Category Archives: Katharine Birbalsingh

High court upholds top London school’s ban on prayer rituals

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Muslim pupil loses case against Michaela community school, run by former government social mobility tsar Katharine Birbalsingh

A ban on prayer rituals at one of the highest-performing state schools in England, famous for its strict discipline and high-profile headteacher, has been upheld by a high court judge.

The case against Michaela community school in Brent, north-west London, was brought by a Muslim pupil, known only as TTT in court proceedings, who claimed the ban was discriminatory and breached her right to religious freedom.

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UK’s ‘strictest headmistress’ fears schools will stop teaching Shakespeare

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Katharine Birbalsingh says move to decolonise English curriculum could mean Shakespeare replaced with black and female authors

The headteacher of a school described as the strictest in Britain has warned that William Shakespeare will disappear from classrooms as schools in England come under pressure to decolonise and diversify the curriculum.

Katharine Birbalsingh, the controversial headteacher at Michaela community school in north London, said Shakespeare had already been “lost” in many places in the US and cautioned: “We are following America in this way.”

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Restrict phones to improve child social mobility in UK, says commission chair

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Katharine Birbalsingh tells school leaders’ conference ‘all the problems start on smartphones’

Schools and parents can improve the social mobility of disadvantaged children by restricting access to smartphones, the chair of the government’s social mobility commission has said.

Katharine Birbalsingh told the Association of School and College Leaders annual conference: “If we genuinely want things to be fairer, and we want our disadvantaged children to be socially mobile, the best thing I can do for them is getting them not to have a smartphone.”

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