Inside the World’s Strictest School and 4 of Its Harshest Rules
By: Andrew Gold
Tags: Self Improvement, Discipline, Education, Mindset, Philosophy

Inside the World’s Strictest School and 4 of Its Harshest Rules

Would Ms. Trunchbull or Ms. Honey be proudest of the silence in the corridors and the detentions for tardiness? Andrew Gold Aug 6·6 min read

Photo by Keren Fedida on Unsplash

Michaela Community School, in Brent, North London, has developed a reputation for being the world’s strictest school. Run by its famous headmistress and founder Katharine Birbalsingh, the school harks back to conservative values of yesteryear (without corporal punishment). Its detractors accuse Ms. Birbalsingh — fairly or not — of being a Trunchbull, in reference to the angry teacher in Roald Dahl’s Matilda.

The school has been making headlines for its tough stance on discipline. A far cry from the modern movement towards treating each child as an individual, Michaela insists its students play a part in the community.

I would add that I do not condone nor dismiss the school’s controversial values. I’m merely reporting on it for you. Few topics wind people up more than ideologies around their children. I am an observer who got to interview Ms. Birbalsingh on my podcast.

The school’s philosophy is counter-intuitive to many of us, who champion individuality and rebellion in schools. We grow up cheering rebels, from James Dean to Erin Brockovich (I watched it again the other night!). Many teachers around the world are disgusted by the ideologies of Michaela, while others are enamoured by them. Parents are divided, with many critical, and others moving to Brent to get their kid a place.

Whatever your opinion, I’d be remiss not to mention the school has achieved some of the country’s best grades in the few years it’s existed. And that Katharine Birbalsingh seems to be a much-loved teacher who cares about her students.

The Philosophy

Having read the school’s book, The Power of Culture: The Michaela Way, I came away with an idea of the school’s ideology. The teachers allude to the teachings of Rousseau, and the balance between ‘freedom from’ and ‘freedom to’. The former implies a freedom from tyranny, overt discipline, and injustice. The latter is at the heart of Michaela. It is their belief that a school has a duty to discipline children so that they become better educated. This, goes the theory, provides them with a ‘freedom to’ thrive.

Michaela is an inner-city state school in an impoverished district. Many of its pupils come from difficult family circumstances. Ms. Birbalsingh wants them to know that no matter how tough things are for them, there is no excuse to let their education suffer.

As well as the punishments (served in the form of detention slips), the school encourages tough love between teacher and pupil. The teacher cares about the progression of their kids, and looks to prepare them for the complex real world that awaits them on the outside. According to ‘The Michaela Way’, a failure to do so with discipline and authority might lead to ‘freedom from’ in the short term…but it doesn’t equip children with ‘freedom to’, once they leave school.

So, what really makes Michaela the world’s strictest school?

4 strict rules

1. Silence in the corridors

This is one of the most eye-catching (or ear-catching) regiments you’ll notice upon walking the corridors of Michaela Community School. They’re silent (apart from saying good morning and afternoon to one another).

Photo by kyo azuma on Unsplash

Ms. Birbalsingh talks of visiting many private schools where talking is allowed. ‘They don’t need silent corridors,’ she tells me. ‘We do!’ Many of the pupils at her school come from broken homes. Some of them are not used to discipline. In her experience, it is not such a great leap from chattering and whispering in the halls to bullying and even stabbing. She speaks of schools in which not only students, but even teachers, are afraid to walk to corridors.

Not so in Michaela, where nobody utters a word. And if a child is feeling in a rebellious mood, they can get it all out by talking in the corridors. Michaela believes in nipping this in the bud, and handing out detentions for such misdemeanors.

2. No phones allowed

It goes without saying that pupils are not allowed to bring cell phones (or mobiles, in the UK) to school. Many studies have been done on the negative effects of smartphones on our concentration. In this impoverished inner-city school, teachers need to utilise the pupils’ concentration to the max. It is a case of taking some children who struggle to read and write, and making sure they’re able to deal with the outside world upon graduating.

Phones are also seen as an excuse to gossip, chatter and bully. It’s much easier to keep those corridors quiet — while retaining high concentration levels — without them. In fact, the school goes a step further, by condemning all use of smartphones for kids — even at home. It gets in the way of not only homework, but also sleep. This means kids are less productive and active at school the following day.

The problem is that it is hard to tell your kids they can’t have smartphones if all the other children do. I wouldn’t want to let my kids be the only ones deprived of something. Even if it did make them better behaved!

3. Lunch with teachers

Every lunch is taken with the teachers. Kids are taught to cut up the food and serve it to their teacher and classmates. This is part of retaining the hierarchy between teacher and student, while also preparing kids from broken homes with the tools they need to get through life.

It’s no use getting good grades, and finding a job to put food on the table, if you can’t then serve it. The kids are taught to hold eye contact with their teachers and fellow pupils, while conversing at the table. Just make sure not to focus on eye contact while carving up the food — it’s an accident waiting to happen.

4. Be on time

Never be late, under any circumstances. That is the school’s motto, and detentions will be handed out to students arriving seconds after the bell.

Ms. Birbalsingh is understanding of the fact that some children have more caring parents than others. Some will help them to get ready and arrive on time. Others might be neglectful. ‘Life is unfair,’ she tells me. ‘But you’ve got to play the cards you’re dealt.’ She understands that kids don’t have the same starting points, and that some have tough upbringings. However, she believes it is detrimental to their future success and social mobility for them to be allowed to use those excuses.

There’s that tough love we’re talking about. It won’t be to everyone’s taste. Funnily enough, Ms. Birbalsingh was a few minutes late to my interview with her last week. When I challenged her, she told me she knew I’d forgive her — and that she had to reapply her makeup. I’m not sure she’d afford her students the same luxury.

Detention!

Then again, I’m not educating Ms. Birbalsingh, and she is not my pupil. She’s a fully-formed adult, so the rules don’t apply to her. And that’s the point at the heart of Michaela. Many in education today see school as a democracy, with teachers and children on equal footing. This is not conducive to an educational climate, in Ms. Birbalsingh’s opinion. Her school is a place for teachers to impart knowledge with authority and discipline.

And that’s how she believes her kids will have ‘freedom to’.

The Spotify version of the episode with Katharine Birbalsingh on On the Edge with Andrew Gold podcast

Detentions are also handed out for any failure to complete homework. It is important for teachers to sit down with the offending students in these detentions, and help them to understand why they are there.

Extra traditions

Beyond the rules, Michaela stands out for its traditional methods. The school often recites two verses of the national anthem. This may not seem unusual in the United States, but seems nationalistic in the UK. Ms. Birbalsingh believes it creates community in a school with many children from different ethnic backgrounds. She wants them all to feel English.

And the school resists calls to move away from ‘dead white writers’ in favor of more modern literary heroes to whom kids can relate. The Michaela Way is that children progress from this state school with the same knowledge of their country as have those who graduated from private schools. They must know of Shakespeare and Wordsworth, if they’re to arrive at university on an equal footing with their peers.

She wants her children to work hard, concentrate, and never to accept that anything can hold them back.

So, is she Ms. Trunchbull? Or Miss Honey?

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