STOP PRESS: Michaela Free School announces 'Umbrellas are acceptable' but watch out for the shoes and haircuts

The Michaela Free School still looked like a building site today but the school's website, in a not terribly friendly announcement, says pupils will start on Monday:

School Starts at 11am Monday 15^th September

Parents’ Evening is at 5pm Wednesday 17^th September

Parental Interviews Cancelled

1.School uniform: All pupils are expected in full school uniform on the first day of school: Monday 15 September at 11am.

2.Shoes should be plain, black, flat and logo-free. Be very traditional in your choice of shoe. Please avoid anything that looks like a black trainer. If in doubt send us a photograph of the shoes BEFORE buying.

3.Boots are not acceptable for school. Sturdy traditional school shoes with a good tread, suitable for winter, are advised.

4.PE Trainers, the colour and style are up to you. And yes, inevitably, trainers will have logos. They must be suitable for indoor and outdoor use.

5.Umbrellas are acceptable. These should be plain, in black or navy blue and in a telescopic style. Umbrellas must be small enough that, when closed and collapsed, they fit into the standard school bag.

6.Haircuts & Jewellery: All haircuts must comply with school policy for Monday 15th September. No make-up or jewellery is allowed. This includes stud earrings.

7.Free School Meals: If you’re already registered with Brent as eligible for free school meals that should automatically continue. If concerned contact us and we’ll check on our list.

8.Food: High quality food is prepared on site. There will be a range of options, including fish and vegetarian choices so all religious groups are treated fairly and equally.

9.Paying for food: Please send your child to school on Monday 15th with a cheque for either £159.50 for the term or £77 for the half term, made payable to Michaela Community School. Please write your child’s FULL NAME and DATE OF BIRTH on the back of your cheque.

10.Oyster Zip cards: All parents should apply for these as soon as possible. The application says that a stamp or signature from the school is required. We have checked with TFL and we are advised that this is NOT essential.

Michaela parent interviews cancelled as school remains a building site

Guest post by Violet Potter

This morning a small group of Teacher Union Officers representing the ATL, NASUWT and NUT arrived at Arena House the 'new' venue for the Michaela Free school to welcome the teachers and explain why it was so important to be in a union especially in a free school.

But it still looked like a building site. 

We checked to see if there were any entrances we had missed. But no, there was only one way in and that definitely looked like only builders should enter wearing the required hard hat. On the Michaela website it had announced that staff would be in from today and parents would be invited in over the next two weeks for interviews. 

On checking the website again today it now says the parent interviews have been cancelled. Oh dear. Does that mean those much vaunted behaviour contracts won't be signed before children are allowed in the school? Will children arrive with the wrong socks and different coloured shoe laces and be sent home before they get a chance to set foot in the door? 

Well, as you can see from the photo there may not be a door ready for them to come in. Wondering what was happening, I checked with the foreman. No-one was expected on site and no-one had requested permission to do so. He was confident that everything would be ready on time for the children in two weeks time (but actually it's only 8 days away) well at least a few rooms on the first and second floor. But ready in what sense? No playground area for sure, not that there will be much of that anyway even when it is finished.  

Michaela will be ready for September 15th insists Assistant Head

I have now heard from Barry Smith, Assistant Head Teacher at Michaela Academy Free School:

We will be opening our doors to our first intake of 120 Year 7 pupils on Monday, 15th September. 

I was on site on Thursday - the place is a hive of activity! The pace of progress is phenomenal. Having spoken at length with the site manager I came away very confident indeed. 

I'll be back again on site next week and of course there's so much else going on to make sure everything comes together for Monday 15th.

Exciting times. Thanks for your continued interest Martin. 

Will Michaela Free School be ready for 120 Year 7s in September?

I visited the Michaela Academy site at Arena House in Wembley Park yesterday and was concerned at the state of the building which 120 Year 7s are expected to attend in less than a month.

I am awaiting responses from Michaela and Wilmott Dixon, the builders, to my enquiries about building progress. (For response see LINK)

Any delay will follow the failure of two other free schools, Gateway and Gladstone, to open in Brent in September, which left those Year 7 pupils to find places in other local schools.

On its website Michaela says:

Whilst the refurbishment of the entire building is scheduled to be completed by early 2015, from September 2014 we will have the use of a substantial portion of the site with all the necessary facilities and resources to enhance the education of our first Year 7 pupils.

In our first year at Michaela we will only have 120 pupils and eight teachers, and it has always been our intention to limit our use of the building to the lower floors, with the upper levels opening as the school grows.

The photographs below were taken yesterday evening and I leave readers to judge for themselves:

The 'playground' beneath the building

A classroom?

External view?

Will breathing be allowed in Birbalsingh's primary school?

The editor cut my reference to"almost 'no breathing'  allowed"  in the letter published on April 10th  in the Kilburn Times (see below) about Katharine Birbalsingh's Michaela Free School. Maybe she was not familiar with Michael Rosen's wonderful poem.

I was trying to make a point about Birbalsingh's strictures on 'installing (sic) impeccable behaviour', children sitting in rows, traditional education and her rejection of any idea that teachers facilitated learning. She has a model of 'private education' which is very old fashioned and out of touch with the real private schools that I come across.

The comments were about her secondary school, which is yet to open, but this week she was on the front page of the Kilburn Times trying to gather support for her bid to open a primary school to feed into Michaela and again, getting the word right this time, of her determination to 'instil impeccable behaviour in pupils while offering a non nonsense approach to learning which will deliver a private standard of education'.

Birbalsingh was quoted as saying, 'We need to show the Department for Education that our primary school will be as popular as our secondary school'. In fact Michaela has been struggling to fill its Year 7 and resorted to advertising in local chicken shops. Its public meetings for potential parents were very poorly attended. As reported here some parents allocated the school by the Council have turned down the offer. Nationally 70% of free school have unfilled places after being open for two years.

As a former primary teacher I shiver at the thought of her 'strict' educational philosophy being imposed on primary aged children.

Birbalsingh says she is seeking parents 'with a professional background' to get involved in her bid. I hope that before doing so they thoroughly research Katharine Birbalsingh's controversial professional background. This includes losing her deputy headteacher job when she used photographs of children at her then school to castigate the comprehensive school system at a Tory Party fringe meetiing and her free school bid being opposed by two other London boroughs.

In the Wembley Ploan space has been earmarked for a new primary school  close to Arena House and North End Road in the Wembley Regeneration area on land which is currently occupied by small industrial and commercial units. Originally this would have been a local authority primary school funded by Section 106 funds as a result of Quintain's redevelopment of the area and the new housing planned.

Meanwhile plans have been approved for a new four form entry primary unit in the grounds of Wembley High School, a new primary unit has opened at Preston Manor High School and additional classes provided  at Preston Park Primary and Park Lane Primary. Ark Academy across the road from Arena House includes a primary department.

Katharine Birbalsingh and the tale of the black and white shoe laces

Michael Gove applauds Katharine Birbalsingh at Tory Party Conference

Parents of Year 7 children who have been offered a place at the Michael Free School have been somewhat bemused by a letter from Katharine Birbalsingh, if not left feeling a tad patronised. As the self styled headmistress says herself, it promises to be an 'extraordinary education':

We are expecting a great deal of you and you should be expecting a lot from us. We have set ourselves a challenge to show that children from the inner city can learn as much as any child educated in the private sector. This will require a lot of hard work, commitment and perseverance, not just from our children but from parents and teachers as well.

We are ready for the challenge and hope you are too. I look forward to the weekly contact that we will have when you access [you child's] assessment and behaviour records on line and [his/her] progress with [him/her]. We expect children to read every night at home and complete a reading log. Anyone who does not meet our expectations will be kept for a 30 minute detention the following day. I know you will support our strict line on uniform, our insistence on all pupils being prepared and polite and our desire that children should take pride in themselves and in their schools.

This can only be achieved through retaining high expectations of both children and parents and I am certain you will want to meet our high standards. It won't always be easy. When your child's black shoe lace is broken and you are rushing to work and only have a white shoe lace to give them, you may find yourself wishing that you had sent your child to a school that would make an exception to the uniform once in a while. You'll then remember that we have high standards for a reason: to ensure your child has access to an extraordinary education.

As headmistress I promise you an education that will transform your child's life. Our extended school day, starting at 8am and finishing at 4.30pm will itself be revolutionary in helping your child learn more, build their confidence and extend concentration. Our senior team is now appointed and our team of teachers is nearly complete, Please have a look at our website for their profiles. They are exceptional. They believe in imparting knowledge, benchmarking and healthy competition so that children are prepared for later challenges in life.

Birbalsingh goes on to assure parents that although no work may appear to be going on at the Arena House building which will house the school, 'there is a lot going on beind the scenes' and 'our contractors have a great deal of experience in preparing free schools to open (often on shorter timelines than ours) and we are confident that everything required will be in place for us to welcome our first intake in September'.

All parents will be expected to attend a Welcome Event on Sunday 15th June at Vale Farm Sports Centre when they will hear more about Birbalsingh's expectations and will be given information about uniform.

Ark Academy across the road from the Michaela Academy already has a reputation for strictness which has rubbed some parents up the wrong way.  I hope a 'discipline war' doesn't break out between the two schools in an attempt to prove which is the 'toughest'. We will be watching exclusion rates and the profile of those excluded closely.

Meanwhile a number of parents allocated a place for their child at Michaela did not express a preference for the school or its ethos, they were given a place because none of their 6 preferences came up, and that may well be a source of future conflict.

Is Michaela Academy Free School viable?

A Freedom Of Information request has revealed that Michaela Academy, a secondary free school due to open in a disused College of North West London building, in September 2014, has received only 50 1st preference applications for the 120 places available.

In addition to 46 first preferences from Brent there were a further 4 from Harrow. Applications naming the school but not as first choice came from Croydon, Ealing, Harrow and Hillingdon.

The school, the creation of Katharine Birbalsingh, who lost her previous job when she spoke about children in her then school at a Tory Party Conference, had tried to set up in two other London boroughs but was firmly told it was not wanted.

The building the school is due to occupy, Arena House, opposite Wembley Park station, is rumoured to need its asbestos removed. There is no evidence of any work being carried out and some windows have been left open which allows pigeons access. It is rather a sad sight.

With the recent revelations that free school costs are twice as high as predicted, some free school opening with very few pupils,  free schools employing unqualified teachers and free school heads walking out after 6 months in the job, it is legitimate to ask, with only 46 first preference applicants, whether Michaela is viable.

An objective Department for Education would subject any further expenditure to stern scrutiny. However as after her Tory Conference appearance Birbalsingh is Michael Gove's darling and a favourite of the Tory Right, that seems unlikely. Brent Council certainly establish whether the money could be better spent and make their views known to the DfE.

The 120 places are likely to fill up eventually not only with children for whom the school is not their first choice, but who have failed to get into other schools, but also with new comers who moved into Brent after the application process closed.

It isn't a great start.

Michaela Free School bid foundering?

Last week Brent officials met with proponents of the Michaela Free School about their bid to open a four form entry secondary school at Arena House, the old College of North West London building opposite Wembley Park station.

Although Katharine Birbalsingh, infamous for her intervention at the Tory Party Conference, and her disciples were keen to assure Brent Council that they could comply with all the criteria for free school partnerships set out by the council (see below) there were doubts that they were compatible with the school's aims as set out on its website.

Additionally there are doubts about how many local parents have actually signed up to say that they are interested in sending the children to Michaela, especially as only eight people in total turned up to their consultation - very few, if any, of whom were parents of prospective students.

Well informed sources also say that the building itself is in poor condition and has an asbestos problem.

The Council's criteria for partnership are:

Academies and free school providers working with the Council will be expected to demonstrate:

1. An absolute commitment to the ethos and values of inclusive education for all Brent’s children and recognition of the positive role schools should play in the wider community.

2. A commitment to a close working relationship with the local authority in order to maintain an appropriate focus on borough-wide priorities, including local authority nomination of a member of the governing body and a commitment to sharing performance information.

3. The ability to deliver school improvement in an urban context.

4. That the establishment of the proposed education provision would be supported by demonstrable parental demand and with a genuine commitment to providing school places for local children.

5. Appropriate staffing arrangements to ensure high quality teaching and learning from qualified staff and good employment practices, including in relation to support and contracted staff.

6. A commitment to meeting the needs of Brent’s diverse community.

7. A commitment to ensuring the future employability of young people (in particular in secondary and 16 to 19) through links with business, industry and higher education.

8. A commitment to community access and use of facilities through agreed extended opening and lettings policy.

9. A commitment to good pupil nutrition and healthy eating.

10. A commitment to inclusive practice and fair access to the school for all pupils as governed by the Admission Code of Practice and the Authority’s Fair Access Protocols.

Brent's message to Birbalsingh: 'You are not wanted here'

Having attracted only six (almost all critical) people at its first consultation, Michaela Secondary Free School hit rock bottom at its second, evening, consultation last week. As far as I can ascertain two people went along and they were both opposed to Katharine Birbalsingh's 'traditional' and 'disciplined' secondary school where she has appointed herself headteacher.. One was a union representative who wanted to put her reservations on record.

The small room at Chalkhill Community Centre looked crowded, but it turned out to be full of Michaela staff and governors.

Apparently Katharine Birbalsingh didn't look very happy.

It will be interesting to see whether the DfE nonetheless goes ahead and gives Birbalsingh a stash of taxpayers' money to refurbish Arena House and pay herself and her staff salaries when Brent schools could do with the money.

Petition launched against Birbalsingh's Michaela Free School

The petition from parents, teachers and local residents launched today is available as a PDF on the panel opposite. Please run off copies and circulate to friends, work colleagues and neighbours. The petition will be sent to the Michaela Academy as a response to their current consultation (the first consultation meetng is on Tuesday March 26th in the Powell Suite,Chalkhill Community Centre 3-5pm and the second on April 4th 6-8pm. The Community Centre is at 113 Chalkhill Rd  Wembley, Greater London HA9 9FX. Directions: Cross the road from Wembley Park Station - turn left and then take first right.

The wording is self-explanatory:

We are a group of local parents, teachers and members of the local community opposed to the setting up of the Michaela ‘free’ school in Brent.

We think that the planning for school places has to be done in collaboration with the local community. Putting this school in the north of the borough of Brent will directly compete with our existing local schools and is not where the school place shortages are.

We believe that the evidence from ‘free’ schools has shown that they lead to increased social segregation, lower attainment and have been run for profit. Brent schools are in the top 10% of schools in the country so have a proven track record improving attainment for all children ensuring equal opportunities for pupils from all backgrounds.  

We believe that all children need decent school buildings, investment in their schools and smaller class sizes. Free schools have been funded by cutting two desperately needed grants, including the BSF (Building Schools for the Future) money promised to our existing local schools. We know that the cuts to education and public services and the raising of tuition fees will harm our communities. The free school movement is Michael Gove's experimental pet project and is part of the plan to privatise our services and will worsen education for all.

We, the undersigned, oppose the setting up of the Michaela Community School. This could destroy other local schools. We believe that school places need to be planned and the setting up of a school to ‘compete’ with others is damaging to our communities.