The triumph of Katharine Birbalsingh

There are two questions that need to be asked of any society: what is it that is going wrong; and what is it that’s going right that should be done more? It’s only natural to focus on the first question – not least because it is easier. But it is the second question that should be asked more.

Whenever I think of the few things that are going well in Britain, I think of the Michaela Community School in Wembley, London. I have visited the school a couple of times. It sits in one of London’s most deprived communities. Set up under the era of Michael Gove’s free schools scheme, it is the creation of Katharine Birbalsingh. Pupils are almost all from non-advantaged backgrounds.

Whenever she is profiled in the media, people tend to write about Birbalsingh as ‘Britain’s strictest headmistress’ or similar. The implication skews towards the negative. Commentators, especially of the left, like to suggest that there is something a bit suspect about this striving for discipline and excellence. ‘Shouldn’t the kids be allowed to let it all hang out a bit more?’ is a frequent note, hit by people who have either forgotten what their own education involved or like to gloss over the advantages they have had in life.

Happily, Michaela’s success has been demonstrated beyond all doubt. Last year, Ofsted rated the school as ‘outstanding’, noted that the pupils’ behaviour is ‘exemplary’ and that the school has an ‘exceptionally rich curriculum, which prepares pupils exceptionally well for the next steps in education’. All of which is very good – but the proof is in the grades. For the last two years the school has received the country’s highest Progress 8 score – which tracks how well secondary schools improve performance after primary school.