Michaela School

[Tinkerblonde1]

Has anyone on here worked at Michaela or had a child attend.

I have heard so much about it. What is ot like to work there though?

Or even have a child attend. I am conflicted with it.

Are they as strict with the staff? Is the workload high?
Just really intrigued.

I just know what I've heard - and how strict the rules are and the punishment for not following them.

I wonder if they 'loosen up' after they have the students where they want them - or if it's constant. No talking in the corridors ever.

I guess it suits certain parents and certain pupils.

Totally agree.

I don't understand how they are outstanding.

It doesn't seem inclusive for SEN those with ADD. I wonder how this is managed.

I suspect it ‘manages’ itself, because parents of children who might struggle for SEN reasons will think ‘hmm, that school won’t suit my child’ and will apply elsewhere instead.

That's true Modge but then that doesn't seem inclusive. So a false outstanding.

I’m a teacher and hell would freeze over before I would work in a school like that or send my child to one. The teachers have no autonomy in planning their lessons, the rules are ridiculous and the head is a publicity seeking , right wing individual. They also force children to recite Invictus at the drop of a hat. Huge crime against poetry.

I am a teacher too and feel the same way after watching the documentary.

It is like right wing indoctrination. Be for yourself. Fuck society.

I am still intrigued how the job would be different to say being at my own school though.

I know someone who worked there for a week or so and really liked it but she was a really poor teacher who couldn’t ever connect with the pupils and who never understood why she struggled. For her it represented safety / no matter how shit she would get no real behaviour problems. That encapsulates why she was a poor teacher really. The school is selective and draws heavily from social cultural and economic groups that thrive in all schools due to parental expectations. It doesn’t translate to a comprehensive range of children or families. I would never ever send my children to anywhere similar. All the best education research points toward its opposite as models to aim for when thinking of the whole child’s well being and success.

There's a thread about it here: Britain's Strictest Headmistress www.mumsnet.com/Talk/telly_addicts/4555455-britains-strictest-headmistress

Thanks interesting thread.

I would still like to know what it is like to work there.

For instance I sing and dance physics equations. Would that be allowed?

I don't think most children with SEN would last very long. My DD is scared enough of making a mistake in her normal secondary school. The Michaela rules would tip her over the edge.

Well no, I suspect it isn’t very inclusive, how could it be? And as for the Ofsted outstanding, I think your mistake is to presume that an Ofsted grading is always accurate, and completely free of bias.

Different schools suit different pupils and different teachers 🙃

No doubt Katharine is a relentless self promotor, but she's put her money where her mouth is unlike some of the people who snipe from the sidelines.

Its not selective, LEA lottery for the admissions, average number of SEN according to their ofsted reports and they get incredible results, it might not be for everyone but for some it is.

No not selective - but the applicants in having selected the school are already a very unrepresentative group. Our local comp has an outstanding ofsted and above average SEN but then I was surprised when they invited me to a SEND meeting for my child who is down as being dyslexic /ASD. He is neither, certainly not officially but my friend’s son who is both was relentlessly targeted by the systems and had a breakdown before leaving school altogether. I don’t know where the tricky kids are who my son was in primary with but they only lasted for part of year 7 and a bit of year 8 for some of them before vanishing. This is strange as their exclusions aren’t high on paper.