Britain’s ‘strictest headteacher’ statement in full as Muslim pupil loses bid to take part in prayer rituals

The Michaela Community School in north London has successfully defended a High Court challenge over its ban on prayer rituals.

Following the ruling, the school’s headteacher, Katharine Birbalsingh, who has been commonly described as Britain’s strictest, made a statement.

Here is her response in full:

“A school should be free to do what is right for the pupils it serves. The court’s decision is therefore a victory for all schools. Schools should not be forced by one child and her mother to change its approach simply because they have decided they don’t like something at the school.

“At Michaela, we positively embrace small-c conservative values which millions of people, including so many of our families and pupils, also value. Those values enable extraordinary academic progress.

“But they also promote a way of living, where gratitude, agency and personal responsibility, refusal of identity-politics victimhood, love of country, hard work, kindness, a duty towards others, self-sacrifice for the betterment of the whole, are fundamental to who we are.