Katharine Birbalsingh made Social Mobility chief, aibu not to have a good feeling about this?

[PasstheBucket89]

Her school does apparently have very good results for GCSEs

but im a bit wary of this, her views are quite regressive, what does she have to offer children who are disabled or who have disadvantaged background.

Aibu to feel worried about some of the views conveyed here, in a role with children?

She does a lot more to promote social mobility and provide a good education to disadvantaged kids than most of her critics IMO.

Would I send my kids to her school? Probably not. But not all schools have to suit all kids.

@Iggly

YANBU

This government has a weird hero complex where they invest too much in individuals and their personalities, instead of actually finding evidence of what works.

This lady has only really worked in schools. Not sure how that qualifies her for this role to be honest, even if she has some vaguely sensible things to say about some things.

I agree - but would comment that the previous Labour administration, especially with regard to education, did exactly the same kind of thing.

Like others have said, no excuses strategy will impact the most vulnerable negatively

for example, i as a young carer, was sometimes simply unable to do homework,
under her rules i would have been unfairly punished for reasons massively outside my control, no excuses also means no extenuating circumstances, which is not good for already disadvantaged children.

I think she’s a horrible woman, from what I’ve seen of her on Twitter. So many racist and xenophobic comments on her posts and it looks like she’s happy to instigate and watch it happen.

She always loves talking about how she’s conservative with “small c”..I had to unfollow her 🤮

It's a few years ago now but there is a tweet from her where she said about a child who was punished for not completing homework because they were visiting their seriously ill parent in hospital. It was along the lines of they will thank me in the end as homework is more important.

I think if academic achievement is the only aspiration for your children, she probably seems pretty good. There's an assumption that academic achievement = financial success = happiness.
I wouldn't send my child to a school like that.

@Theregoesmyhomebirth

I think if academic achievement is the only aspiration for your children, she probably seems pretty good. There's an assumption that academic achievement = financial success = happiness. I wouldn't send my child to a school like that.

I did send my child to a school like that. He ended up suicidal and a gibbering, anxious wreck.

[quote donkey86]Seriously? She runs a school where 58% of the pupils have English as a second language and 41% are eligible for free school meals*, yet they achieve well above the national average at GCSE and A Level. She clearly knows a lot about social mobility.

• www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/140862/michaela-community-school/absence-and-pupil-population[/quote] They achieve that by largely spoonfeeding the kids standard answers to standard questions, and unfortunately the assessment system allows for that. If we had a better exam system which actually requires and gives credit for original thought, analysis and critical thinking I very much doubt that this school's results would look great. But then the government doesn't want that, teaching children properly is expensive, and they don't care because their children aren't in the state/academy system anyway.

I didn't know she had a child, but why shouldn't she offer her child the best education she can?

Surely that is what she is paid to offer at her own school?

@Essexmum321

The children are taught debate / talking skills at Michaela, and they take children who have been excluded from other schools have SEN. I had no idea she had a son at St Paul’s though.

Number of children with EHCPs at her school are well below the norm. And the rules indicate a fair amount of intolerance of difficulties caused by SEN and disability.

@2Two

I didn't know she had a child, but why shouldn't she offer her child the best education she can?

Surely that is what she is paid to offer at her own school?

As I said upthread, this seems like the equivalent of an NHS doctor choosing to pay for private healthcare for herself (or her own child).

The more I read about Katherine Birbalsingh the less I think that she is a good appointment - but her privately educated child is a red herring in this argument.

They achieve that by largely spoonfeeding the kids standard answers to standard questions, and unfortunately the assessment system allows for that. If we had a better exam system which actually requires and gives credit for original thought, analysis and critical thinking I very much doubt that this school's results would look great. But then the government doesn't want that, teaching children properly is expensive, and they don't care because their children aren't in the state/academy system anyway.

One of their English teachers was asking advice on a teaching group about some aspect of the exam curriculum. It was very clear from the conversation that spoonfeeding is the way they approach things.

I think you answered your own question. She has good results. What would you rather, that we keep being subjected to civil servants who are all fur coat and no knickers. The type that perpetuate the myth that it’s taking part that counts, therefore lowering the bar in all our services.

Let her crack on, I say.
If she doesn't provide any real improvements then she'll be pensioned off.

Surely that is what she is paid to offer at her own school?
Assuming they live in catchment and get a place.
The education of her child is irrelevant to her new appointment though.

They achieve that by largely spoonfeeding the kids standard answers to standard questions, and unfortunately the assessment system allows for that. If we had a better exam system which actually requires and gives credit for original thought, analysis and critical thinking I very much doubt that this school's results would look great. But then the government doesn't want that, teaching children properly is expensive, and they don't care because their children aren't in the state/academy system anyway
I don't disagree with your criticism of the system, but it's hardly worth criticising a head because the of their teachers asked about the exam spec.
Teaching groups are full of people asking questions and being aware of the spec requirements doesn't mean teachers can't teach a range of ideas and build knowledge and debate.

I wouldn't choose to work at her school, and think there's some valid questions on some areas, but sometimes I think a lot of the criticism aimed at the school about the fact their pupils apparently can't think for themselves, taught to the test etc come from looking at many other schools through rose tinted glasses and are more driven by the fact some people don't like Michaela's approaches/values/behaviour policy.

Thousands of schools must use Pixl. Thousands of schools have varying quality curriculum plans in KS3 and then have huge intervention pushes at Year 11. Most schools engage in exam board training to be better informed.

This critical thinking/spoonfeeding dichotomy still raising it's ugly head, I see. Students must be "spoon fed" a body of facts that they can then draw upon in order to think critically about questions and problems.
I spoon feed my students facts and I make no apology for it. It leaves them better equipped to be "critical thinkers".

@MasterGland

This critical thinking/spoonfeeding dichotomy still raising it's ugly head, I see. Students must be "spoon fed" a body of facts that they can then draw upon in order to think critically about questions and problems. I spoon feed my students facts and I make no apology for it. It leaves them better equipped to be "critical thinkers".

I have no issue whatsoever with that method of teaching - provided, of course, that it also includes teaching an ability to select the relevant facts. But that isn't what's happening at Michaela.

Their methods remind me of my Latin teacher's many, many years ago. She went through the set text with us basically translating it for us, we dutifully wrote in the translation in the conveniently-spaced text and learnt it that way - using what little Latin we recognised as a prompt. The exam mostly involved giving us a chunk of the text and asking us to translate it and explain the context, and it was really easy to do on the basis of that revision. But if they had given us that text to translate when we'd never seen it before, we wouldn't have known where to start. I got a good result in Latin, and I really wouldn't claim ever to have been much good at it.

Essentially learning by rote? I wouldn't have been able to pass my french exams were it not for literally memorising the irregular verbs.

Nope to this, you're not wrong I fear..All this talk of tough love (different article) and firm boundaries - it all sounds so delightfully reassuring...Only the problems that just as many schools are suffering with at a macro level are huge problems of MH, undiagnosed Sen etc which often looks like 'bad' behaviour in class, and poor attendance out of it. Oh - and when mental health is the root cause behaviour boundaries become irrelevant in the face of it.

This approach will work well for some schools but it's largely populist rhetoric and an appointment aimed at voters with traditional values.

A low number of child with an EHCP could be indicative of a high number of 'sorry, we can't meet needs - off you pop now". Rigid policies will also naturally deter neurodivergence too. Delightful.

The google reviews of the school are interesting - visitors love it. Parents and pupils - mixed. MH comes up, and not in a good way:

4 months ago
My daugther went to this school, when it frist opened. What we was promised as viewing parents we didnt get. I am now looking for a school for my son and this school will NOT be it.
My daugther suffered very bad at this school her GCSE she got like 3 B's 2 C's and she got told she was not get anywhere in life. Her mental health suffered hugely....she suffers with a medical need and was made to feel she could not attend her appointments to attend to these needs. she has girls setting up wat app groups threatening her life, and all the school did was arrange a meeting with the parents.... this school is a BIG NO NO.

I think there might be more to the low number of ECHP’s, the deputy head was / is writing a book on SEN / low expectations, I’m sure she has said they don’t use labels or hire teaching assistants. Ofsted rated them as having outstanding outcomes for those who have SEN/disabilities.

Awful woman, and I can’t stand her approach to ‘education’

I.e children like hers learn in a supported, nurturing but fairly high pressure environment, children at comprehensives must be treated as if they are feral and being broken in a boot camp.

Not many people want their own kids to go to these ‘zero tolerance’ schools, but think that ‘other’ kids should go.

Ugh.

Lots of London schools with high ratios of FSM etc outperform the national average. But seem to like the teens they teach, and allow them to develop their potential in the way best for them.

My DC’s went to a comp in S London that would give the average regional leafy-dweller MNer kittens, but it was an excellent school that supported children to do well, incorporating SEN, high flyers etc.

Their policy looks thorough - it wouldn't be suitable for my ASD DS, he'd really struggle. I like that they have clearly set out their Sen policy and ways of working though. What's interesting is whether they change them as laid out in a kid's EHCP e.g If 121 support is named as required in an EHCP then I believe it has to be provided (not 100% on that as at an earlier stage of the process).

I think she’s great. She’s massively improved her school. If I lived near there I’d have sent my children in a heartbeat. The parents love her and the school is massively oversubscribed.
I think she’s perfect for the job!