Imam Hasan School

Imam Hasan Centre, Sydney, Australia

Sydney, Australia

https://www.imamhasancentre.com.au/

The Madrasah was established to serve the local community, educating the children in Islamic studies and Qur’an recitation. The vision was to build the Imam Hasan Centre community around the Madrasah, so Madrasah families are encouraged to attend and participate in majalis held on Saturday evenings after the Madrasah finished.

Aims and Objectives

Imam Hasan School has followed syllabi to ensure that students have a good working knowledge of Islamic Fiqh, History, Aqaid and Akhlaq during their journey through the school.

Special effort and time is spent in teaching and testing of Wudhu and Salat, as well as talks from time to time on Hijab and bulugh for students.

The Qur’an lessons aim to concentrate on teaching students to recite independently, bu grouping children according to their reading ability in junior and senior groups regardless of age.

Emphasis has always been on student participation and engagement, but with the current Tarbiyyah syllabus, this has increased.

Imam Hasan School has regular presentations on stage before Majalis by students, reciting surahs/nasheeds/poems and performing skits, reading speeches and showing Powerpoints. We have held annual family picnics, a student Hajj day and a successful sports day. We have taken senior boys and girls to participate in soccer sessions locally, as well as one-off events like a Ramadhan excursion to feed the homeless in a soup kitchen in the city.

History

Imam Hasan School (IHS) opened its doors for classes in Islamic Studies and recitation of Quran with around 40 students and 6 teachers in 2004. Since then Alhamdulillah, it has grown steadily. In 2015, 140 students were enrolled from ages 5 to 16 years and in 2017, we have 180 students and 20 teachers in total. In 2016, we introduced assembly as part of the school and this time is used to encourage students to recite du’as, make presentations as well as show interesting Islamic video clips.

In 2009, an Australasia-wide Madrassah workshop was hosted by Imam Hasan Centre over 2 days. In-house teachers’ training and Quran sessions have been held regularly over the years to support the volunteer teaching staff.

The school has always been connected to the community programs and students are encourage to recite Surat al-Yasin before the main lectures. Students complete their learning process by staying back after school time for the lectures and volunteering for food and cleaning. The school therefore prepares students to not just be part of the school but the whole community as well.

Structure

Imam Hasan School admits students from Kindergarten age – 5 years, through to Class 10, 15-16 years of age.

We have 11 classes.

Classes are held from 4.30-7.30pm in the winter terms, and 5pm till Maghrib( upto 8.20pm) in summer terms

This incorporates a 60 minute Quran class and 80 minute Islamic Studies lesson, as well as salat and a 20 minute snack break.

An adult Majlis program beings at 7.30pm in winter, or after Maghribain prayers during summer.

Future Plans

Our School has grown steadily over the past 15 years, and currently we are at full capacity. In 2015, we added a new building with 6 classrooms, where the junior students are now taught. Currently, our focus is on building on our strong foundations and continuing to deliver good quality education to students, focusing on nurturing the students’ needs. All our teachers are encouraged to participate in the teacher training programs/conferences we hold, notably the MCE TSP in 2018 and MCE Tarbiyyah training in 2019.

Challenges

The challenges we face are similar to those faced by any community school- providing education and a nurturing community environment to local students and their families, often from different backgrounds. Encouraging and engaging parents to take responsibility with School teachers in imparting Islamic knowledge and practice with children at home is another challenge.