified as such, or acted upon appropriately. Leaders have not had ‘eyes on’ a pupil who has not been attending school for several months.

“Leaders have not carried out sufficient checks on a volunteer for a front-line safeguarding role, where there is unsupervised access to pupils.

“Volunteers with full access to children and young people have not been properly vetted.”

It added: “The arrangements for the safety of children at this school are not effective. Leaders and managers have made some improvements to safeguarding processes, but there have been further serious incidents of violence and sexual assault between children.

“Leaders and staff have failed to maintain vigilance of children. For example, they were not aware of a serious assault by pupils on another pupil.”

In response to the report’s findings, Yusuf Seedat, Executive Headteacher, stated: “We acknowledge the content of Ofsted’s most recent report. We have worked with professionals to ensure the independent school standards and national minimum standards for boarding are met.

“We are pleased that an independent review by safeguarding and education experts have found that all these standards are met.

“We are satisfied that our pupils are safe at all times and we continue to work closely with professionals and our local safeguarding partner.”