West London Islamic school ‘puts pupils at significant risk of harm', report finds

A west London primary school is putting pupils at “significant risk of harm”, Ofsted has concluded.

Suffah Primary School, on Wellington Road in south Hounslow is an Islamic independent day school.

The main primary area is situated on the first floor of the Hounslow Jamia Masjid & Islamic Centre, which is also the school’s proprietor.

At the time of the inspection, which took place in January 2026, the school had 92 pupils, operating at around half of its capacity of 186 pupils.

The school charges an annual fee of £4,200 per pupil, and provides all of its education in-house.

The education watchdog found that the school’s approach to safeguarding is ineffective, due to a lack of leadership oversight and inadequate administrative systems.

The report states that whilst the newly formed safeguarding team has received appropriate training, the proprietor has “not provided sufficient support” to ensure that the leaders with responsibility for safeguarding have acted on the priorities for improvement swiftly.

Inspectors said three areas assessed “need attention” while four others were graded as requiring “urgent improvement”.

The inspection found that “leaders have not ensured that there is an open and positive culture around safeguarding” which “puts pupils at significant risk of harm”.

The report states that the Hounslow Jamia Masjid & Islamic Centre, as the school’s proprietor, has failed to ensure that staff are “vigilant to the sign of a pupil being at risk”.

Academic concerns such as “the teaching of phonics [being] disjointed” was raised.

Inspectors found that assessment practices are “inconsistent”, which means gaps in pupils’ learning are “not identified or addressed quickly enough”.

As a result, older pupils “lack the depth of subject knowledge and the essential skills… needed for a smooth transition into secondary learning”.

Ofsted added: “Leaders, including the proprietor, do not have a clear understanding of the priorities for improvement in the school’s curriculum or how it should be delivered.”
Inspectors found that pupils feel safe in school, and that adults in school care for them and will help them if they have any worries.

The school is “generally calm” and “incidents of bullying or any discriminatory behaviour rarely happen”, the report adds.

However, despite having established systems to monitor attendance and follow up on absences, school leaders’ analysis of attendance at a group or school level is “not sufficiently developed” to identify broader patterns or trends.

This means the chance for early intervention and results in some pupils being absent from school too often is limited.

When it comes to supporting vulnerable students, Ofsted says the school falls short because “leaders have not ensured that staff have the training and expertise so that they know how to meet pupils’ individual needs”.

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While leaders are making improvements to the provision for pupils with SEND, there is limited consideration of other barriers to learning and wellbeing that pupils may face, such as disadvantage and/or vulnerability due to their specific circumstances.

The early years program has a contrast between its indoor and outdoor environments.

The indoor classrooms are praised as “pleasant, purposeful and well-organised learning spaces”.

However, the outdoor provision fails to meet legal requirements.

Inspectors said: “Recent construction on the area previously being developed for the early years outdoor provision has severely limited children’s learning opportunities.”
The report also states that “the proprietor has not ensured that the independent school standards are consistently and securely met across all aspects of the school’s work”.

Despite some recent changes in interim leadership, essential actions have not been implemented with urgency, they said.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) contacted the school for comment.

A statement from the governors said: “Our priority is, and always will be, the children.

The recent Ofsted inspection reflects what we see every day: children who are safe, supported, and happy in their school environment.

“This remains our greatest measure of success.

The inspection identified areas for improvement that we were already fully aware of and actively addressing.

“Like many schools across London and the wider country, we have faced challenges; what matters is how those challenges are managed.

In our case, the findings align with a clear and established school improvement plan already in progress, which Ofsted itself acknowledged.”
They added: “For the school, our focus remains on working closely with Hounslow Council and safeguarding partners to ensure strong oversight and the highest standards of care for every child.

We are also entering a new and positive phase of development, supported by an organisation with a proven record of strong Ofsted outcomes.

“This represents a confident step forward in strengthening leadership and securing long‑term success for our pupils.”
Ofsted provided a series of steps the school should take to improve, including improving safeguarding oversight, teacher training and improving the outdoor area.

Ofsted also advised redesigning the curriculum, improving phonics teaching and tackling absences.