Strong ethos leads to great education

HALLELUJAH. Praise the Lord – whichever one you pray to – over the High Court’s commonsense ruling that Michaela School’s decision not to allow prayer rituals was lawful.

But this is not about religion, it’s about backing great headteachers to do what’s right for their school.

I have crossed paths with Katharine Birbalsingh many a time.

Outstanding

From the moment we met I was impressed, not just by her drive to set up a free school – made possible by a Conservative government – and bring top-class education to inner city pupils who would be otherwise be deprived of such an educational start in life, but also by her no-nonsense approach.

So I followed Katharine’s progress with interest, how she set up the Michaela school against the odds and vicious sniping from the Left, and turned it into an Ofsted “outstanding” school.

Pupils achieve excellent grades, go on to some of the best universities in the world, and the school records the highest progress at GCSE level of any state school. I’ve visited the school, sat in on lessons and seen first hand just how impressive it is, with its quiet corridors, polite pupils, high expectations from teachers for each and every pupil and its communal lunches with topical discussions.

To achieve all of this, the school has rules and values – not for the sake of it, but to ensure success.

Michaela has a strong ethos, promotes discipline, respect for authority and I wholeheartedly applaud it.

There is no confusion about what the school stands for and when you apply there, you know what you are getting – a great education.

The ethos may not be for every pupil and every parent, and so if you don’t like it then find another school to send your child to – don’t try to destroy the ethos of one of the best schools in the country.

From time to time we all struggle to understand decisions made in the courts – but thankfully this one is a victory for common sense which will allow Michaela to continue doing what it does better than anyone else.