Luqman Academy is a private school in Darnall previously replaced by an Andrew-Tate obsessed headteacher
Luqman Academy was slammed in a recent Ofsted inspection(Image: Facebook)
An Islamic-run private school in Sheffield has been slammed by Ofsted as “inadequate” in three areas.
Seraphic Academy was succeeded by Luqman Academy, a private-run Islamic faith school in Darnall which can register up to 240 students between the ages of four and 16. An Ofsted inspection conducted between July 1 and July 3 this year showed the Tinsley Park Road-based school was inadequate in several areas.
Mary Cook, lead inspector, rated the school inadequate in three areas: the quality of education, personal development, and leadership and management. The school was rated as requiring improvement in behaviour attitudes, and Ms Cook concluded it did not meet the independent school standards.
The report said the quality of education is “poor”. It said: “The curriculum lacks breadth and does not include all the required areas of learning. Pupils do not build up the necessary knowledge and skills. Expectations of what pupils can achieve are inconsistent.” It said pupils “do not receive the quality of academic and personal development education that they deserve”, expressing concerns about “untidy and ill-resourced classrooms”, unsafe and poorly maintained playtime grounds, and an unhygienic building that puts pupils at harm.
It said the school does not have a broad or well-designed curriculum, and pupils study a narrow range of subjects. It also said staff do not have the experience or training to deliver the curriculum well. Inspectors were particularly critical of the phonics teaching at the primary school level, which means pupils “are not prepared well enough for the next stage of their education”. One reason for poor phonics education is a lack of reading books, which means some pupils do not learn to be fluent readers as quickly as they should.
It said the school is “very poorly resourced”, with teachers having to buy resources out of their own pocket. Older children also receive no sex education, and some pupils do not have any PSHE lessons.
Alongside concerns regarding resources and the curriculum, Ofsted inspectors outlined serious concerns regarding staff turnover and the safeguarding in place for recruiting new staff. Required pre-employment checks on the suitability of staff are not undertaken, including conducting criminal record checks and seeking references, while the school does not have an up-to-date register of all the names of staff and volunteers that regularly work in the school.
The school is unaware of pupils known to children’s social care, and record-keeping of safeguarding actions with children is “incomplete.” The report added that the majority of staff are not aware of safeguarding concerns, and they lacked an understanding of the “Prevent” duty and reporting radicalisation.
Behaviour and attendance were also highlighted. Inspectors said staff do not consistently manage pupils’ behaviour, leading to confusion, while incidents of poor behaviour and suspensions are not recorded in a systematic way. The school does not have an effective process for monitoring attendance and has failed to report children missing from education. Many pupils are late on a daily basis.
The building also poses a fire risk, the inspection said, as many rooms did not have a fire evacuation notice. Whole-school fire drills are not conducted regularly, and only one staff member is a trained fire marshal. The Ofsted report said many staff had left since its previous monitoring inspection in June 2024, and there are a series of social media posts asking for new teachers and staff members across a range of subjects.
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One post in May 2024 said the school wanted to hire “Primary School teachers, Secondary School teachers (various roles: Science, Mathematics, English, Humanities, Computing/ICT, P.E., Health and Social Care, Tourism, Business, and Psychology), Deputy Head teacher or Lead (secondary experience), Deputy Head teacher or Lead (primary experience), Pastoral Care and Behaviour Manager (female), Pastoral Care and Behaviour Manager (male), SENCO and intervention teacher, Early Years staff (leadership and teaching roles)”. The exhaustive list suggests it required almost an entire school staff.
However, the pay offered was between £19,600 and £21,000 for a teaching role and £21,000 to £23,000 for a leadership role. The minimum wage for a full-time employee aged over 21 and working 37.5 hours per week is £23,809.
Headteacher Tahir Shaikh was only appointed in April 2025, but a previous inspection raised concerns about the school. In December 2021, when it was Seraphic Academy, Ofsted rated the school as “good.” An additional inspection in September 2023 found the school was not meeting a number of educational standards. A follow-up inspection in June 2024 found those standards had since been met.
YorkshireLive contacted Luqman Academy for a response but has not received a reply.
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