Peterborough's Iqra Academy Principal's pride following glowing Ofsted report

The principal of a girl’s school in Peterborough has spoken of his pride after Ofsted rated the academy as ‘good’ in their latest inspection.

The Ofsted inspectors visited Iqra Academy – which has around 70 Muslim pupils on the register – earlier this year, with their report saying the school was good with some outstanding features.

After the report was published this week, principal Michael Wright said: “We are delighted with yet another glowing report.

"The students, staff, parents and wider community work incredibly hard to make the school a top performing school for girls, both in and out of the classroom. The inspectors’ comments perfectly reflect this effort.

“As a school we will continue to work closely with other education leaders in the city and forge even stronger links in the community.

"Of course, whilst we are very pleased with the report, we will continue to work equally hard to continually improve standards across the school.”

In their report, inspectors said that ‘pupils thrive’ at Iqra Academy, and praised teachers, saying: “Teachers have good subject knowledge. They provide pupils with clear explanations.

“Adults check pupils’ learning in every lesson. Leaders make wider checks to ensure that pupils understand their learning over time and make progress. Leaders and staff use this information to refine their teaching and to tackle any misunderstanding pupils may have in learning.”

The inspectors also highlighted the range of extra clubs pupils could join, including the opportunities to join the cadets, or take part in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme.

The school was given a number of areas where improvements could be made, with inspectors saying: “The school’s curriculum is not yet sufficiently well planned in a few subjects.

“However, it is clear from leaders’ actions that they are in the process of bringing this about.”

The report added: “Not all pupils read widely and often enough. Some pupils are not developing their reading resilience and enjoyment of reading.”

The full Ofsted report is available at https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/27/136023