I'll carry on fighting to defend our way of life. If parents don't like it, ... trends now
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.
At Michaela, we embrace small-c conservative values. These enable us to make extraordinary academic progress. But they also promote a way of living in which gratitude, agency and personal responsibility, refusal of identity-politics victimhood, love of country, hard work, kindness, a duty towards others and self-sacrifice are fundamental to who we are.
Multiculturalism works at Michaela because we have a clear identity, which anyone can sign up to - if they are willing to compromise.
Michaela is a school that works miracles in London's inner-city. But our families choose us not just because of the extraordinary learning and access to social mobility that we provide. They recognise that our traditional values create an environment that is a joy to be in. Our children are friends with each other across racial and religious divides.
At the two 'Welcome Events' that all parents must attend before sending their child to Michaela, I run through everything that makes Michaela different from other schools: constant supervision, silent corridors, no prayer room, easy ways to get detention, strict uniform etc. If parents do not like it, they do not need to send their children to us.
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, writes KATHARINE BIRBALSINGH
Multiculturalism works at Michaela (pictured) because we have a clear identity, which anyone can sign up to - if they are willing to compromise
Ever since the idea of Michaela began in 2011, our detractors have railed against our strict rules and traditional values. Their patronising thinking goes like this: 'Ethnic minority families cannot possibly know what they want for their children. Those choices must be made for them.'
Last year, we watched our Muslim pupils put under pressure by a tiny number of others to fast, to pray, to drop out of the choir, to wear a hijab.
I watched one of my black teachers be racially abused and intimidated, another teacher had her home nearly broken into, and yet another had a brick thrown through her window.
In 2014, 30 per cent of our intake was Muslim. It
