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.

Then they go to a different school.

Not all schools need to be the same. They are a huge variety and number of schools in London. There will be somewhere that suits your family/ child.

There is zero evidence. There is, according to stats provided by a pp, fewer ehcp’s than average. But the correlation/causation argument stands here because there are fewer children overall in this school.

And, however much @Ratafia et al bang on about academy control over intake, they are wrong.

The results are extraordinary, by any metric, and needs to be researched, properly.

Again so? I genuinely don’t understand why the issue is? She upfront about the curriculum and its limitations. She has been clear they invest their money in this narrow curriculum so the children can come out with 8/9’s and therefore can go on to have greater opportunities. She’s upfront about the discipline. No one is forced to send their children there. There will be schools elsewhere even if further. What is the crux of the problem. To be me it sounds amazing. If my child’s school doesn’t was creative then they can learn sewing and cooking and dance outside of school. No need for it to be a gcse. The school won’t work for all children but so what? What is the exact issue that you have a problem with? That these children are getting good grades and it’s unfair on children elsewhere who don’t?

But what if those children would like the option of taking in school GCSEs or A levels in subjects like dance, drama, IT, DT, Food tech, German, Spanish, Chinese, Urdu, Business studies, in preference to Humanities, French etc? Effectively they're managed out because the subjects they may excel in just aren't on offer.

Why would a family not look up if Urdu is an option at GCSE before they put in as 1st choice? And why would a dc who wants to do Urdu be managed out? If they leave the school why wouldn't it be their choice?

What is the crux of the problem. To be me it sounds amazing. If my child’s school doesn’t was creative then they can learn sewing and cooking and dance outside of school. No need for it to be a gcse. The school won’t work for all children but so what? What is the exact issue that you have a problem with? That these children are getting good grades and it’s unfair on children elsewhere who don’t?

Yes, I am confused. What is the issue?

Michaela could have had larger funding but they chose to limit their intake. That's a decision they're entitled to take, but they can't then use lack of funds as an excuse for their clear limitations.

funding is based on head count but it doesn't mean each dc gets enough funding per head. Education budgets should be bigger imo.

What specific law has been broken?

Urdu gcse is a bit unfair. It's designed for pupils who already speak it.

And I had a German neighbour once and all her. children spoke german at home, and they were all put in for the gcse when they were 12 and got the old A*

Well no surprise there. It's just to pad out top grades.

Exactly, @Ratafia keeps making sweeping statements about the school, including (repeatedly) that they manage out children with SEN, with zero evidence to back up their assertions. I have no connection with the school but can see why it would appeal to lots of parents. Eliminating low level disruption is a huge bonus.

No it’s to give that child a GCse in something they can do. They can take that to employers as evidence of their competency. That is the point of doing qualifications.

Or that parents of children with an EHCP are not naming the school in the first place because they don’t think the school is the right fit for their child’s needs?

That's probably what's happening. I've not seen any evidence that they're "managing students out".

Or that they are perfectly able to support SEN children to the point that they don’t need an EHCP.

Surely if you were doing history at A level (as I did) you’d have covered different periods in the years leading up to that.

As for drilling for GCSE I would assume that means getting the children into the best place to start the GCSE curriculum. DD is doing GCSEs and has never, to my knowledge, done a full Shakespeare play. When I did O level English (Twelfth Night) I’d already studied, in depth and in full, Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and had had multiple school trips to see the plays (also not something DD has done).

This is no disrespect to teachers who do an amazing job, but the more I think about DD’s education the angrier I get. I don’t think the current curriculum or how it’s examined (I certainly never did eleventy billion exams at O level) is anything to write home about. It seems to be preparing children for burnout as much as anything.

It's all about employability to my DM. She doesn't really understand career paths except the really obvious ones - ideally you become a doctor. If you don't do medicine, engineering or law then the best you can do is STEM as it shows you are clever, according to my DM. She has a hierarchy of subjects in her head and she assumes that this hierarchy is also understood by employers. She was genuinely worried that I might do a geography degree and therefore be unemployable. She has also said that she thinks a history degree is likely to take you towards working as a cleaner.

I don't think that all first generation immigrant parents share her slightly odd beliefs. But being focused on traditional career paths and not allowing your children a free choice of subjects is quite common for some immigrant communities.

Which schools would those be? According to this league table ranked on GCSE attainment score, Michaela is ranked 30 in the country. The next non selective state school is Dame Alice Owen ranked at 85 followed by a school in Maidstone ranking 105. The others on the list up to 100 are all either private or grammar.

School League Tables | the Best Primary, Secondary and Independent Schools | Locrating

Well I did the same amount of exams when I did my GCSE’s 30 years ago - about 2 (occasionally 3 per subject). That hasn’t changed. There is less coursework although some boards still do it. I agree there is less focus on Shakespeare but they study plays and texts every single year. My son has covered Agatha Christie and an inspector calls at age 12-13. Lots of children don’t enjoy Shakespeare and actually put them off English. It sure did for me. I still have absolutely no idea what a midsummer night’s dream is about and I studied it in depth. I have actually been really impressed with the depth of the English curriculum and the variety of things they do. But interestingly it GCSe board dependant as they all are completely different. I didn’t realise that.

That's interesting, thank you.

Michaela's number 1 slot is in the Department for Education's Progress 8 tables ie value-added for state secondaries.

Their Progress 8 scores are excellent, the same with Mercia in Sheffield, a school with a similar ethos.

Mercia has advantages that Michaela does not have - a brand new building set in a large green space, a large and far less disadvantaged catchment, and a sixth form. It is still commendable though.

For typo

Birbalsingh has said that she wishes she had more space for sports but the old office block with tiny courtyard is all the council gave her. A shame they can't make use of the massive Wembley Stadium right next to them.

The whole thing reeks to me of 'how dare these brown, largely immigrants kids be doing better than our homegrown/white kids'.
All the comments on her character; 'how dare this uppity brown woman crow about how well she performs and how well her school does'.
As a teacher of almost 2 decades, the threads on this site astound me- parents dont think it's appropriate to follow uniform rules and are happy for their daughters to wear skirts showing their arses, they don't want their children to attend well deserved detentions, they won't support rules around phones in school, they dont think it's their job to teach their child how to use the toilet, brush their teeth or use a bloody knife and fork in time for school, and so on.
Parents advocating inclusion at all costs - on the whole, it doesn't work. There isn't the funding or staffing for it to work, and all children and staff are suffering.
I applaud her.

I'm going to agree with you on all points about Mercia, apart from the catchment. It takes from all areas of Sheffield, including the most disadvantaged.

Good points, @Mookie81 . Those micro tube skirts (for example) have turned out to be a massive problem at our school. The parents will not support a ban.