Bristol's only Islamic faith school is still not meeting all of the standards required of an independent school, according to Ofsted.
Andalusia Academy Bristol, in St Philips, was rated "inadequate" for the third time last year due to a "significant decline in standards".
The 180-pupil independent school had an additional inspection last November and Ofsted has now published its findings.
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Andalusia Academy Bristol said that it has made good progress in rising to meet the Independent School Standards in comparison to previous years, adding it is "well on its way" to meet all of these.
The independent school said it welcomed Ofsted's feedback and that it has begun to develop and implement a progress plan.
According to the report, the additional inspection was carried out with the aim to advise the Secretary of State for Education about the school’s suitability for continued registration as an independent school.
Ofsted found that the overall outcome was that Andalusia Academy Bristol "does not meet all of the independent school standards that were checked during this inspection".
The report by the education watchdog states: "Since the arrival of the new headteacher in September 2020, the proprietor and leaders have undertaken a root-and-branch review of the curriculum and it has largely been rewritten, in some places from scratch.
"This means that the school now has a much more coherently planned curriculum. Leaders have thought about what knowledge pupils need to learn and when. This means that the curriculum is sequenced better, both within subjects and across them."
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Despite some recent improvements, the report also found that curriculum plans and schemes of work still do not pay enough attention to the needs of of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
The report also described the policy for pupils who speak English as an additional language as "not fit for purpose".
Ofsted found that, while some aspects of safeguarding have improved, leaders’ records of concerns still do not provide sufficient detail to demonstrate that action is taken to keep pupils safe.
Leaders’ investigations into concerns about pupils and allegations against staff are incomplete and any follow-up actions are often not recorded, it continued, but noted that "pupils largely move around the school in a calm manner".
The report adds: "In February 2020, inspectors noted that the behaviour policy was not applied consistently, which affected the way pupils behaved. This is no longer the case.
"Classrooms are orderly and pupils largely move around the school in a calm manner."
According to the report, the independent school on St. Matthias Park appointed a new headteacher in September 2020 and leaders’ capacity to bring about improvements is now shown in the revised action plan, which is "clearer, and has realistic timescales and suitable success criteria".
"This improved leadership capacity has led, for example, to a much more coherent approach to planning and implementing the curriculum," the report continues. "Nonetheless, the curriculum still has weaknesses, particularly in relation to the provision for pupils with SEND.
"Subject leadership also remains underdeveloped, although leaders have plans to address this. Leaders have improved some aspects of safeguarding, but key elements of a robust safeguarding culture are not in place.
"This is most obvious with respect to leaders’ record-keeping. Consequently, safeguarding remains ineffective."
Ofsted found Andalusia Academy does not meet the requirements of the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 and associated requirements that were checked during this inspection.
Andalusia Academy teaches children aged between five and 16, but its secondary provision has been girls-only since 2017.
The school was founded in 2005 as an independent school with an Islamic ethos and is run by Bristol Islamic Schools Trust, charging annual fees of £3,500-4,000.
School's response
Khalid Naseem, headteacher at Andalusia Academy Bristol, said: "Over the past few months, the school has worked hard and engaged educational consultants to ensure that progress has been made following the last Ofsted Section 5 inspection.
"This has all taken place under my predecessor whose term ended with the Ofsted Progress Monitoring Visit - our most recent inspection.
"Overall, Andalusia Academy has made good progress in rising to meet the Independent School Standards in comparison to previous years. We are well on our way to meeting all of the Independent School Standards.
"The areas which remain for us to improve upon are primarily: safeguarding, and our educational provision for SEND and EAL students."
Mr Naseem added: "We welcome this feedback from Ofsted and have begun to immediately develop and implement a progress plan which will enable us to not only meet but excel in these areas.
"We have begun the process of introducing a new safeguarding and pastoral support system named CPOMS. Staff training on this took place last week and implementation will follow over the coming days.
"We are aiming to put safeguarding and pastoral care at the heart of everything we do.
"We have also begun to develop a more comprehensive and intelligent SEND & EAL register, along with pupil passports and screening tests.
"I will personally be working hard with our SEND coordinator over the coming weeks to ensure that this succeeds and we support these students in the best possible way to ensure their success.
"Our focus points for the term set out at INSET are: safeguarding, behaviour for learning and quality of education.
"We aim to ensure that we engage the best teachers and administrators possible and that both students and staff are supported to be successful and valued in their respective roles.
"As a school and an organisation we face a number of challenges which we will need to overcome. This can certainly be done.
"With the right combination of expertise, professionalism, dedication and support from the community, we will move forward as a school and begin to realise the immense potential that AAB has.
"We intend to take AAB forward and combine the blessings of an authentic, holistic Islamic education with academic excellence which rivals the best that Bristol has to offer."
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