Bristol Islamic Schools Trust (BIST)

Please click on any of the links for further details:

• March 2008 - Education Challenge Conference
• February 2007 - Fundraising Dinner
• July 2005 - Open Day for Andalusia Academy for new intake
• September 2005 - Andalusia Academy - the FIRST Full-time Islamic school opens
• October 2005 - Radio Ramadhan fundraising for Andalusia Academy
• May 2005 - Charity dinner for Andalusia Academy
• June 2004 - Muslims in Bristol show great demand for Islamic school
• December 2003 - Andalusia Academy Charity Dinner
• March 2003 - Premise required for Andalusia Academy
• March 2001 - BIST approached LEA for support

0117 942 6457

The Education Challenge Conference was held on March 30th 2008 at the City Academy Bristol. The guest speak Imam Abu Ameenah Bilal Phillps presented the topic - '7 Habits of Successfully Raising Muslim Children'. Over 300 people attended the event.

The chairman of BIST, Dr Ghassan Nounu presented an update about Andalusia Academy to the community. There was also a mini-fundraising for Andalusia Academy to acquire the Florence Brown school as part of the expansion plan to accommodate the growing numbers of student. Alhamdulillah over 80 people pldged to make a donation worth more than £20k.

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A special fundraising dinner was held at the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum to raise funds for Andalusia Academy. Alhamdulillah the event was a great success and over £40,000 donation was pledged.

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In July 2005 BIST held its open day for parents and pupils to find out about the school and its services. The event was organised by Sr Fatima Moolla, headteacher of Andalusia Academy. Parents registered their children for the intake in September 2005. Some were so keen that they registered their interest for future intakes. This was very encouraging for Andalusia Academy Bristol.

The ethos and nature of the school were explained to the audience by both Dr Nounu and Sr Fatima. In particular, it was explained that the school will teach the national curriculum subjects including maths, english and science as well as Islamic, Arabic and Quranic studies.

A numbers of teachers including Mr Chris Golding, Mrs Elizabeth Davis, Sr Anila Khan and Sr Nighat Ahmed, were present to demonstrate books and other subject materials to visitors. They also discussed with the parents about the subjects and how they would be taught.

Once again, as a result of collective effort from BIST trustees, Andalusia Academy’s teaches and most importantly members of the Muslim community, the event generated much interest about the proposed Islamic school. The event marked a significant step in establishing Bristol’s first fulltime Islamic school. 

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Recently members of BIST have been heavily engaged in a project of enormous importance to the Muslim community of Bristol. This project is the establishment of Bristol’s first full-time Islamic ethos school. BIST takes great pleasure in informing you that the school, namely ‘Andalusia Academy Bristol’ (AAB), is now fully established and began operating on 12th September 2005.

For further information about Andalusia Academy, please visit http://www.andalusiaacademy.org/ or call 0117 9426457. 

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Alhamdu lillah the fundraising appeal run by Radio Ramadhan Bristol on Sunday, 30th October 2005 raised nearly £55 000 for Andalusia Academy Bristol. Donations and Qard Hasan came mainly from the Muslim community in Bristol. However, there were substantial donations from other parts of the UK.

The Muslims of Bristol demonstrated their extreme generosity, once again to support their own community. It was an impressive display of support for Andalusia Academy, Bristol’s fulltime Islamic school. The Muslims called and visited the Radio Ramadhan studio to make their pledges and donations throughout the day. The most impressive input came from the young children, many of whom donated from their individual savings and pocket money.

Dr Nounu, the chairman of BIST which runs Andalusia Academy led the appeal, with support from the presenters of Radio Ramadhan. A number of BIST trustees including Tariq Khan, Mukhtar Yunus, Abdul Wahab, Nisar Ahmed and Aziz Torofdar also contributed to the radio appeal.

During the core part of the appeal, Andalusia Academy was opened for the Muslims to visit the school. The school operated tours and numerous children’s activities including face painting, cake decorating and a bouncy castle. Many parents together with their children were very encouraged by the purpose built school. Donations were also collected at the school.

BIST would like to thank the Mulsims for their generosity, kindness and support for Andalusia Academy. This was possible due to Radio Ramadhan and their presenters facilitating this event. Once again, we thank all those who took part in this noble event. May Allah reward you abundantly for your generosity during the blessed month of Ramadhan.

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 BIST held its second fundraising dinner on 29th May 2005 for the Andalusia Academy Islamic school. Over £80, 000 was raised, which was a fantastic achievement. Over 300 people attended the event, many coming from beyond Bristol. Lord Nazir Ahmed, patron of BIST lead the call for an Islamic school with input from Yvonne Ridley and many local speakers.

The trustees of BIST and members of  Andalusia Academy’s task groups would like  to thank those who supported the Islamic  school. May Allah reward everybody  abundantly for their generosity.

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MORI survey shows demand for Islamic school
June 2004

BIST moves a step closer to establishing an Islamic school in Bristol. This resulted from the findings of a recent MORI research, which were presented on Wednesday 2 June 2004 at the Council House. Both John Gaskin (the Director of Education at the time) and Carol Gay from MORI acknowledged, there is overwhelming support for an Islamic school in Bristol.

Due to a previous commitment by Bristol City Council, MORI was commissioned to conduct a comprehensive research. Over a number of months, MORI interviewed a wide range of Muslims, from selected areas in Bristol. The findings are considered to be an accurate representation of the whole Muslim community.

A joint presentation by MORI and the Council revealed that the Muslims strongly support the effort being made by BIST to establish a school. The parents would prefer to send their children to such a school. This would enable the children to receive a high standard of secondary education in an Islamic environment.

Some existing schools in Bristol make effort to accommodate for the needs of Muslim children. However, parents believe this goes nowhere towards providing a proper Islamic environment which the children need. Bristol schools, particularly those in the inner city, have poor GCSE pass rates. The middle class Muslim families highlighted this, which also adds strength to the call for an Islamic school. Islamic schools in the UK generally out perform other equivalent schools. BIST aims to establish a school that would deliver excellent secondary education, utilising the National Curriculum but in an Islamic environment.

The event was jointly organised by BIST and the Local Education Authority. A number of key representatives from various organisations and businesses attended the evening’s presentation. BIST, BMCS, Bristol Arabic Classes, Sunday Islamic Classes, Bangladesh Association, Pakistani Association and Brunel Associates welcomed the MORI findings.

John Gaskin was very encouraged by the MORI findings and has agreed to reconvene the Islamic School Working Group which was set up in 2001. He suggested that a process be followed to try and arrive at a fair and acceptable end. He did however state that demand alone does not mean that the Council would automatically grant an Islamic school. However, the Muslims strongly believe that they have the right to exercise their parental choice, i.e. send their children to a school that they choose.

Click here to view the full Mori Report. 

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Andalusia Academy Charity Dinner – Sunday 21 December 2003

It was a truly spectacular charity dinner attended by over 200 people form Bristol and other parts of the UK. The event was organised by BIST and held at the prestigious British Empire & Commonwealth Museum in Bristol. The special guest Lord Nazir Ahmed with his passion for the Andalusia Academy contributed to the huge success where £55 000 was raised.

At 2:30pm the guests were received in the hall in a pure Islamic mood created by Hafiz Farzeen with his excellent live Nasheeds (Islamic sings). The event commenced at 3:00pm with recitation of the Quran, also by Hafiz Farzeen. After this Arif Khan, MC presented the details of the evening’s events and introduced the first speaker Sr Sedef Rashid. Being an educational psychologist, she talked about the tensions and compromises faced by Muslim children in non-Islamic environments.

The tone of the evening was set and the special guest Lord Nazir Ahmed approached the stage with keenness and enthusiasm. He began by praising and thanking BIST for the professional and well-planned event. He then moved on to the speech by clearly stating the importance of establishing an Islamic School in Bristol. The guests were well and truly gripped by the charisma, enthusiasm and energy in Lord Ahmed’s speech.

In order to bring context to the Andalusia Academy, Dr Gassan Nounu gave a presentation, highlighting the background of BIST, its objective and the findings of a survey. The survey conducted a few years back clearly stated that there is an urgent need for an Islamic school. Dr Nounu presented and discussed the mission statement of BIST: ‘Establish a full time Islamic school that provides high quality National Curriculum education incorporating Islamic studies as a core element of the syllabus’. He also made references to the business plan for Andalusia Academy, which was given to all guests in the welcome packs.

After the Maghrib prayer a number of speakers including Hafiz Nagib Khan (Darul Uloom, Leicester), Molana Abdul Rahman (Bristol Jamia Masjid) and Abdul Wahaab (Bangladesh Association) appealed to the audience. They passionately talked about the importance of supporting this noble cause. They urged the guests to assist Andalusia Academy. Mr Abdul Wahab and Molana Abdul Rahman gave the speeches in Bengali and Urdu respectively. This certainly helped to capture the hearts and minds of the diverse range of guests.

The event was planned and managed by the Funding and Community Liaison Group. The event was a major success due to the overwhelming support it received from the whole community including local businesses. The group has been working to raise funds for the Andalusia Academy since its establishments in March 2003. However, the charity dinner was its most successful strategy.

May Allah reward the efforts of all those who participated to make the charity event a major success. Also, BIST’s management committees would like to thank everybody for their hard work, kind donations and valuable time.

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Alhamdulliah, in March 2003 we acquired a 12,000 sq.ft premises near the Bristol city centre. It will be the base of our Andalusia Project in sha'Allah subject to planning permission.  It will be a full-time school delivering high quality secondary education, in accordance with the National Curriculum. It will also offer Islamic education. Andalusia Project will be a fee-paying school.

The total cost of the project is currently £305 000. We have already paid £40 000 to progress the project. There is still a need to raise £265 000 to pay off the loan we took to acquire the premises and renovate it. We appeal to everybody for their kind support. Already key members of the local community as well as Mosques have pledged support for this Project. Insha allah, it is hoped that each adult in a household, who has an income will donate at least £100. Also we are seeking Qardah Hasanah of at least £1000.

We know that donation in the cause of Allah will serve as the best investment that we can make. It is Sadaqah Jariyah, which will earn us continuous Thawab even after we die.

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During the year 2001 we launched a high profile campaign aimed at showing the Local Education Authority (LEA) the need for a voluntary-aided Muslim School. This coincided with the Secondary Schools review process that was conducted by the LEA. The campaign is still going on, but likely to take time before any results. Therefore, we have decided to press on with the creation of a private (fee-paying) school.

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