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.

Surely the way to deal with bullying is through the normal approach which should be set out in their bullying policy, not banning the activity wholesale. If they discovered a pupil bullying another during, say, a PE session, would they ban the sport in question?

Agreed. Banning the activity makes it look like she completely lost control of the situation which keeps saying would never happen in her school due to the boot camp and strict rules.

I think you are niaive about the restrictions that some religions expect of their believers.

The argument that if the school allows pupils to pray, then children of that religion will be coerced to pray does not seem to hold true IF there are other schools where children pray and other children aren't coerced into praying.

Maybe KB could visit those schools and see how prayer rooms work.

Is there something about her pupils and the fact that she expects that if a prayer room is offered, then there will be coercion to go along?

Not at all. I work at a school where we offer prayer space to our Muslim students and a classroom to our Christian students for Bible study. There is no pressure on students from these groups. We have an excellent RS department as well. We also have an anonymous reporting app for any concerns that arise. Interestingly, the main thing that has cropped up there is linked to the misogynistic attitudes of a particular strain of evangelical Christianity. Reported by students, dealt with by staff. Bible study not banned.
it is genuinely not as hard as she has made it. Every other school manages.
I am coming back to one of her points though. She says they don't have a space for 300 students to meet in. So no hall, no gym. How on earth do they manage exam periods without a large space. I keep coming back to the fact that the building is not appropriate for a school and should never have been granted permission. This is complicated by the (hopefully unconscious/institutional rather than overt) Islamophobia. The comments online from some of her supporters (and a few on here) have been beyond disgusting and demonstrate clearly the racism behind some of the support of KB.

Well she is saying that coercion did start.

She has not actually banned prayer, she has banned prayer rituals.

Also fo everyone saying, "it only takes 5 mins" have you forgotten that muslims need to wash before prayer? 350 children trying to wash their feet in school bathrooms is going to get messy.

Who are you responding to?

Someone like me who has both evangelical Christians and Muslims in their extended blood family? Or someone else?

Do you know how to get teenagers not to do something?

Tell them they have to do it and daily.

You won't have 350 teenagers washing and praying.

How come prayer rooms work in other schools with pupils with a wide range of backgrounds?

She has said that prospective parents and pupils are told that religion/prayer spaces etc are not a part of this school's life.

There are plenty of faith schools that we are forced to contribute towards through our taxes.

Why choose her school if this is so important to you?

To me it's a feature not a bug.
If space was available I am sure it could be put to better use

The case is perverse because the claimant will have a bad outcome even if they win; a bad feeling in the school and with her teachers. If she loses, then clearly the effect is worse on her if she tries to stay in the school. Maybe the family feel bullied but this is one court case that I think will damage them more. Perhaps it already has. KB can survive it, it's not her education at stake. And she can use it for self promotion! She has chosen a very good silk for this.

@bombastix

So you think the school and teachers will bully the claimant? How dreadfully sad.

My grandfather sued the school my mother attended because of health and safety failings and won. The teachers didn't take it personally.

Because there are a wide range of backgrounds so the % is lower.

Also new buildings often have a shower room or a shower in the toilets so you can wash properly if it is part of your faith / culture.

Guardian opinion piece

Banning prayer rituals in school? Just get religion out of education completely | Polly Toynbee | The Guardian

"School heads I asked this week wonder how the situation at Michaela community school reached this state of conflict. “Bullying of any kind has to be stopped at once. This is about bullying, more than religion,” said one. Another secondary head said, “We have students pray at break or lunch, and one of our staff oversees it. Never been a problem. Never heard of it being a problem in another school. If that [bullying or intimidation] happened in my school I’d focus on the ethos and culture where students feel intimidating others is appropriate.”

I don’t know if this explosive conflict is caused by Michaela school’s rigidity, where every minute of every child’s day is regimented: they move silently in single file around the school; while in class their eyes must always fix on the teacher; and there is no free socialising, so in break they only meet in groups of a maximum of four. Before lunch they recite poetry, and lunch conversation is limited to a subject set by a teacher. Parents choose this knowingly, and are rewarded with top exam results, but others would never have their child drilled like this."

Which is what has been talked about on this thread.

Exactly! Whatever you think about prayer in school that this has become such a huge issue demonstrates clearly that all is not well with the school's culture and that the building is not fit for purpose.

Surely the trigger for this sudden need to pray is the Israeli Palestinian conflict. I would imagine there are Jewish children at the school. And I would think the troubles are causing the need to be seen to be supportive/ Muslim - there are marches every weekend in London after all.

No I don't believe the school have bullied this child; but it's likely that wider adult agenda is effectively that regarding religious observance.

I agree with Toynbee btw. It's the inclusion of religious observance in schools which is an issue overall. This case is about the degree of what a school should do. The best answer is nothing, imo.

It all started last March, so probably not.

That presupposes that 350 children will want to do this. Given that it was only around 30 when they were using the playgrounds, it seems unlikely.

@Shoppingfiend

I see you are one of those people who think people only do normal things like say the prayers of their religion to annoy Jews

Precisely and that’s what’s been happening.

In court today it appears that the governors haven't been doing proper due diligence as they are meant to.

What happened in court today? I thought the case was heard over two days last week and we were now waiting for the decision. Have I missed something?

I've lost the link because on phone but was a story in the Evening Standard. And no the case isn't over yet.

It seems you don’t undertstand wudu at all, feet can just be wiped, or if you have previously performed wudu and remained in leather shoes there is no need to clean the feet at all. If there isn’t anywhere suitable to perform wudu you don’t have to do it at all.