Prayer ban at Katharine Birbalsingh’s school is lawful, High Court rules .

If this was an LEA school she would have to take any child excluded from another school until she reached capacity. Of course she doesn't have to.

Would that be true even if that year group was already full?
I imagine any pupil excluded from a less strict school than Michaela, which is every other school in the borough, wouldn't last five minutes with their rules and regulations.

Glorianny

Joseann

Also Glorianny if you look on Michaela's website you will find the SEND policy. I include the opening paragraph .....

We are a non-selective, co-educational school in the London borough of Brent. We
believe that all children, regardless of need, can be successful academically if they
are provided with adequate support. We cater for pupils with a range of SEN
including (but not limited to) those identified as having:
• MLD (Moderate Learning Difficulties)
• SpLCD (Speech, Language and Communication Difficulties)
• BESD (Behavioural, Emotional and Social Difficulties)
• ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorders)
• Dyslexia

The school has SEN children.

The school has to have an SEN policy. It doesn't mean it has any such children.
Even then I suppose she could only accept those children the school would suit. KB thinks it is the right place for autistic children because it is quiet. Lots of stuff from her about it on Twitter at one time. So you are right there may be some but only those who could cope with the restrictions and there won't be many of those.
Interesting to look at the last Ofsted. The numbers are worse than it seemed.
There are now 90 children in the 6th form, and 698 in the main section. Which means they are still not up to full capacity, although they now have children from 11-19.
If this was an LEA school she would have to take any child excluded from another school until she reached capacity. Of course she doesn't have to.

Actually Glorianny, the school is over-capacity. Its PAN is 120 a year, so that would be 600 in the main school. The consequence is that the school doesn't have to take children on managed transfers.

Rosie51

^If this was an LEA school she would have to take any child excluded from another school until she reached capacity. Of course she doesn't have to.^

Would that be true even if that year group was already full?
I imagine any pupil excluded from a less strict school than Michaela, which is every other school in the borough, wouldn't last five minutes with their rules and regulations.

I wondered that. How is the school exempt?

I sort of see what you mean, Glorianny, that the school might have SEN strugglers, but because of the small classes those children are not labelled as such and don't have a statement? But they are still SEND pupils. As said before, very bright children fit into the category of SEN at the other end of the scale.

Glorianny

Callistemon21

Glorianny

OK I apologise it is state school.
But it is not funded in the same way as other schools in Brent.
And it certainly selects children. Basically KB looks for children who are underachieving and whose family will be supportive.

Have you checked out the other school in Brent?
It was the next borough to us when we lived in that area.

It was unbelievable just how competitive parents were, even when my DC were Y6, about which were the 'right' state-funded schools to apply to for a place for their children.

Not having experienced that previously, it was quite an eye-opener.

The statement is from the Brent policy on SEN education.
With 10%+ SEN children in the borough other schools must be taking Michaela's share.

I wonder where Brent gets the 10% figure from.

According to the government's schools dashboard, Michaela and most of other schools in Brent aren't far from average for the country.

www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/schools-by-type?step=default&table=schools®ion=304&geographic=la&for=secondary#SearchSchools

Interestingly, Brent as a whole has slightly better than average attainment.

Having said that, I suspect there's a sort of backdoor selection process going on. If I had a child who tended to be a bit cheeky and chatty, I most certainly wouldn't send her/him to Michaela.

I have no doubt that most of the parents insist their children do homework and are supportive of the school, if their child misbehaves (which is not always true). Undoubtedly, that's one of the main reasons for the school's success.

Additionally, the school has a very restricted curriculum. For example, it doesn't offer triple science, it only teaches one foreign language, pupils have to choose between geography and history, practical subjects aren't offered, there's no GCSE music. Pupils spend longer than average on 8 GCSEs, which is the number which counts in league tables.

Personally, I wouldn't have wanted either of my children to go there, but I doubt if the school would have wanted me as a parent either!

Joseann

Rosie51

If this was an LEA school she would have to take any child excluded from another school until she reached capacity. Of course she doesn't have to.

Would that be true even if that year group was already full?
I imagine any pupil excluded from a less strict school than Michaela, which is every other school in the borough, wouldn't last five minutes with their rules and regulations.

I wondered that. How is the school exempt?

It isn't exempt, but it is already over-capacity, so can't be forced to take on extra pupils. Secondary heads play a game and resit having their PAN (Published Admission Number) increased because they know that if they can't fill to capacity, they get excluded pupils sent to them from other schools.

Personally, I wouldn't have wanted either of my children to go there, but I doubt if the school would have wanted me as a parent either!
That's humorous growstuff!
(There were a few parents I didnt really want, but I had to think of the £ signs!)