AMS Independent Muslim Schools Awards 2011
AMS UK Secondary School of the Year sponsored by the Yusuf Islam Foundation.
Winner: TAWHID BOYS SCHOOL, LONDON
Accepting on behalf of Tawhid Boys School, Abdul Ghani Alibhai: “JazakAllah khair to the judges who saw fit for Tawhid Boys School to receive this award, jazakAllah khair to AMS for organising this event. I wasn’t expecting this to be absolutely honest and the one thing I can say is that our school would not have achieved this without the work, motivation and dedication of our headteacher Brother Usman Mapara. So for me the school can only achieve what it does with the vision, motivation and dedication of the headteacher. He transfers his good qualities and his motivation right the way through to all the staff, students and the wider community. JazakAllah khair.”
Regarding Tawhid Boys School Ofsted commented; “Students’ high academic achievements owe much to the dedication of their teachers, the very effective leadership of the headteacher and senior managers and the support of the governing body.”
The school achieved ‘Healthy School Status’ in 2010, this included the implementation of a ‘Healthy Eating Policy’ and the co-ordination of a ‘Health Awareness Event’ with the British Heart Foundation. The school also raised £5000 in one week for the Pakistan Flood Relief and is part of the ‘Schools Linking Programme’, a pioneering initiative that brings together students from Muslim and Jewish faith schools for a series of events and curriculum based activities. The school gives high priority to spiritual development, which is promoted through prayer, reflection and daily study of the Seerah of the Noble Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him.
AMS UK Primary School of the Year sponsored by the Yusuf Islam Foundation.
Winner: AL-HIJRAH PRIMARY SCHOOL, BIRMINGHAM
Accepting on behalf of Al-Hijrah Primary School, Saemah Akmal: “Masha’Allah this is fantastic. Firstly all praise is for Allah, who has blessed us with, masha’Allah, wonderful staff, wonderful children and a wonderful headteacher aswell. I’d also like to thank AMS for organising such events to highlight Muslim schools’ achievements. Thank you very much AMS and also thank you to the Yusuf Islam Foundation for sponsoring the award.”
Al-Hijrah Primary School has made an outstanding contribution to the development of spirituality in learners. An example of this is the ‘Hadith of the Week’ initiative in which a class produces an assembly at the end of the week based on a Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad, peace & blessings be upon him. The school has also forged strong links with other communities and cultures; amongst a number of events a local Catholic school attended the school’s Seerah Day Celebrations thus combining inter-faith understanding and dawah. Currently the school is supporting head teachers of local state schools in introducing Arabic as a Modern Foreign Language in their schools. The school has shown a consistent standard of academic achievement over a number of years at Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.
AMS UK Transformational Leader of the Year sponsored by Al-Furqan Educational Trust:
Winner: MONA MOHAMED (MANCHESTER ISLAMIC HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS)
“First and foremost my gratitude and praise is to Allah and i would like to thank the Association of Muslim Schools for actually creating such an opportunity for our Muslim schools so that their hard work and achievement can be acknowledged. I don’t consider this achievement to be an individual achievement because it isn’t; I consider it to be teamwork. I don’t believe I would be the leader that I am standing infront of you if I did not work in an outstanding organisation like Manchester Islamic Educational Trust, that under its wing has three schools of which I had the pleasure and honour to lead two of those schools; KD Grammar School for Boys and Manchester Islamic High School for Girls and I would like sincerely from the bottom of my heart to thank the trustees, the fantastic and outstanding staff and pupils, the highly supportive parents and the wider community for making who I am today. Twenty seven years ago when I came to this country and I couldn’t speak a word of English and I never thought I could be standing here today. I am indebted to Allah for this and I pray to Allah to bless our schools and to continue to enable me, insha’Allah, to serve this community to the best of my ability. JazakAllah khair, thank you.”
Mona Mohamed is someone who has overseen the transition of her school, Manchester Islamic High School for Girls, from ‘Good’ to ‘Outstanding’ in Ofsted inspections. She is the first to arrive at the school in the morning and the last to leave in the evening and sacrifices the majority of her spare time including weekends and school holidays to ensure the continued success of the school. The school staff flourish under her management and recognise that the success of the school is due to effective teamwork made possible through the spiritual guidance and the strong leadership of a confident and dedicated headteacher.
AMS UK Secondary School Teacher of the Year sponsored by Tauheedul Islam Girls High School:
Winner: SHAHIN KARMALI (AL ISLAH SCHOOL, BLACKBURN)
“I’d like to thank Allah for giving me this opportunity, for being part of this ceremony and for winning this award. I would also like to thank Al-Islah School who have always supported me and who provide such a lovely and friendly environment to work in, including the students who still motivate me and provide me with unique inspiration every day, it’s never the same day twice. And lastly i’d like to thank the organising committee, also those present, my colleagues, and my parents for being part of this special day.”
Shahin Karmali's father; “Thank you very much, I don’t know what to say. My parents really helped me. I pray to Allah that the way my parents taught me my daughter should teach children in Muslim schools and to do it in a way that gives all of us success in this life and the next and takes us to Jannah, jazakAllah khair.”
Shahin's lessons are always well-planned, organised and delivered with enthusiasm so that her students are motivated and engaged. Her dedication goes beyond the classroom and she has organised a number of activities for her students in her own time including;
* A Hajj day programme where students role played the 5 days of Hajj.
* A visit from the Interfaith Council to attend the school and answer questions posed by learners.
and
* An “Around the World” themed cooking competition.
AMS UK Primary School Teacher of the Year sponsored by Tauheedul Islam Girls High School.
Winner: SAIRA HANIF (AL-AQSA PRIMARY SCHOOL, LEICESTER)
“JazakAllah khair, i look forward to continuing teaching. This award means alot to me. I just want to say thank you to anyone who nominated me.”
Saira Hanif has had a strong Islamic impact on her class by implementing such spiritually nourishing practices as daily recitals of durood from the text Dalail-ul-Khayrat with her students. The school’s senior leadership, external schools’ inspectors and her students have struggled to contain their praise for her as her lessons are creative, practical, fun and rigorous and amongst other achievements she has started a school Taekwondo club which is currently oversubscribed.
AMS UK Non-Teaching Staff of the Year sponsored by Bolton Muslim Girls School.
Winner: NAGINA MOUGHEL (AL-HIJRAH PRIMARY SCHOOL, BIRMINGHAM)
“I would just like to say a great thank you to Al-Hijrah Primary as they not only bring out the best in their children but they also bring out the best in their staff and a special thank you to Sister Huda Aslam, Sister Saemah Akmal and Sister Shabina Shaikh, who actually believed in me and helped me believe in myself.”
Nagina Moughel made an outstanding contribution as a Teaching Assistant. Alongside taking on extra responsibilities she provided essential support to teaching staff and students that led to an improvement in standards at the school she works in.