nida trust newsletter summer 2012

Muslim Education Fair 2012

Explore – Share - Innovate

The education fair held on Sunday 4th March 2012was the first of its kind, showcasing the very best ofMuslim education in Britain, and housing over 50

exhibitors including Schools, SupplementarySchools, Education organisations, Universities &Research Institutes, Charities, Public ServiceProviders and Publishers. Over 1500 visitors at-tended this unique event exploring the latest devel-opments in Muslim education, networking with othereducators, sharing good practice and learning how

to create a stimulating and innovative learning envi-ronment for all learners.

The opening ceremony attracted a large number ofvisitors who listened to a number of keynotespeeches from high profile personalities includingLakhte Hassanain (Chairman, Muslim Hands Inter-national), Mayor Lutfur Rahman (London Borough of

Reporting on our latest events and initiatives

www.nidatrust.org.uk Issue: Summer 2012

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Tower Hamlets), Dr. Abdul Bari MBE (Chairman ofEast London Mosque & Former Secretary Generalof MCB), Baron Maurice Glasman of Stoke Newing-ton and Mohammed Akram Khan-Cheema OBE(CEO of IBERR).

The first session (morning) was devoted to those di-rectly involved in education, and was the ideal op-portunity to network and converse with fellowMuslim Educators. The ‘Learning Café’ provided theperfect opportunity to relax and chat with otherteachers, publishers or lecturers about enhancingMuslim Education in Britain. The ‘Learning Zone’ in-cluded presentations from a variety of schoolsshowcasing exciting projects and initiatives.

In the afternoon, the doors were opened to the gen-eral public, providing an excellent opportunity for in-stitutions and organisations to publicise themselves,whether advertising a school or business.

It is an exciting time to be involved in Muslim Educa-tion in Britain. A confidence is growing amongst the

Muslim population and the education being providedis, in many cases, leading the way. Muslim educa-tional institutions are now demonstrating a uniqueconfidence and can successfully marry the western

system with a more spiritual and religious approach.

Y-Lead Presentation Ceremony 2012

Over 200 young people who attended one of eightY-Lead programmes were awarded at our 4th an-nual Y-Lead Presentation evening in March 2012:‘Celebrating Youth Leadership’. The Y-Lead pro-gramme has seen phenomenal success in the pastyear with its flag ship programme in both East andWest London filling up places in less than a week,other programmes include ‘Y –Lead for Schools’and ‘Y-Lead in the community’ taking place at anumber of other locations.

The programme continues to be a six week inten-sive course that allows participants to explore anddevelop key leadership skills through topics such ascommunication, team working and conflict resolu-tion. Speakers who have contributed to the pro-gramme include third sector instructors, localcouncillors, youth organisations and educationalists. In recognition of the hard work of the participantsduring the intensive six weeks, we invited facilita-tors, key stake holders, community leaders, partnersand parents to celebrate the programme coming toan end. The evening was filled with inspirationalspeeches and delicious food.


Listening to participants speak so confidently andarticulately on stage was evidence of the growingimpact of the Y-Lead programme which is now fastbecoming the leading youth leadership programmeamongst the Muslim community. The youth depart-ment have received many more requests to run theprogramme at their centre or school next year. In-sha’Allah, next year will no doubt be another suc-cess for the Y-Lead programme encouraging moreand more young people to make a positive differ-ence to their communities.

Shahin's experience in NepalOn the 10th of July 2011 Shahin Ahmed, our Y-LeadProgramme Co-ordinator for East London andTrustee of Nida Trust along with 10 other interna-tional volunteers embarked on a 3 month journey toNepal as part of a new scheme funded by the U.KGovernment known as International citizen service.The organisation he went to Nepal with was Rest-less Development. During his time in Nepal they setup a new library, raised money for the local schoolby organising a talent show and motivated the com-munity to take positive action to improve their com-munity. They also set up a new mentoring schemein order to help the young people improve theirreading, writing and speaking (English). By beingpart of Nida Trust and having the experience inleading Y -lead programme (youth leadership pro-gramme), Shahin was able to support some of theclasses in the local schools which the young stu-

dents really enjoyed. Overall his experience inNepal was life changing and has made him appreci-ate life even more.

Nida Trust Sponsors Muslim Writers Awards

Nida Trust was one of the official sponsors of theMuslim Writers Awards 2011 which took place onTues 22nd November 2011 at the prestigiousShakespeare's Globe Theatre in London. BabarMirza, Vice-Chair and Director of Education for NidaTrust, said that "Nida Trust wishes to congratulatethe Muslim Writers’ Awards team for their invaluable

efforts in inspiring and empowering Muslim writersto make a difference through the written word. Aslong as the written word has existed it has beenused as a tool for social change. The Muslim Writ-ers’ Awards is a gathering to celebrate and promotethe word as a catalyst for change, and provides anopportunity for aspiring writers to share theirthoughts, fears, hopes and dreams and inspire oneanother to create the kind of change that helps buildbetter communities."

You Teach ProgrammeThis year the You Teach Programme has supported30 trainee teachers, newly qualified teachers


(NQTs) and other more experienced teachers (Post-NQTs) through half termly support sessions. Traineeteachers have learned about delivering good les-sons, effective classroom management, assess-ment for learning and applying for their first teachingposition. NQTs learned about delivering outstandinglessons, effective questioning and effective provi-sion for G&T students. The Post-NQTs have learnedabout successfully leading a school project, aspira-tion, influence and school culture, as well as coach-ing and mentoring. The trainee teachers will beawarded for gaining qualified teachers status at theNational Muslim Teachers Creativity and InnovationAwards 2012 on Sat 2nd June 2012.

Professional Studies forPrimary School Teachers'Foundation LevelAll three parts of the Professional Studies for Pri-mary School Teachers' foundation course were de-

livered over three consecutive Saturdays in London.The course was delivered by three experiencedpractitioners, including Sr. Humaira Saleem, Head-teacher of Suffah Primary School, who covered thetopic of 'Classroom Management, Organisation andDelivery', Br. Majid Ishaque, Deputy-Headteacher ofAl-Noor Primary School who covered the topic of'Planning and Assessment', and Sr. Foziya Reddy,Headteacher of Islamic Shakhsiyah Foundation who

covered the topic of 'Children and Individual Needs'.

Professional Studies forPrimary School Teachers'Advanced LevelFollowing the Foundation Level course, the Profes-sional Studies for Primary School Teachers' Ad-

vanced level course was delivered over three con-secutive Saturdays in London. The course was de-livered by three experienced practitioners, includingSr. Humaira Saleem, Headteacher of Suffah Pri-mary School, who covered the topic of ''CreativeCurriculum: How to plan an integrated, creative andskills based curriculum to reignite learning in chil-dren', Sr. Someera Butt, Headteacher of Al-NoorPrimary School who covered the topic of 'Unleash-ing Potential - Promoting the Emotional Develop-ment of Pupils', and Sr. Farah Ahmed & Sr. FoziyaReddy, Headteachers of Islamic ShakhsiyahFoundation who covered the topic of ‘Using DialogicPrinciples to develop thinking in the Primary Class-room’.

Professional Studies forHeadteachersFour parts of the six part Headteachers’ coursehave taken place so far this year. Experienced edu-cation consultant Sr. Firdos Qazi, and experiencedheadteachers Sr. Someera Butt (Al-Noor PrimarySchool) and Sr. Humaira Saleem (Suffah PrimarySchool) have delivered thought provoking sessionsto a group of Headteachers. Topics have includedDeveloping Effective School Systems; Ensuring ac-countability & Effective use of school performancedata; School Self Evaluation & Improvement; Com-munication & Personal Skills. The remaining twosessions will take place in June and will cover Driv-ing Initiatives & Change Management; ManagingStaff/Conflict Resolution & Developing staff.

Muslim Head Teacher'sForumHeadteachers from across London and the sur-rounding areas have met every half term this year tonetwork and share ideas. In addition to a packedagenda relating to how Muslim schools can work to-gether, themes for each meeting have included Bul-lying & Emotional Development, Dealing with


Complaints, Whole School Literacy, Quality Assur-ance of Teaching and Learning and Effective Part-nerships with Parents. The forum has also had thepleasure of being joined by Siôn Humphreys fromthe National Association of Headteachers (NAHT).The final Headteachers’ forum meeting of the yearwill take place on Thurs 14th June 2012 and will dis-

cuss the theme of ‘School Culture & Behaviour’.

School Home PartnershipThe School-Home Partnership workshops and semi-nars have been a big hit this year taking place atcommunity centres across London including

Whitechapel, Wembley, Harrow, Leyton, and Green-wich, attracting over 400 parents. The workshopsand seminars addressed some of the reasons whyMuslim children are underachieving at school andhighlighted the impact of parental participation on achild's development and education. The workshopsand seminars have also provided parents with prac-tical tips on how to support their child's education athome and at school. Further workshops and semi-nars are planned later this term for Dollis Hill andQueen Park in NW London.

Supplementary SchoolsSupport ServiceA team of qualified teachers from Nida Trust con-ducted a number of mini inspections of Madaris

across the London area evaluating and identifyingareas for development ranging from teaching/learn-ing to policies and safeguarding / child protection. Inaddition, our Supplementary Schools Teacher Train-ing courses have taken place three times this yearattracting 25 teachers from a variety of supplemen-tary schools and madaris. The teachers havelearned about ‘Planning for Learning’, ‘LearningStyles’ and ‘Assessing Pupil Progress & ProvidingFeedback’.

SCETT 30th Anniversary Annual Conference 2011:'Teacher Education: Past,Present and Future'On Friday 25 November,Br. Amjad Malik, SchoolLeadership DevelopmentCoordinator for Nida Trustspoke at the SCETT(Standing Committee forthe Education and Trainingof Teachers) 30th Anniver-sary Annual Conference 2011 entitled 'Teacher Edu-cation: Past, Present and Future'. Br. Amjadpresented a case study from Nida Trust which in-cluded the work of our You Teach Programme in

supporting ethnic minority teachers in schools.

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Y-LEAD for CommunityCentresY - Lead for community took place at Noor Ul Islamfrom the 8th October to 12th November 2011, everySaturday from 2pm-5pm. This 6 weeks professionalyouth development course targeted young peopleage 14-20. Youth Programme was based on the fol-lowing topics: Effective Leadership Communicationskills/Express Yourself Conflict resolution Influenc-ing others Motivation Developing a campaign. Thecourse was structured in order to build a bridge be-tween curricular studies and the world the youth en-counters.

Each week guest speakers were invited to deliverpart of the session, enlightening and giving an indepth understanding and support to the participants.With over 23 participants each week, we have re-ceived the following feedbacks: “It helped me buildskills that youth need in life” Yasmeen Mukadam“Motivates the youth in to good leaders and goodpeople” Yahya Abdi “This type of programme is in-credibly useful and it gives the youth in the commu-

nitysupport and guidance” Ozma Najib

Y-LEAD for SchoolsY-LEAD for schools is a six-week leadership coursemainly aimed at school pupils between the ages of14 to 16. The topics covered include conflict resolu-tion, goal setting, communication skills, motivation,

developing an effective campaign and the final ses-sion ties in everything the participants have learnt inthe past two weeks into one session where the mainfocus is our best example the Prophet MuhammadPBUH. We hope that by the end of the 6 weeks thepupils taking part increase their ability to communi-cate with others in their society using an open mindin order to understand and tolerate others and to beproactive and to take the initiative when the feelthey want to make a change however small and to

understand their purpose and worth.

An Insight into Islam ProgrammeInsight into Islam was launched on 30th October2011 at Ebrahim Community College. The main pur-pose of the course is to enable the participants tounderstand the practical implications of different as-

pects of Islamic teachings namely: Reforming Mes-sage, Knowledge, Leaders, Neighbours, Friendsand Freedom. The course is designed to allow stu-dents to have dialogue, debate and discuss currentissues from an Islamic and non Islamic perspective.The students feel overwhelmed to have a platformwhere they can freely express their views withoutfeeling restricted and have shown a strong supportfor Nida Trust’s ‘Creative Delivery Style’.

Train the Trainer WorkshopOver 22 young people participated in our trainingthe trainer programme this year on Saturday andSunday (1st & 2nd October). These young peoplewere selected from the last year’s Y – Lead (youthleadership programme) to play a leading role in de-livering the youth leadership programmes in variouscentres. On Saturday, the young people exploredwhat makes an outstanding youth leadership ses-sion, how young people learn and did a draft plan ofa youth leadership session which they shared withothers in the class. On Sunday, each participant dida role of teaching part of youth leadership session


while others in the class acted as students. Theywere observed by experienced youth leaders andwere given constructive feedback on how well theydid and what can be done to improve further. Oneparticipant commented that the train the trainer pro-gramme boosted their confidence and is now farmore confident to lead a session.

Parenting for Life

Community Development department launched itsfirst ever ‘Parenting for Life’ workshop at MuslimWelfare House on 2nd November 2011. The courseis designed to illustrate to parents the concept ofpositive, proactive and life-long parenting and em-power them with skills and confidence to work withtheir children as they grow up. The workshop wasdelivered over 3 days with approximately 30 femaleparticipants attending, mainly from Somali and Arabbackground. It was delivered by Dr MuhammadAbdul Bari (a prominent author and a parenting con-sultant) and was simultaneously translated in bothArab and Somali language to ensure a maximumimpact.

Qur'an WeekThe Qur’an Week was organised by the Headteach-ers’ Forum as part of an inter-school project, whichtook place on 28th Nov – 2nd Dec 2011. Manyschools from across London and the surrounding

areas focused on the theme ofthe Qur’an during that week. The week included avariety of school based activities which culminatedin a very successful celebratory event at Suffah Pri-mary School, in Hounslow, West London, where stu-dents’ work was exhibited as part of an exhibitionand students also delivered presentations other stu-dents, teachers and parents.

History of Islamic Education: Past, Present and the FutureThis unique course was held at the Institute of Edu-cation, University of London and was organisedjointly by Nida Trust, Ibn Jabal Institute, Islamic Cir-cles and the Institute of Education Islamic Society.The course was delivered by Dr. Abdullah Sahin,Head of Research and Senior Lecturer in IslamicStudies and Education at the The Markfield Institute

of Higher Education [MIHE]. The course was anoverview and intensive course which looked to de-veloping critical / empirical perspectives for the con-temporary theory and practice of Islamic Education.The course covered Islamic Educational Thought -Philosophical/Dialectical/Hermeneutical Ap-proaches; Theology of Education in Islam; Classical& Modern Curriculum - A critical comparison; Teach-ing Islam Critically - Reasons, methods and limits;


Pedagogy and Faith development; Historicaloverview of Islamic Institutions & decline; Strategiesfor revival, change and included extensive Q & Asessions. The course was very well attended withover 100 participants. Feedback was also very posi-tive which indicates that similar courses are likely torun in the future.

MAB Leaders TrainingCamp 2012

Nida Trust were invited to run Muslim Association ofBritain's annual leaders training camp. Youth lead-ers from across the country gathered over a week-end in May 2012 at a campsite in Nottingham whereyoung leaders learnt to explore and develop keyleadership skills through topics such as communica-tion, team working and conflict resolution. The ses-sions were led by Foezul Ali, Abdul Wahid andShahin Ahmed from Nida Trust’s youth department.

Nida Trust in QatarNida Trust continues to work on site at two largesecondary schools in Doha, Qatar, providing consul-tancy on raising standards of teaching and learningand improving outcomes for the students who at-tend the schools. Nida Trust has also launched thefirst Cambridge University accredited InternationalDiploma for Teachers and Trainers in Qatar.

Judges Meet to SelectCreative and InnovativeProjects

Six judges met to review projects from mainstreamschools, faith schools, independent schools andsupplementary schools for the National MuslimTeachers Creativity and Innovation Awards 2012.Judges included Rukhsana Yaqoob, Education Con-sultant & Secretary of Muslim teachers Association(MTA); Dr. Israr Khan, OFSTED Registered SchoolInspector & Education Consultant; Firdos Qazi, Edu-cation Consultant; Dr. Jacek Brant, Head of GEMSand senior lecturer in Business Education, Instituteof Education, London; Dr. Mohammed Abdul Bari,Former Secretary General, MCB, and Philip Preedy,Senior Advisor for Standards and Improvement,Nida Trust.

The judges looked for creativity, innovation, impact,resource management and effective use of funding.There were seven award categories, including the

language and literacy award, the numeracy award,the science and technology award, the businessand enterprise award, the arts award, the sportsaward and finally the citizenship award. The cate-gories address the key areas of curriculum andallow for pioneering and imaginative delivery, bene-fiting students from all backgrounds. Shortlisted en-trants will be invited to attend the awards ceremonyand gala dinner at the Britannia International Hotel,Canarf Wharf, London, which will be attended byover 450 guests and televised on the Islam Chan-nel.

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nida trust newsletter summer 2012

Documents

education organisations

muslim education fair

enhancingmuslim education

schoolsand ylead

lead programmes

ylead presentation ceremony

best ofmuslim education

learning howto