UK's strictest Headmistress taken to school over banning prayers in the playground

[cakeorwine]

Top London school taken to high court over prayer ban | London | The Guardian

I don't believe that schools should have a compulsory act of worship.
However - it seems that there has been a ban on prayer rituals on the premises.

"The prayer policy was introduced in March last year by the school’s founder, Katharine Birbalsingh – frequently described as Britain’s strictest headteacher – when the school found itself the target of abuse and harassment after pupils were seen praying in the school playground by passersby. About 30 students took part, some kneeling on their blazers as they were not permitted to bring in prayer mats, the court heard.
Before these events, the court heard that prayers were not expressly banned at Michaela, though it had no dedicated prayer room. The new policy had the “practical effect of only preventing Muslims from praying because their prayer by nature has a ritualised nature rather than being internal”, the court heard.
The pupil’s lawyer said it was in effect “a ban uniquely on Muslim prayer”, stopping pupils praying “at a time as required by Islam”. In contrast, it would not, she said, prevent a Christian child sitting quietly in the corner of the playground from praying"

I think it seems that prayer mats were banned - and I think it seems they were banned from kneeling on blazers.

If someone wants to pray in the playground voluntarily, then they should be able to. It's not an act of compulsory worship.

I can see why they wanted this kept quiet.

I am an atheist. This is why I am opposed to collective worship.
However, you want to pray to your own God, then do it. If your actions don't impose on me, then feel free.
Which is why a prayer room is no problem to me.

Eh?

It's not a big division.
I think there are revision classes.
Maybe they are divisive as well?

I wonder how well behaved the pupils are, without a teacher being around.

Does their methods of discipline ensure children are always well behaved? Or do they need a teacher around?

I would love to cross examine her

What on earth is extremist about allowing all pupils an indoor prayer room? If that's extremist, then every single school with a chapel or prayer room is extremist.

You might just as well say that some pupils playing football and some not automatically creates division. Or some singing in the choir and some not. Or some reading and some not.

Children are different. That should be celebrated, not suppressed.

It's really very very revealing that the school doesn't trust its pupils to be in the school building without supervision during breaks, as it reveals that they are not nearly as secure in their discipline as they like to make out. When I was at school, we were regularly left to organise our own activities by ourselves, whether it was organising our own games, rehearsing for plays, working for inter-house and inter-form competitions, or just hanging around reading and occupying ourselves between lessons or activities. Sixth-formers also regularly supervised homework and clubs. None of us killed each other or burnt the school down, despite having to do it all without benefit of the so-called strictest headmistress.

It’s good for kids to learn that we are all different, but that we should be able to get on and be civil anyway.

It prepares them for the real world where they will be working with people of all ages, faiths, backgrounds, cultures etc.

It's like the person behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz.
A facade.

She thinks pupils have original sin and need to be taught to be good.
I am not sure if she has taught her pupils to be good if they can't be trusted to behave without an adult around to ensure good behaviour.

I had a look at the curriculum for Michaela out of curiosity. It's very narrow - the only language is French, and there's no chance of doing subjects like drama or PE at GCSE, let alone design technology, photography etc. Sports and sports clubs ar very limited, and they don't seem to offer drama as an extra-curricular activity.

I should have been the sort of pupil they want, as I was generally a conformist type who got good results. But the school would have failed me, because I was and am good at languages and really flourished doing drama. I really don't understand how it qualifies for its Ofsted ratings.

It seems to lack "fun"

Secondary School in Wembley | Michaela Education

Schools usually mention plays, sports achievements on their website. I can't see that on their site

There are videos of KB on the media.

But where is the showcasing of "fun". Plays, drama etc

It seems to have clubs though

Curriculum | Michaela Community School | Wembley

They don't do drama. So no practical approaches to Shakespeare etc.
She has claimed in the past to be giving a grammar school style education to 'normal' students. Not only is that not true at a curriculum level, the entry requirements to their sixth form are higher than any of our local grammar schools.
They also seem to have quite a narrow idea of where the best places to go to university are (no consideration of how it varies for different courses).
But I still can't get over how narrow their curriculum is. Other schools with a curriculum that narrow have been 'marked down' by OFSTED. Michaela 'gets away with it.
And if you want to see things in school likely to cause division, check out their visiting speakers which include Jordan Peterson!!!

She is not showcasing pupils or an educational approach. She's showcasing herself.

Jordan Petersen who enthusiastically cheers on Netanyahu's genocide?

So she has done an interview about the case with Unherd
https://unherd.com/thepost/britains-strictest-head-teacher-my-case-to-ban-prayer-in-school/

She is such an attention seeking weirdo. I am certain she is loving this as she loves nothing better than her name all over the news and trending on social media. If she was a journalist or politician, I would get it to some extent as all they want is the clicks, but I have never seen a headteacher who is desperate for attention as she is.

Also to add some of the parents need to take blame when they realise how rigid she and her school are.

If you really care about your childs wellbeing and pastoral care is important to you just as much as grades, you wouldn't even send your child to her school in the first place. TBF to her, she has made it clear the kind of person she is and the views she holds, so it's not like she what she and her school stands for.

@Coyoacan also Jordan Peterson the deeply misogynistic man with extremely weird views. I find him really creepy.... and his daughter is equally creepy especially when she hung around Andrew tate 🤢

I didn't know about his daughter and Tate, but I had started to warm to him and then I saw his "regret" about losing his Muslim followers and it was so hollow, like he had only committed a marketing faux pas and not egged on a genocidal maniac.

@sammyvine the comments under your link are very "interesting". (Before that I read an article on the antics of Germany's AfD)

Reading media outlets opinions on this case they are just her views.

Two that aren't:

https://schoolsweek.co.uk/michaela-school-taken-to-high-court-over-prayer-ban/

http://thelondonweekly.net/eeducation/3741-muslim-students-facing-intolerance-in-uk-schools

Interesting Twitter thread here about the way other schools have been downgraded for failing to offer DT, Information Technology and Music to GCSE level, yet the same Inspector gave Michaela an outstanding grade. Also it appears that they limit science GCSE to combined science.

Some of the pupils being religious and needing small accommodations to facilitate prayer which is very important to them and their families isn't the same as a school itself being religious. As teachers it's not our place to push or persuade children to partake in religious activities, but we should support them in their own beliefs.

The Guardian seems to have been misleading by referring to the school as a 'top London school', albeit perhaps unintentionally.

The website and media pages on that site are depressing.
Where are the pupils?
It's results focused.

I went to a high performing State School with high expectations of discipline. We could walk around school ourselves - and there were consequences for misbehaviour.

But the school also celebrated its pupils. I've just taken a look at my old school's website and the achievements of the pupils - and not just academic but sporting, life etc are all over the website.

A school should be for the pupils, not the Head Teacher.

The school's policies are pretty eye-opening, unsurprisingly. In the Equal Opportunities policy, the only action they propose to take in relation to disability is to make "whatever arrangements are reasonable and practical, within financial constraints" to ensure access to the curriculum for disabled pupils; and working effectively with local services and agencies to provide "coherent support".

So there is nothing about, for instance, making reasonable adjustments for physical and learning disabilities, no recognition that uniform policies may need to be adjusted for pupils with sensory problems, no exceptions to the discipline policy for conditions like Tourette's or ASD, no exceptions to the attendance policy for children with chronic illness. Indeed, the attendance policy says "pupils are expected to attend at all times, even if they are feeling unwell". Medical appointments in termtime are not allowed - so it's just tough presumably if your child desperately needs that specialist appointment and the only one on offer is during the school day, or if they need, say, weekly hydrotherapy.

Needless to say, there is no suggestion that the application of the behaviour policy should take into account SEN or that pupils shouldn't be punished for the effects of their disabilities. If your child has an executive functioning problem which make it difficult for them to organise themselves, they will still get detention if they forget that pen.

With blatantly unlawful policies like that, their Ofsted grading is really extraordinary.