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?

Very mixed feelings about her and her school.

I love all the stuff she advocates for around teaching children from all backgrounds debating skills and other important business and life skills that many schools don’t impart to their pupils.

I don’t like the ‘hard boundaries, pull yourselves up by your boot straps, no excuses, this is the only way you’ll ever be successful!’ stuff aimed at children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, especially when that is very much NOT what her own child is receiving (extremely wealthy father, exclusive private school education, cosseted little world of small class sizes and ‘born to lead’ mentality). And actually, I DO have a problem with that. I don’t call that social justice.

I reckon michaela is very good and improves the life opportunities of some children. It’s clearly not appropriate for others.

You just need to know some stuff - times tables, foreign language vocabulary and grammar. And it needs to be rote learnt - if the child does not do it at home, then a school that provides them with the structure to do this is positive. On its own rote learning is not enough, but a certain amount is necessary to progress at the pace required for the exams.

Her challenge will be if she can think about all children - how to improve SEN provision; kids who for a variety of reasons don’t pick the skills up at the stage dictated by our education system.

I think she’s great. She’s massively improved her school.

Not sure what you mean by this as she had no school to improve. As in, she didn’t take over a failing school, or any such school.
Her school is a free school that she has seen from the first Year of 7s through only once. She only has one year of non Covid related results to go from at GCSE level and no non-Covid related sets of results at A Level.

However, she is a Headteacher who oversees a clear ethos of her school and follows through. She has sent some disadvantaged pupils off to good universities in the last year, so has had some success.

I have visited her school and it must be pointed out that they do not have a wide range of subjects offered - it is limited, possibly due to ensuring that their pupils have less to learn, so do better in the subjects that they do do. I’m sure this was also mention in her Tiger book she released.

Personally, I have no idea where she gets the time to run a school, spend so much time on Twitter and giving almost daily interviews in the media/podcasts etc. AND take on this new social mobility role, as well as parent, it seems.
Something has got to give surely!?

@pianolessons1

Her son is at St. Paul's. She doesn't exactly walk the walk of improving social mobility in her own family.........

Are you sure she has a son? I’ve been searching on line and multiple sources say she has no children?

She has a son. She was briefly married to a very wealthy city banker. She just never, ever speaks about it….

I know a family who had a child in her school. Unsurprisingly the pastoral care was shockingly poor and there was no support or adjustments made for the child's mental health problems. So, it depends what we think a school is for really, is it just an exam factory or is it a supportive learning environment? There are lots of schools in London which do well despite high numbers of kids on fsm, why anyone would want their children to go to the Michaela School is beyond me

Very interesting it’s all so cagey about her having a child to the point. when many articles about her actually say she has no children. Apart from the poor journalism, she is keeping very quiet about that given she is so vocal about everything else!
She might be protecting him possibly but it’s still interesting!

If she does have a child at St Paul’s it’s interesting he’s at a school with a rich extra curricular provision when the structure of Michaela means the students would struggle to be able to take part in music, dance or sport at a decent level due.

Give her a chance, maybe a fresh approach it's what's needed, no one can say there is no room for improvement

I think she is a fantastic advocate for all children achieving well through good teaching and discipline.

Amazed anyone would not be a supporter, it is refreshing to see unselective free school pupils from often disadvantaged backgrounds achieving amazing grades and top university places, what is not to like?

@Dragongirl10

I think she is a fantastic advocate for all children achieving well through good teaching and discipline.

Amazed anyone would not be a supporter, it is refreshing to see unselective free school pupils from often disadvantaged backgrounds achieving amazing grades and top university places, what is not to like?

Hmm, maybe the fact that she doesn’t mind if children are subjected to racism.

I value my child’s mental health more than their exam results.

A child with a parent very sick in hospital needs to spend time with them and their family, not get detention for not doing their homework that evening.

The best way to achieve equality, particularly for the disadvantaged is through good education.

Some of the attitudes on here explain why we have such low attainment in so many schools..... baffles me

Good education can be achieved without destroying the mental health of children or turning a blind eye to racism & ableism.

She's right to have high expectations. That doesn't make her very unusual.
She's been very accomplished at engineering a media profile and becoming a self-appointed expert. I'm fairly sure she doesnt have a child but I guess it's not relevant to the question about her appointment. I've followed her for a few years and agree with her on some things. I worry about her egotism, her tendency to generalise, and lack of nuance.

What would be more impressive is if the government appointed education ministers who knew their area! The idea you need a "czar" is almost an admission that the DFE isn't working very well. Or is she just a spokesperson for The Conservative Party...

@Dragongirl10

The best way to achieve equality, particularly for the disadvantaged is through good education.

Some of the attitudes on here explain why we have such low attainment in so many schools..... baffles me

So you think its okay for children to be subjected to racism?

She opened a new school and sold it as having a huge focus on behaviour and rote learning. She attracted ambitious parents - many of the EAL learners have highly motivated and supportive parents. These are not hard groups to work with and other schools in tough areas produce great results with these groups. Can it be replicated in the schools who have been at the bottom of pile for so long their intake is now largely made up the the socially excluded? We know what works for these pupils and it’s investment not rote learning. But the conservatives have ever liked a cheery message that all the poor need do is work harder to do better.

@Comefromaway

Good education can be achieved without destroying the mental health of children or turning a blind eye to racism & ableism.

There is a big gap between destroying kids mental health etc and prioritising learning in a school.

The mainstream method is to centre MH and social justice, its not like the results are stellar for the individual or for society.

It's probably OK to adjust the balance a bit. Seems to be working for many and no one is forced to send their kid there if they don't think it's a good fit

@HelloWeeny

She has a son. She was briefly married to a very wealthy city banker. She just never, ever speaks about it….

I was beginning to doubt myself! But I heard about him from someone whose son went to school with him pre St Pauls so am pretty sure of my sources.

@Comefromaway

If she does have a child at St Paul’s it’s interesting he’s at a school with a rich extra curricular provision when the structure of Michaela means the students would struggle to be able to take part in music, dance or sport at a decent level due.

well exactly.

In answer to other questions no, I don't have any problem with politicians etc sending their kids private (except that hypocrite Diane Abbott who made such a song and dance about it) but I do find it interesting that the style of school she espouses for other people's children isn't good enough for her own.....

what is not to like?

The fact that children with disabilities are punished for having disabilities?

@Hamsteronrollerblades

She opened a new school and sold it as having a huge focus on behaviour and rote learning. She attracted ambitious parents - many of the EAL learners have highly motivated and supportive parents. These are not hard groups to work with and other schools in tough areas produce great results with these groups. Can it be replicated in the schools who have been at the bottom of pile for so long their intake is now largely made up the the socially excluded? We know what works for these pupils and it’s investment not rote learning. But the conservatives have ever liked a cheery message that all the poor need do is work harder to do better.

This strikes me as a key question.

I'm not sure how much of the ethos of her school you could transfer to our local comp. Parents and pupils aren't choosing our local school - it's the catchment school and those on the edges of the catchment tend to choose an alternative.

Her "you signed up for this, you follow our strict rules" approach may not translate to those who haven't chosen a school, but have no real choice.

That said, I think the calm environment and clear expectations would suit many children.

@Hamsteronrollerblades

She opened a new school and sold it as having a huge focus on behaviour and rote learning. She attracted ambitious parents - many of the EAL learners have highly motivated and supportive parents. These are not hard groups to work with and other schools in tough areas produce great results with these groups. Can it be replicated in the schools who have been at the bottom of pile for so long their intake is now largely made up the the socially excluded? We know what works for these pupils and it’s investment not rote learning. But the conservatives have ever liked a cheery message that all the poor need do is work harder to do better.

Yep. Her school may be great for most of the kids there. She seems driven and charismatic. But it's a bit of a niche achievement - one school, mostly self-selecting sample. They just want a bit of her brand - there's no breadth to her accomplishments to date.

@donkey86

• immigrants throughout the world are really successful in their new countries - highly mobile socially
• The poorest performing group, academically, are white males in poor areas

So her school by it's demographic would have a natural advantage when comparing results.

just saying, that's the facts.

More than half of young people in the UK go to University.

So what blocks social mobility?

Interesting that the Gvt has appointed someone whose emphasis is on ‘making the oiks behave’ rather than tackling the exclusive elite cliques that control many job sectors, or addressing poverty and overcrowding on inner city estates.