Is this the mother of all calling out - Katherine Birbalsingh

[DramaFatigue]

Katherine Birbalsingh has done the mother of all calling out and I can't help but sit here with my jaw on the kitchen table in awe.

She has written a 4-page open letter to Sir Kerr Starmer calling out Jess Phillip's behaviour online. Whilst I don't always agree with KB's methods of the school she runs, I do think that Jess Phillips behaviour towards her is shocking and unbefitting of someone who could be running the country. JP should resign TBH.

https://news.sky.com/story/headteacher-katharine-birbalsingh-brands-labour-mp-jess-phillips-social-media-posts-racist-and-bullying-12913139

Except she didn't start it. KB is telling porkies there.

The left have got an issue with themselves believing in their own moral superiority (you see it on MN all the time) and particularly those they claim to help more. It’s patronising and it’s steeped in prejudice

I agree that it’s patronising and often influenced by prejudice

why is the mc western view on how schools should be managed considered better for children. Are the children happier more well rounded individuals? Not from what I can see as ds school

I think the way most schools are managed full stop is generally not conducive to wellbeing, but to resolve that at large would basically involve the undoing of the fabric of modern Western society, so I don't see how it is really possible. I can certainly remove my own children from it though.

I wasn’t claiming that. I was responding to the poster who suggested that reading out a bunch of names is evidence of JP having value. FWIW, whatever she may have done previously, in parliament she is neither use nor ornament, in my view.

I haven't followed this recent spat. But wasn't there something about children in KB's school being alienated if their dinner money accounts weren't up to date? They were made to eat in isolation and had something very very basic. That is horrible if true.

Yes it's true. She said so herself.

They are provided a basic sandwich, piece of fruit and bottle of water.

Same for pupils in referral.

I follow her. Have done for years. That specific photo with that that tagline was an unintentional error. Which she explained immediately.

Not really. She claimed it was a GIF. We can all see it wasn't. She seems to have made a very deliberate choice, out of all the possible photos of Tina Turner that she could have possibly used, to go for one including Ike. All very odd.

In your view. Clearly not in her constituents’ view or the many women who admire her integrity.

I also wondered this.

A school that has to have a timetable of when you can leave detention after compulsory homework club for up to 6 detentions in a day is clearly expecting pupils to receive loads of detentions!

I'm also very wary of the compulsory after school extra I out until attainment is at an acceptable level.

Do they not allow for the fact pupils will also achieve at different rates despite working hard? Again this seems to target those pupils with send who could be the hardest working and yet still attain lower.

In fact my ds school (that he left before yr 7 ended) tried this. All pupils finished at 2.30 but they wanted him and those with send to have their extra inputs then whilst the rest of the pupils went home or had enrichment.

The judge at the ehcp refusal to assess tribunal was NOT impressed and went as far as hinting it was disability discrimination by asking me if I'd pursued this along other avenues.

The children who go to her school will be much more ready to be the next generation of leaders than if they went to some school where the teachers just celebrated BLM once a year and told them all they are is the descendants of slaves.

Unfortunately, the likelihood is that they won't, because this is not a school that encourages independence in pupils, and it positively discourages thinking for themselves. They are spoon fed the curriculum, and they are spoon-fed in terms of every aspect of the school day. That is not an environment that produces leaders.

I’ve never considered it, but that might be why I was drawn to her. I love other teachers’ hyperfocus as much as I love my own. 😂

That’s right on brand for her.

i doubt many of her constituents think that making unevidenced slurs against a school’s safeguarding approach or a teacher’s professionalism is a good use of their MPs time. But if they do, well, they’ve got what they deserve.

Their uniform policy actually goes as far as to determine what type of prescription glasses you can choose. WTAF? Way to make someone feel self conscious about something they have no choice over. A dark frame doesn't suit everyone.

Birbalsingh deliberately seeks publicity and indeed notoriety, and this little effort is part of it. See also her appearance at the NatC conference, to say nothing of the bizarre speech she made there, and her choice to be associated with some deeply unpleasant far right political figures. You seriously have to question whether that is appropriate for a headteacher.

Agree.

It's much more likely to produce woman who Philips reads the names of in parliament.

Those who seek to be controlled and thank their superiors for punishing them and teaching them correct behaviour. Those who haven't had an opportunity to develop independent mind and the ability to communicate freely.

I'm always reminded of reading the Demon headmaster when I've seen inside the corridors of this school.

Interesting claim on that school uniform policy that they insist on it in order to keep costs down. Yet parents must buy Michaela uniform from their named supplier and their pleated skirt, for instance, is £16 against around £8-10 for a standard uniform skirt in a chain store.

Is it really a good look that the Uniform policy, specifically approved by KB, is based on a lie? To say nothing of the fact that it directly breaches Department for Education guidance. She's hardly setting a good example to her pupils.

It was the only thing that ever got me to do the same amount of work as everybody else, to the best of my ability. Either you make considerable effort to wake my Panic Monster or the Monkey of Procrastination & Instant Gratification WILL NOT LET GO OF THE WHEEL.

I spent the entire summer of 1980 in the library, every single day bar the weekend, when I was colouring in and writing up, thanks to a project of 45 sodding topics about Oz.

However I came top of the class (I’m average, very average), won the annual geography prize at the end of the year for a project graded in September and still know lots of random facts about Australia. Had I been paying attention when the instructions were given I’d have known we were only required to pick a minimum of ten of the forty five topics. But I wasn’t, so I didn’t. I thought it was an outrageous amount of work, but didn’t want to risk bad marks, or God help me, a bad conduct mark, by not completing it.

That was only summer on record when I didn’t end up in massive trouble for accidentally cycling (on a tandem bike, with me deciding directions, which i retrospect was an error on my friend’s part) to Reading on an A road, or doing myself an injury with tool cos I got a sudden fancy to “make something”. Or ruin my siblings’ summer by forcing them to sit in front of my blackboard while I played teacher.

I know the 70s and 80s were far from perfect. I was there. I got the Bad Conduct marks and one House Prefect a little drunk on power to prove it. But thank god I didn’t spend my entire education subjected some of the lowered expectations proffered to kids today. My mother would have turned into an activist, waggled me all over the place like a prized guinea pig and demanded nobody expecting a damn thing of me, with allowances made left, right and centre. I’d have loved it. At the time.

But I know everything I would have lost had that kind of temptation been dangled in front of me. I know the life I’ve built, despite my toolbox being different from most people’s, was worth all the stretching and jumping to reach expectations. They seemed much harder for me to reach than a lot of other people. Probably genuinely were. Still so fucking grateful I got to even try.

The uniform policy also bans hairstyles that "that block the view of others in any way."

Bit tough on pupils careless enough to have frizzy hair that might tend to grow outwards rather than downwards. That's not likely to discriminate against any particular ethnic group, is it?

However, all schools with strict uniform do that. Certainly not specific to Michaela School. Nothing new about that at all. My girls grammar school did that 50 years ago! It’s really one of the few things I wouldn’t criticise KB for.

KB now accuses Alex Sturdy of racist behaviour for challenging her letter and pointing out inconsistencies

The problem there is that the law has changed in the last 50 years. Schools are no longer permitted to have unnecessary branded uniform. There is nothing necessary about having special Michaela piping on uniform skirts. As I say, breaking the law really isn't setting a good example for a school that purports to be strict about complying with rules.

So what it comes down to is - pointing out incontrovertible facts that call out Birbalsingh's lies is racist. Got it.

I do wonder what they teach in her school about the use of social media. Teachers have to be very careful about what they post on social media in case they bring the reputation of the school into disrepute.

KB herself probably has
ADHD

Only on Mumsnet ...

What is it she’s always saying about black kids playing the race card against teachers?