Britain's Strictest Headmistress

[purpleme12]

Did anyone watch this??
I'm interested to see if anyone likes this method of schooling

Being neurodivergent does have labels - lots of them, such as ADHD, SEN, PDA and so on.

The point is, Michaela school does expect children to reach their potential, which can't be a bad thing, surely. Isn't that what most parents want?

And as I said earlier, a school can't be expected to revolve around the needs of a minority of children.

To be fair, I don't know if they do take children with significant special needs. Perhaps the parents of those children would prefer a more traditional mainstream school where a child can access 1to 1 support. However, that really shouldn't detract from the splendid results that Michaela achieve.

No matter how successful a school, there will always be someone who says, 'ah, but what about...?'

@Peonyperfect

Here is a link re French lessons at Michaela

Oh, thank you, that's very kind!

I work in an outstanding computer in an inner city where parents have to choose for their children to come to us. We have a high level of students from poor backgrounds and those who have SEN. We have high levels of parental engagement. We don't have strict rules like Michaela but low level disruption is challenged.

IMO parental support is paramount. Eg when ringing 4 sets of parents for various reasons earlier this week their response was all a variation on 'whatever you think is best'.

Previous posters are correct that this is very difficult to achieve in a low income town with only one school.

*comp not computer 🙄

I’m 40 and several of my secondary school teachers have died over the last few years. With hindsight, I do wish we’d realised how much thought and effort they put into teaching us and shown them some gratitude, not attitude. I suppose we kind of saw them as the enemy who were keeping us there under duress. So although I dislike the shouting and two claps ritual, I love the idea behind it.

I thought the link about teaching French at Michaela was really interesting. No doubt the school does a good job of drilling it into the pupils. However, I was surprised that the teachers don’t use any pictures, just literal English translations. I know the literal translations are useful, but does anyone know why they don’t use pictures at all?

When I was learning French at secondary school (which was obviously a long time ago), the teachers wanted us to learn vocabulary by writing the French words in our exercise books, then illustrating them with tiny pictures (when possible). They didn’t want us to write the English equivalents. I assumed this was so we would learn to think in French, rather than having to think in English first.

When I was learning French at secondary school (which was obviously a long time ago), the teachers wanted us to learn vocabulary by writing the French words in our exercise books, then illustrating them with tiny pictures (when possible). They didn’t want us to write the English equivalents. I assumed this was so we would learn to think in French, rather than having to think in English first.

I've been a languages teacher for over 25 years. It was drilled into us that you teach new vocab using pictures, not English, to show the meaning of the words, so as to use the foreign language as much as possible and avoid using English at all, if possible. It's total nonsense though. Hardly anyone who does a language only up to GCSE will ever think in the foreign language. Everyone processes things in their own language unless they are pretty much fluent in the other language.

Plus of course, showing pictures rather than English translations of new words makes precisely zero difference to how much of the foreign language you use! Unfortunately these unnecessary and sometimes even counter-productive fashions arise in education all the time. Some of them take decades to die off.

I just watched this and really enjoyed it. It was especially interesting to see how mature the oldest children seemed - very poised, and no sign at all that they were robotic or unprepared to go to university. I think the school probably does well at creating children who ultimately do value learning: it's unlikely that they would get kids into those top universities if they were just rote drilling them and nothing more.

I was a physically fragile, highly anxious, and neurodiverse child / adolescent. I think there might have been some aspects of Michaela I would have found intimidating, but when I compare it to the school I actually attended... I would pick Michaela every time. I was viciously bullied for academic talents and accomplishments. There was very little positive learning culture. What KB said about the corridors being a site of bullying was also absolutely true. Even once I was at sixth form college, I remember being bullied further... even in class, being sexually harassed by boys because they thought I answered too many questions and was too enthusiastic about the subject. This was in a top sixth form college that does really well in school/college rankings and sends a number of children to Oxbridge every year.

So no, Michaela won't be right for every child; no school is. But I think it's a big assumption to start from the place that 'ordinary' schools are not hellholes for more vulnerable children.

I just watched it and I think some features of the school work well. The silence in corridors is fantastic to stop bullying on site, but I would be surprised if there is no bullying at the school at all.
i liked the gratitudes too but maybe not in that setting and with the claps, very strange!
its definitely a school for a certain demographic - low-income academic kids who would otherwise go to the local sink-school and potentially fail. I can definitely see why you’d send your child there in those circumstances.
My kids would’ve hated its punitive nature though, they do not have the personality types to deal with detentions for minor infringements etc, even though they’re both highly academic.

Haven't watched but read about this school. Sounds great! So many kids grow up without any discipline these days, at home or in school, and not sure why it's seen as a bad thing. I used to teach in another country, and it was worlds away from UK schools. All students stood up when a teacher entered the room, were eager to learn, no cheek back to teacher, yet they were happy, successful, not robot like in the slightest, and I am still in touch with many of them 20 years later. They have a national Teachers' Day, and from the day they start school all students respect and appreciate their education and their teachers. I wouldn't teach here for any amount of money ...

It’s a bit late to say this, but thanks for explaining @Fairislefandango. I find languages and language acquisition fascinating.

I trawled the reviews of the school to find out what parents of children at the school felt about it. There were parents who were pleased with it and there were parents who had had to withdraw their children because it wasn’t working for them.
I’m not sure about the assertion that labelling neurodiverse children means you’re giving excuses for poor performance. It’s not about labelling, it’s about understanding the issues the individual child faces and working with them to achieve their best. If you won’t acknowledge their label, you’re likely not acknowledging and trying to understand their individual challenges and strengths. If you’re not aware of those, how can you know that you’re providing the best education for them.
I think there’s no doubt the ones size fits all approach will bring great results because there will be a large number of children who will be able to take advantage of the what the school offers and achieve beyond expectations. But there will be a number of children for whom this environment will not work.

Katharine Buralsingh or whatever her name is

Offensive.

My niece is at a school like this, she is a nervous wreck & self harming but my brother & sil refuse to move her because in their eyes it is the best school in the area. She got a text at 8.30pm one night to say she had a Saturday morning detention because she was seen eating a sweet on the coach on a school trip. It is child abuse by another name.

Absolute nonsense is it offensive, or intended as such Hedda. I just couldn't remember the spelling. Being not very techy and since Mumsnet's update, if I'd have gone to check it I'd have lost the post.