Michaela Community School Head Says Middle-Class Families Avoid School Despite High GCSE Results

Katharine Birbalsingh, headteacher at Michaela Community School in Brent, said middle-class families do not send their children to the school despite its academic results. "The middle classes don't send their children here... We don't have any," Birbalsingh told The Times.

She added that some parents avoid the school because pupils do not have the accents or family backgrounds they prefer. The non-selective state school achieved more than 40 per cent of pupils obtaining five or more grade 9s at GCSE last year. At least 36 per cent of students receive free school meals and many speak English as a second language.

Michaela enforces a strict behaviour policy. Pupils receive demerits for minor infractions such as slouching or looking out of windows, with two demerits leading to detention. New arrivals complete a week-long boot camp to learn the rules. Students walk corridors in silence and line up when bells ring.

Year 8 pupils acting as tour guides said the regime reduces bullying compared with their primary schools. The school is oversubscribed. Pupils said adapting to the discipline becomes easier after the first detentions.

Michaela receives about £7,000 per pupil each year.

Birbalsingh said the funding level prevents the school from having a sports hall or playing fields, limiting physical education to the first two years. Around one third of teachers are Oxbridge graduates who stay at the school for several years. Birbalsingh said new teachers initially resist giving detentions but later accept the practice as necessary for pupil success.