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.

Students with ADHD benefit from a calm learning environment as much as others.

As a teacher for >30 years in a creative subject, I find the lack of creativity at Michaela depressing.

It's all very well teaching to the test and that is perfectly possible in a number of GCSE subjects. However, what is needed is a balance between conforming and getting good results combined with a spark of creativity, looking at something from a different perspective perhaps, which is equally valid. Yes, their results are impressive, but students there take fewer subjects on average than most year 11s (certainly than in my school) and Music, Drama, Dance and DT if taught, are only taught to y7 and y8. That's so sad.

This country has always produced people who could think "outside the box" and it saddens me to see this school being championed for stamping on that in their students. It's one of the highlights of my day to see a kid making a connection between something I have taught them and something they do outside of school. I don't agree that we need lots of automatons who are good at following instructions but have no clue how to lead, how to work in a group, how to complete a more open-ended task etc. because it did not fit within the ethos of their school.

Agree my SEN son loves a calm well ordered class and needs the silence to process what is being taught.

Absolutely. It benefits everyone.

The problem is that GCSE’s are a huge wall to climb for many kids including my SEN ds and having that kind of intense learning is the only way to break this barrier to move on in life. However he is lucky that music and drama feature heavily in his school and offers creativity and opportunities to participate even if you don’t take them for GCSE. I know this isn’t always the case and am eternally grateful for music and drama for giving him confidence.

I would not have coped with that in school. I did well, but I could not pay constant attention to the teacher, I had to look around, read ahead, doodle, daydream while half listening - if I had to track the teacher all the time I would have been so focused on trying to do that I wouldn't have heard a word they said.

I think the idea is that it becomes habitual. The more you try to concentrate, the easier it becomes.

I'm sure with many people it does but certainly not all. And if I were to get told off every time my eyes wandered I would have been turned off school long before it even had a chance to become habitual. So I am glad I went to a school that wasn't so strict (although I do wish it had been stricter in some ways, homework for instance - I stopped getting into trouble for not doing it fairly quickly which was not to my benefit in the long run)

I used to be a high school teacher and this cohort of children were a joy to teach. Listened, interested, did homework etc.

Yes, I think that's fair enough. It's interesting how quickly most students do learn to track you, though, and it's only for the short periods of teacher talk before the activities.

KB is able to defend Michaela's approach on homework and family lunch with reference to this. She understands that finding a place to study in a crowded home is difficult - so pupils do homework at school.

The Michaela kids do homework at home not school - their homework policy is on their website

We expect pupils in years 7-9 to complete around 1.5 hours of homework every evening. In years 10 and 11, pupils complete around 2-3 hours of homework per nigh

But children who want that can go to a school which offers it or do it out of school. No one says it is perfect but for many of those children it is a passport to a better future.

i do think it is very unfair that people who have never been to the school or personally met the students make horrible judgements that the children are simply ‘automatons’. I bet my bottom dollar that the kids there come out with way more skills than an average child. People don’t want to accept it as it doesn’t agree with their preconceived notion of a hard working, academic school.

I think you're right, and it's quite the culture change, @Drfosters .
As @IdaGlossop and me have been saying, at first many people thought it wouldn't work or was a bad idea, but it does actually work.
As a teacher I've had a massive amount of positive feedback from students and parents about the positive classroom atmosphere since our school adopted many of the techniques, including tracking and SLANT.

But how do you know "you want it" if you don't get the opportunity to experience it?

Most year 7s join my school having had a very limited musical experience at primary school. Yes, they may have had a year learning the ukulele, but despite it being a National Curriculum subject, the obsession with y6 SATs means that lots of primary schools say "we're singing in assembly, that's Music sorted". It's hard work teaching them the skills needed for GCSE in the KS3 years but we do it because we see what it means to the students. My point is that Michaela don't give the students those experiences, and for that reason alone, I have a problem with it.

Then it's up to parents! Engaged parents will give their children opportunities outside of school.
Have you stopped to think that the parents who choose Micheala do so because they believe it's more important for their kids to get exam grades which will enable them to have social mobility? Some of these kids will be at risk from gangs etc, grades 8 + 9 at GCSE in maths/English/science and couple of humanities will help ensure they don't sucumb. Maybe that's more important to those parents than their children playing an instrument?
There's nothing to stop children at Michaela doing music in spare time/once they've left school is there?

With all due respect, no one should be taking music GCsE without grade 4 in an instrument. That is simply setting up a child so not get a good grade. If a child is musical but not got an instrument then they need to be looking at other out of school outlets not a formal qualification.

Also just to add, I knew I was creative when I was a child as I liked to sew extensively and nothing could stop me drawing. Nothing to do with school at all.

Nowadays there are endless you tube videos giving instructions on a wide range of things. I don’t think it is for schools after the age of 11 to be introducing completely new concepts to children. If sadly, they have lived very closed off lives as a child, I think it better for the children to focus on academic qualifications to improve their future.

Agreed

What absolute nonsense!

I get paid to play my instrument and I don't have a single grade exam on that instrument. By your reckoning, I wouldn't be able to take the GCSE, despite having a degree in Music! My last student got distinction in grade 8 in July, so obviously I know what I am doing. I have been teaching GCSE Music for most of the last 31 years too.

You don't need grade exams to achieve amazing results at GCSE in Music. A grade exam means that on a particular day, you were able to play some pieces, some technical work, read at sight and do some listening tests to a particular standard. Only 30% of the GCSE in Music is performing. The rest is composing (nothing to do with performing/skill on an instrument or voice) and appraising.

That is incredibly sad. All children should have the opportunity to do practical subjects, and it should be started in primary school properly, and not sidelined in secondary. I left the UK and my children go to school in a different country, where these subjects are considered very important and done from 1st grade onwards, with a proper amount of time and resources devoted to them, and in the last years of comprehensive when they get to choose electives they have to choose at least two practical subjects. This ensures all children get to find out whether or not they have a passion for music (where they get taught how to play a variety of instruments as well as singing, much less time on history of music and theory compared to music lessons I had in the UK), or textiles, or woodwork, or art, or cookery etc, and they all learn the essentials of Home Ec in 7th grade so they all can cook at least some basic meals and wash dishes properly even if they have parents who can't or won't teach them. There is still plenty of time for them to focus on academic subjects, and they can focus better when it isn't constant academic subjects all day but interspersed with practical ones.

I've just had a look at the Michaela website and my goodness, I am impressed. This is social mobility in action. The focus on soft skills amd foundational knowledge is fantastic. And I would think actually enables pupils to thonk more creatively, not less, because they are secure in their knowledge and have been taught how to listen, debate and question.

I wonder if there is a lack of understanding as well on threads like these of the cohort of children that attend this school regarding what is loosely termed 'creativity'. Many of the cultures and heritages who are likely to attend this school likely have a rich knowledge and experience and understanding of music, textiles, making your own clothes, making ends meet, dance, singing, food creation and growing. Those skills will be within their households and families.

What you are describing takes engaged, well behaved students and engaged, supportive parents. I suspect you are describing a culture where this is the norm. This is not the norm in the UK.

What is the point of a ‘broad curriculum’ if a lot of the students are unemployable at 18? You only need to glance at the stats for white, working class boys to see the problem.

You are describing a secondary modern school.

Good points. Unfortunately, we can't keep Food Tech teachers, the behaviour and lack of respect for the subject is so bad.