Islamic School for Training & Education
Executive Summary
The Islamic School for Training & Education provides an overall quality of education rated as Acceptable for the 2023-2024 academic year. Under a new principal, the school prioritizes Islamic values, inclusion, and wellbeing, which has positively impacted staff morale.
Students demonstrate strong achievement in Islamic Education and Arabic, with very good behavior and self-reliance. The school offers opportunities for technical and vocational training in Cycles 2 and 3, and provides good care, guidance, and pastoral support, fostering a positive wellbeing ethos.
However, the school faces challenges in ensuring consistency in teaching quality and assessment practices across all cycles. Self-evaluation and improvement planning require further development to emphasize progress monitoring and address identified weaknesses effectively.
Overall School Performance
Outstanding
Very Good
Good
Acceptable
Weak
Very Weak
Islamic School for Training & Education Overall Rating
Acceptable for 6+ consecutive years
Dubai Focus Areas
These three pillars represent the Dubai education authority's priorities: ensuring inclusive practices, prioritizing student wellbeing, and meeting UAE National Agenda targets.
Provision and outcomes for students of determination are acceptable. The school has appointed an experienced inclusion leader and uses formal and informal assessments to identify needs. While students are included in most classrooms and make acceptable progress, the tracking system and consistent curriculum modifications need improvement. students of determinationinclusion leadervocational experiences
The overall quality of wellbeing provision and outcomes is good, driven by senior leaders' strong commitment based on Islamic values. Students experience a positive and supportive environment, with an active school council ensuring their opinions are heard. However, the response to personal and emotional needs is sometimes not rapid enough, and extra-curricular provision is limited. Islamic valuespositive and supportive environmentschool council
Overall school standards in the National Agenda Parameter are weak. The school partially met registration requirements due to insufficient student entry for international assessments, and external benchmark data is not consistently analyzed or used. Reading literacy skills are weak across all students, including Emiratis, due to a lack of systematic teaching methods. international assessmentsreading literacyEmirati cohort
Key Highlights
Standout achievements identified by the inspection team that distinguish this school.
Strong Islamic & Arabic
Students demonstrate good achievement in Islamic Education and Arabic across all phases.
Vocational Training
Opportunities for students to access technical and vocational training are available in Cycles 2 and 3.
Personal Development
Students show very good personal development, deeply immersed in Islamic values and Emirati culture.
Care & Wellbeing
The school provides good care, guidance, and pastoral support, fostering a strong wellbeing ethos.
Academic Performance Breakdown
Students show stronger achievement in lessons and workbooks, particularly in Islamic Education and Arabic. Attainment in English, mathematics, and science across the school is acceptable, though inconsistencies exist. Students' learning skills are stronger in upper grades of Cycle 1 and in Cycles 2 and 3.
Leadership & Management
Effectiveness of school governance, strategic planning, and leadership capacity to drive continuous improvement.
Leadership Approach
Under the new principal, leadership prioritizes Islamic values, inclusion, and wellbeing, which has boosted morale. While daily operations are effective, leaders acknowledge the need to overcome barriers to improvement, particularly in ensuring consistent teaching quality and developing self-evaluation processes.
Inspection Findings
Students' Outcomes
Students demonstrate stronger achievement in Islamic Education and Arabic, with acceptable attainment in English, mathematics, and science. Learning skills are stronger in upper grades and Cycles 2 and 3, but inconsistencies exist within and between subjects.
Personal Development
Students exhibit very good behavior, self-reliance, and mutual respect, with rare incidents of bullying. They prioritize safe and healthy living, maintain high attendance, and deeply understand Islamic values, actively contributing to the school community.
Teaching Quality
Teachers often plan lessons with clear objectives but do not consistently address the range of abilities or encourage critical thinking. Resources lack variety, and internal assessment processes are inconsistent, particularly in Cycle 1 and Cycle 2, hindering uniform use of assessment information.
Protection & Care
Health and safety policies and safeguarding coordination are unclear in some respects, though teachers are trained in child protection. Facilities are well maintained, healthy lifestyles promoted, and effective supervision ensures safety. Identification of students of determination is generally accurate, supporting their wellbeing and guidance.
Areas for Development
- •Ensure that internal assessment processes are consistently coherent.
- •Use internal and external assessment information to plan and deliver challenging lessons which meet the needs of learners, including students of determination.
- •Develop leadership skills, especially among subject leaders, to foster the capacity for innovation and improvement.
- •Establish a systematic and coherent self-evaluation process based on accurate assessment information.
- •Ensure appropriate actions by governors to implement the recommendations made in this report.
- •Introduce a systematic approach to the teaching of reading and enable all students to develop range of skills to decode unfamiliar words.
- •Ensure that teachers promote a culture of reading for both pleasure and information.
- •Ensure a rapid response to personal and emotional needs.
- •Consider ways to make the extra-curricular provision available to more students.
- •Ensure that students, and particularly boys in Cycle 3, develop their knowledge and understanding of the application of Islamic laws in relation to problems in modern society.
- •Ensure that students use the newly acquired vocabulary from Holy Qur’an lessons in their independent writing.
- •Teach the reading scheme systematically in KG and raise teachers’ expectations of what children can achieve.
- •Provide students with books that match their reading abilities in order to develop independent reading.
- •Provide opportunities to apply mathematical skills in different ways.
- •Ensure that teachers have higher expectations of what students can achieve.
- •Systematically develop the skills of scientific enquiry and method from KG to Grade 12.
- •Ensure that students have the space and opportunity to apply the scientific method to their work.
- •Provide opportunities across the curriculum for all students to improve their digital literacy.
- •Enrich students’ understanding and knowledge of global cultures and traditions.
- •Ensure that all students have opportunities to develop and lead their own innovative projects.
- •Provide more opportunities for students to be involved in environmental projects that support sustainability and conservation.
- •Develop a centralised system for child protection and safeguarding, and ensure that all members of staff have access to regular training.
- •Ensure compliance with all health and safety regulations.
- •Ensure that all lessons consistently provide academic and personal support well matched to the needs of individual students.
- •Improve the tracking system for monitoring the progress of students of determination.
- •Ensure that, in all lessons, teachers make accurate modifications to enable students of determination to have full access to the curriculum, and develop programmes to support students with gifts and talents.