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.

Other than being a master of self promotion?
I'm primary, not secondary. However, we'll never get results like hers because we actively welcome children/families with SEN, thrive on diversity and difference and want to do our best for those who the system fails. As a school we don't exclude and actively seek to integrate the "lost causes". She has a very different approach and her results are excellent. But she will never get job satisfaction in the way I do and that's fine, but I know what job I prefer to do.

I’ve only seen people saying that in response to those suggesting all children would benefit from a school like this.

I have a dc with PDA who would not cope in a school like this at all. I have one with ASD who loves rules and may thrive.

I have no problem with schools like this existing, if it suits certain children that’s great.

The problem I have is that most secondaries seem to be either academies with authoritarian tendencies, or they are secondaries whose behaviour policies are being brought more into line with those of academies, and I believe this is a big mistake because there are so many children either out of education or really struggling to the point where other pupils and teachers are affected, and anecdotally this appears to correlate with the advance of academies. I’m happy to be proven wrong in this, I can’t find research to back this up, but given that the government seems to be completely ignoring how many children are currently school refusing, and ignoring the huge rises in home education, instead pushing campaigns such as “it doesn’t matter if you have a bit of a cold, get yourself into school” which spectacularly misses why so many children are now not at school.

Allegedly, when Michael Wilshore was head there before KB, he used to set entrance exams for 9am Saturday morning, knowing full well that certain parents would be bothering getting up at that time to do exams.

There is no entrance exam for yr7 intake into Michaela Community School, @Justnevergetsthere . They take mostly from the local area.
To add: all admissions are through Brent school admissions.

It doesn’t have entrance exams @Justnevergetsthere .

And I think that’s the point, it’s just a local secondary, won’t suit all, but no school can suit all.

All secondaries do assessments at the beginning of the year, for new pupils.

Cross post @MrsEmmelineLucas !

the major difference is a self selected parent group, mainly first generation immigrants, who have strict parenting styles, high levels of respect for teachers and an absolute expectation that their children will behave and work hard at school.

Yes, this is what seems to be the case. Parents who don't have this focus or these values, don't send their children there so it's a particular self-selected group which you don't get in most schools.

How can you possibly know her level of job satisfaction? She’s having a pretty good day today.

Thanks for the reinforcement!

They don't just do well at GCSE, they have very good Progress 8 scores as well.

It’s true that you couldn’t have every school follow those principles, but a few more wouldn’t hurt! The life opportunities those kids are getting are absolutely massive. The same kids wouldn’t get as high results in any other state school, and that’s a worry.

@AnneLovesGilbert of course she is. But to get a buzz from exam results is very different to the one you get from helping children to communicate or interact or achieve at a level noone ever thought possible but the world will never recognise. Like I say, I know what I prefer.

I would agree, and many go on to Russell Group universities. I would love to visit and observe it first hand.

That's a tad sanctimonious isn't it? But she will never get job satisfaction in the way I do and that's fine,
Am pretty sure she has job satisfaction, as she's doing quite well.
Do you only care about the 'lost causes'? What about the other pupils who're impacted by things? I know my dc was impacted and assaulted by a violent, aggressive child. School didn't give a shit because they got to Polish their '#be kind' halos.. sod the kids who were being injured.

It is a tiny school based in an old office block I believe - each of the subjects you describe needs specialist teachers plus textiles room plus DT lab plus kitchens. It just wouldn’t be remotely cost effective at all to run those subjects. The school thrives because of the narrow curriculum. These children get top grades which opens up doors for them further down the line but they sacrifice variety. That is the trade off. Some parents want the grades, other parents would prefer lower grades but more creativity. Nothing stopping these children doing more creative activities outside of school.

I think that the difference between Michaela & other strict schools (where they line up & do uniform checks & check equipment) is that the students at Michaela seem happy & smiley. This is according to my headteacher. So they are on board with the vibe rather than feeling stressed about it. Apparently facilities are quite basic & the lunch wasn’t anything special - but they have to eat a communal lunch.

There’s a school in our local authority, NE England, high levels of socio-economic deprivation, who used the Michaela academy as a ‘blueprint’ to turn around their behaviour and academics when a new head joined about eight years ago. Staff were sceptical and a lot left, but they stuck with it and it’s now been completely transformed, with superb results, massively improved from where they were.

I don’t like KB, could not work for her, I really dislike her seemingly never-ending need for self-promotion. However, she’s done an amazing job for the kids that go to her school. My own ND kids would never have survived there though - the narrow curriculum doesn’t fit them, and their inattentiveness would have seen them sanctioned every day.

And this is the thing, I genuinely don’t think most parents understand the levels of violence in most schools today (a whole other thread, I realise), and the impact it has on everyone else. Teachers and pupils, primary and secondary.

I’m sorry your dc had to go through that, I hope it’s now resolved.

I would agree. It's very shocking how a small number of students consistently disrupt learning for the majority, in many schools.

This is the school where she put underprivileged kids in lunch detention in a separate room because their parents hadn’t paid the bill. She cares about results above everything. She has no empathy and no care.

It's becomes self selecting in that parents chose it plus immigrants often have very high expectations of dc educationally.

Oh yes, but it's always 'be kind' 'your child has joint responsibility because they aren't escaping quickly enough from the assault'

and they drill for the GCSE exams in every lesson from Year 7 onwards so the kids are well prepared for those exams. However, they lack breadth and how well prepared the kids are for life beyond school is another matter..

I think people are jealous.

definitely an element of this

How do other schools generally prepare their children for life beyond school? I certainly wasn’t prepared for anything after I left.