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Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the legal status of Jaffaria Academy?

A: Jaffaria Academy is currently registered as a non-profit company (CLG), Company Number 12672063. However, we are in the process of registering a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). This process usually takes several months to complete.

Q: Is Jaffaria Academy an accredited school?

A: In June 2020 and after months of consultations, the Department for Education (DfE) created an online school accreditation scheme which beings in September 2020. Accordingly, we are in contact with the DfE to start the accreditation process.rnrnHaving said that, we follow the English National Curriculum and we will prepare our students for the official examinations (SATS, GCSE, A Levels), and those are internationally recognised exams, hence our priority is to ensure our students receive the best quality education in the safest environment in order to achieve the highest possible outcome on those exams.

Q: What will be the legal status of my child when we register with your school?

A: UK law allows parents to home educate their children, and more than 50,000 students are being home educated in the UK from all communities. Accordingly, when your child joins our school, you will have to notify your child’s current school of your intention to home educate your child. Once this happens, the school will notify your local council that your child is being home educated. This is a seamless process and we will provide you with step by step guidance.

Q: Who owns Jaffaria Academy and what is their remuneration?

A: Jaffaria Academy is a non-profit organisation and was founded by three trustees, and they are the main governors. They come from professional backgrounds and work in this project on voluntary basis and do not receive any form of remuneration.

Q: How are executive decisions made at Jaffaria Academy?

A: There are multiple levels of administration. Each group decides on matters pertaining to their specific defined roles in accordance with our constitution. However, there are multiple levels of oversight, such as Board of Trustees, Board of Directors, Administration, in addition to Quality Assurance mechanisms.

Q: Is Jaffaria Academy officially or unofficially affiliated with any other organisation or individual?

A: Jaffaria Academy is not affiliated with any individual or organisation. The Academy is a UK based educational institution. It is a charitable project founded by three members of the local community. The academy is an apolitical educational institution that aims to enrich British society with law abiding professionals.

Q: On matters related to Islamic law, who’s opinions do you follow from amongst the current Islamic Scholars?

A: We follow the opinions and the overall spiritual guidance of his eminence Sayed Ali Al-Sistani, and we respect ALL our scholars and have an open-heart policy to all community members.

Q: Which academic calendar do you follow?

A: We follow the UK school term dates (September to July), however our schedule provides flexibility to parents since we deliver classes online. Hence, families can spend extended periods of time abroad without compromising the progress of their children’s education so long as the child continues attending their classes virtually whilst abroad. This is an advantage because it allows them to travel during the off-peak seasons and save significantly on airfare cost.

Q: What are you going to teach my child and how?

A: We will follow the English National Curriculum and it will be taught online through daily structured virtual classrooms focusing on the core subjects of the NC Maths, English, Science, in addition to Computer Science, and Arabic, while humanities and other subjects will be taught through Projects-based learning and with enrichment activities teaching Art, Physical Education and a host of other topics. On Fridays we will also teach religious studies focusing mainly on Islamic Education and Quran. Islamic Education lessons are taught using the MCE Tarbiyah Curriculum.

Q: Will Jaffaria Academy provide all the educational resources for my child?

A: Our teaching team is highly qualified and experienced with excellent command of the technology required to deliver the lessons effectively. Our excellent teaching team use their qualifications and skills to create engaging  virtual classes where children feel connected to their peers and teachers from all over the world. Moreover, we employ programs to help teachers monitor and control their virtual classroom. Finally, each class will have a teacher and a quality assurance officer who periodically checks classes as they operate. While in secondary each subject will be taught by an experienced subject specialist teacher and the relevant quality assurance standard will be applied.

Q: How will my child be evaluated and supported?

A: Teachers will monitor student’s progress and will have weekly homework, assessments for learning, end of term assessments.rnrnStudents who show advanced skill levels will be accelerated and those who have areas which need improvement will be given the needed attention accordingly.

Q: Will there be physical meetings with the teachers or is the teaching only online?

A: Social interaction is vital to the development of children. The model that Jaffaria Academy is built on, has Fridays as an in-person meeting day, where children gather with their friends and teachers. However, due to the unprecedented current situation, we have been following government guidelines, and in order to ensure the safety of all our children and team, we have kept these sessions online.rnrnAs soon as it is safe to do so, we will start our in-person Friday Enrichment sessions as well as other Hub Activities that can be held in a physical locations.rnrnWhile we await the opportunity to facilitate in-person meetings, children have their friend’s contacts on Zoom, which they can use to connect socially.

Q: What about the social aspect, are there any social activities?

A: Yes, and this will be a core element of our program. All students will be part of an enrichment hub, which organises social, sporting, and religious activities amongst children and their teachers and resident alim, and amongst the families themselves. The aim is to strengthen the bonds within our community and build a high community spirit.

Q: Do you have a safeguarding and mental health policy?

A: All our team members are DBS checked and undergo safeguarding and basic mental health training (Mental Health First Aid). The detailed policies will be made available on the website along with all our other policies.

Q: Aren’t you isolating our children from the wider British society?

A: We plan to engage our students in a number of activities that involves socialising with students from outside our academy. This could be through educational and sporting activities. Moreover, elements of our Hub Activities will be open to the wider community and therefore, our students will have opportunities to meet multiple audiences and make friendships from various communities.

Q: Does Jaffaria Academy’s approach contradict British Values?

A: We are enriching British society with individuals who will add value not only through their professional contributions but through their civic participation, and embodiment of good values. This complements the essence of the British Values and enriches its foundation.