What does Katharine Birbalsingh do different?

[User2346]

I can’t say I like her but I am intrigued as to how she gets the results which are remarkable.

I know the model of zero tolerance etc but this is copied in a lot of academies without the resounding success.

Is there something different with the teaching methods? Is there an element of selection weeding out children with SEN and EHCP’s?

I would love the perspective of parents who have their DC at the school.

I’d be interested to know how many kids have an EHCP. I can’t seem to find this information.

Here you go

Those figures are interesting. 70% EAL.

This ⬆️

I've been thinking about this thread for a while especially after hearing about the number of pupils who have to resit maths and English repeatedly. I actually think having a narrower curriculum would be beneficial to these pupils as both of those subjects are essential for the future. You might be a brilliant trades person but will still need maths and English to possibly be self employed.

Im only on page 3, I cant be bothered to read any more, the sheer resistance and obstruction and barriers people put up to the concept of children being safe in school and learning in school and achieving due to strictness.

Its incredible

We are a dumb nation and this thread shows why. God forbid you put in high expectations and run with it.

The most underachieving group in schools are white working class boys. This thread shows why, the UK mindset is to dismiss and denigrate hard work and learning

The thread is filled with it @soupyspoon 'how dare that woman think she's so great!! It's appalling that children who want to learn in a calm and quiet environment have this facilitated!! WILL NOBODY PRIORITISE THE VIOLENT, AGGRESSIVE, DISRUPTORS!!"🙄

I am not in the UK, but a quick search regarding ECHPs tells me it is for children "who need more support than is available through special educational needs support."

My comment as a parent of a ND DD is that it's not generally realised just how straight out confusing life is for ND people. In schools I can think of two things that are clearly challenges for my DD. The first is tech, instead of an old fashioned homework diary and books. The second is the emphasis on being nicey-nicey. It's well-intentioned but it comes at the expense of being clear and direct, because that's seen as not nice. I'm sorry to say that lots of teachers fall into this trap.

It sounds like Michaela are well placed to avoid these problems, especially the second, and if so wouldn't that explain a low rate of ECHPs at the school? Ie, if a school's practice already accommodates people who might otherwise struggle, those people are less likely to need additional provision and/or go off the rails.

No, I never stated as such.

I taught at a school that did 3 out of the 4 mentioned and a nearby one did the other.

My point was that a school can be non-selective, on paper, but to all intents and purposes be selective. It ends up with the pupils it wants - or at least a majority.

A famous one in a midlands town admits pupils from bands of ability. So many from a top band, so many from the next down etc. However to get to this stage parents need a degree of perseverance and an ability to navigate the admissions procedure.

That school can change its syllabus, it's a Free School.

Despite the title National Curriculum giving a clue Free Schools, Academies and private schools do not have to follow the National Curriculum.

Many if not most do but they don't have to.

Even though they don’t have to follow the national curriculum, they do still have to provide a “broad and balanced” education. That includes teaching English, maths, science, and preparing children for life in modern Britain.

If they are doing something wildly inappropriate then they will get pulled up by OFSTED or the Independent Schools Inspectorate.

The idea behind them being exempt was to give them independence, aiming to give those schools more flexibility and parents more choice.

If you look at results of secondary school from the area (all of them share similar characteristics i.e. high % of FSM, EAL, similar proportion of SEN), it seems that she has found a way to give those kids educational opportunities that they would not be able to access otherwise. She essentially delivers what a lot of parents hope when they send their children to grammar or private schools in terms of guarantee of strong exam results. She does not have similar student cohort as grammars, or financial means of private schools, so obviously she had to go about it in a different way such as stripping curriculum down.

Personally I would not send my child there, because I would like her to have more freedom, but I can see that her approach might be suitable for this area.

I think this is a good point, there are lots of views about why the diagnosis rate for ND, specifically ASD has exploded. One of these is that the traits are more likely to show themselves in the high pressure environments that schools have become over the past 15 years or so. Unrecognisable compared to 40-50 years ago. Problems have always existed but the sheer noise, lighting, tech, size, variety of curriculum is likely to cause stressors in someone who may well have managed in a different environment. THerefore in this school, children are supported to be children, to learn calmly, safely, quietly, more focus on them, more ability to hone their skills

The point is, they dont have a 'low' rate of EHCPs they have a lower than average rate. Thats a different thing. It looks to be about a third less than the average given the stats someone posted.

Because teaching children how just to pass exams does nothing for lifelong learning. I’d rather teach a child how to find a love of learning. I have a number of students who come through my university course who are entirely focused on how they will get their degree, rather than being interested in getting a deep understanding of the topic. The courses I teach are things they need to fully understand to do the job they will graduate to. Just knowing the stuff to get through the exam will not make them the best at their job. There are things we can’t really test in an exam, but these “drilled for exam” students aren’t interested in learning them. I ran a separate workshop about a part of the job which in optional. The students who turned up were not the A grade students. They saw no benefit because we weren’t doing an exam on it.

Not directly, but in response to (and quoting) a post saying about Michaela “My headteacher visited and was impressed. I don’t believe they select”, you listed all the ways that you say schools select covertly. The clear inference to be drawn from your post was that Michaela was using some or all of these methods.

So much negativity. Anyone who thinks kids are happier in chaotic kid-led schools is entirely deluded. The bullies reign where rules are not clear and enforced impartially. The schools ‘managed’ by weak leaders who make endless allowances for anti-social behaviour cause huge damage to the timid and hard-working children.

Even when its not bullying per se, its the constant low level disruption, or the view is that school is a bit of a bore and a bit of a joke, no respect for it, no respect for those in authority or for the system.

I was teaching in a private school in a well off leafy SW London suburb, and went I first worked there the head was very strict, insisted on politeness and respect for the teachers and fellow pupils. Teachers could walk through the corridors, there were orderly transitions between lessons/not silent, but civilised. I was highly impressed as had been doing supply in state schools where kids were tearing around the corridors and on their phones at every opportunity.
After Covid, she retired and the new head was /is craven and pandering to demanding parents, uniform standards plummeted and the corridors were impossible to navigate between lessons. Parents’ excuses for their DC behavior (usually put down to ADHD) means they are let off sanctions and have no respect for staff (teaching and support staff).
Really sad because the mutual respect for rules and fairness have now been squandered, and the school is a much less happy place.

Thanks for sharing the data. I notice the EHCP figure is below the national average but not much lower.
I am considered a very traditional teacher in my school. I agree with a lot of what she is doing but I having looked at their behaviour policy it is quite extreme in places eg the notion that they have to be tracking 100% of the time.

Where I live for secondary our choices were one very average academy or private, so I’m paying for what I could get for free at Michaela 😁

All schools teach to the test these days, it’s just some aren’t very good at it. All schools have cut the gcse options because budgets have been cut and what counts on the curriculum was narrowed. All dc who have the ability need 5 good passes including maths and English to do anything with their lives these days. All dc deserve to be able to go to school in peace and calm. I think she’s doing an amazing job and all schools should be emulating what they can - the corridor thing and reading in the morning could be replicated without much fuss but having worked in schools it is nigh on impossible if you don’t have the support of the parents.

I suspect there may be a middle ground between letting kids act like violent thugs constantly and running schools like concentration camps ...

Especially when said concentration camp appears to be adopting an extreme form of teaching to the test, which is a different thing from actually giving people an education.

Of course focusing on nothing but results and rules will always appeal to a certain sort of narrow-minded, colourless person.

Parents of these kids will have been to similar schools and won't think its a concentration camp. It's only in the UK that we have such low expectations of our kids that we tolerate disruption and rudeness at worst, and pointless navelgazing at best where every kid is convinced they have anxiety or ADHD or something that prevents them from hard work.

Have you been in a secondary recently? Spend a date in one and you will see Michaela in a different light.
They take kids from deprived areas, many at risk of gangs etc, and they give them a future.
All schools teach to the test because they are all judged on outcomes. It's crazy to think otherwise. Some schools just hide it.
For us it was a choice of state secondary where 20% of kids get 5 x GCSEs grade 5+, or an independent school. If we had the option of Michaela we would have taken it.
It is impossible to teach/learn when 90% of the teacher's time is being taken up with behaviour management.

I suspect you're just trying to make a point about firm rules and boundaries, but I think your use of the term "concentration camp" is very offensive.
We all know what such places were like, and what they were for.

Yes because all other schools in the Uk are known for teaching a lifelong love of learning by not teaching their children for those pesky exams. They may have only got a 3, in maths and English but hey, they are so intellectually curious it doesn’t matter!

crock of rubbish. Teachers all have to teach to get their kids through GCSE’s with the highest grades possible. It doesn’t destroy their love of learning. Many of the highest achievers thrive in this environment and makes them want to study more. Certainly did me. I went on to do several further qualifications after university. I have never stopped learning my whole life

Qualifications aid social mobility. I don’t understand why people wouldn’t want this for more dc. These dc will go on to do well at life because they have their GCSE’s, they’re not starting out having to resit at college or do extra years because they don’t have maths and English.

If teaching around the curriculum was actually happening and was successful for most dc then you would expect the results to be better at all other schools.