Tbh I think kids are a lot better off when it is recognised that they are kids, not adults, and the adults are in charge will take responsibility and look after them carefully and provide appropriate boundaries and structure that allow them to grow. Part of that looking after means having standards and expectations that are clear, reasonable and achievable. Wearing the right clothes, having the right equipment and turning up on time and engaging are all clear, reasonable, and achievable. There are always going to be people who find it harder than others (I have adhd and am appalling at organisation and timekeeping - I have to work really hard at it to get to the level of “poor” whereas other people can just do it with no real problem) but the vast majority can do it, even if it’s an effort. Some kids don’t have an adult in their lives who gives a single fuck if they’ve got a pencil at all, let alone a pencil case with all the things they need. This isn’t a good thing. It’s not lovely and kind to have such low expectations for children that you don’t think they should bring a pen to school or engage with their lessons or they should be allowed to wander in and out of class when they want, or have their lessons interrupted by bad behaviour. It will be interesting to see if there are any differences in outcomes between children educated in a Michaela style, and a similar cohort in a more traditional school. Not just in terms of exam passes, but future earnings, success in relationships and family life, ambition, levels of criminality, mental wellness, happiness, and failure to launch etc.
There are loads of things I think are slightly bonkers about Michaela, and I don’t think I’d choose it, but you can’t fault the ambition that they have for their children, and you can’t argue with their progress 8. I don’t necessarily agree with the silent corridors (but I didn’t go to a school that had issues with bad behaviour in corridors. If I had I may feel differently), their lunchtimes seem ott - very structured with little time for “hanging around” which is so important, and I’m not convinced about not being allowed to go to the loo but I’ve not seen a school yet that manages the disruption of multiple loo visits during lessons well. There are lots of jobs where it’s difficult to go to the loo whenever you fancy. Teaching, for example. Retail and hospitality and care work you will have to wait until an appropriate break. I’ve seen a surgeon bleed all the way down her legs and into her clogs before because she couldn’t just nip off at a moments notice. I’m not saying it’s fine and dandy, and a geography lesson is not surgery, but in reality disruption to lessons for loo breaks is, in some schools, a problem that needs tackling rigorously. If you are in a school with a 5x1 hour lesson structure it’s possible to “but, miss, I’m on my period” or “but, miss, I’m desperate” 5 times a day and skive a quarter of the teaching time in a day. Nobody would get away with that at work.
I don’t know why every September we have sad faced children in newspapers displaying their non uniform items they’ve got for school - schools give very clear guidance for uniform. Nobody has to be worrying about having to buy new shoes after “work”. If the uniform policy says “no trainers” and you turn up in trainers then expect to be pulled up on it. My work policy is closed toe, flat, sturdy, black, leather shoes (vegan “leather” acceptable). I don’t buy trainers or ballet flats of heels and then get “anxious” about it.
Not spelling out the expectations and then punishing for not meeting them is a different thing altogether, and not what is being described here. If you tell children to wear “black shoes” and bring “a pencil case” then you shouldn’t punish them for turning up in black trainers and only a blue pen in a pencil case. You need to be very explicit about the rules and the consequences. Consistency is really important to children. I imagine that there are schools going down this route but with poor execution, such as an afterschool for not having a 4H pencil when nobody has ever mentioned having a 4H pencil ever in all of your life, or the wrong skirt or the wrong shoes when the policy doesn’t say what that is, and that will be very hard on children. They need to know where they stand and what, very exactly, is expected of them.
One key difference between work and school is in the workplace, if you a persistently late, refuse to go to meetings or walk out of them, push your colleagues over in the corridors, vandalise the toilets, don’t do your work, refuse to dress appropriately, tell your manager to fuck themselves etc then you will be sacked. It may take some time but it will happen. “Sacking” children isn’t the same at all because they are children. We, as adults, have a responsibility towards them. We can’t just have security escort them off site and wash our hands of them. They have to go somewhere. They either see out their time in their current school, still not engaging, still not bringing the correct equipment, still fucking off to the toilet for 20 mins of every lesson, still not handing in homework etc. or they go to another school, or a referral unit or homeschooling, where they will repeat the same tedious steps and still nobody has any expectations on them do do basic shit like show up, with a pen. It’s a gross failure, and, in general, it’s our most vulnerable children who we fail the most.