Latest news with #KatharineBirbalsingh
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Baffled Question Time viewers call out glaring issue with BBC panel in special episode
Baffled Question Time viewers called out a glaring issue with the BBC panel in a special episode on Thursday. The most recent instalment of the programme saw Fiona Bruce, 61, return to our screens to host a special about the challenges of growing up in the 21st century. She was joined by headmistress Katharine Birbalsingh, 52, Adolescence writer Jack Thorne, 46, YouTuber TommyInnit, 21, the secretary of state for science and technology Peter Kyle, 54, and MP Lord Willetts, 69. While watching, some viewers shared how odd they thought it was that only one person on the panel was under the age of 45. Many took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share their thoughts. 'I thought the Youth focused #bbcqt was a great and overdue idea. Until I saw the panel had an average age older than me.' 'Next generation you say?' 'Why is there only 1 actual youngish person on this panel? Comedy.' 'The average age of the panellists debating what it's like being young in Britain today? 48. Farcical.' At the start of the episode, Fiona said: 'For tonight's question time, we're asking a specially convened panel and audience about the challenges of growing up in the 21st century and what it means for all of us. 'Roughly half our audience is from what very generation - under 30 or mostly Gen Z and the rest are just a little bit older, but like every other week, they reflect the range of political views across the country. 'Welcome to Question Time - the next generation - from Greenford in West London on BBC, iPlayer and Sounds.' Despite their ages, the guests do all have their own opinions from their fields about the matter. Katharine Birbalsingh is a headteacher at the Michaela Community School. Many took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share their thoughts She is known to be the 'UK's strictest headmistress'. Meanwhile Jack's latest Netflix hit Adolescence hit headlines earlier this year. Back in April it was revealed that 114 million people had watched the drama - which follows the story of a boy called Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper), who murdered his female classmate. It brought misogyny among young boys to light. TommyInnit - real name Thomas Michael Simons - has 15.1M subscribers on YouTube. Meanwhile Peter Kyle and Lord Willetts are figures in the political sphere.
Telegraph
4 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Stop teaching white children to feel guilty
If Katharine Birbalsingh could be cloned and a Birbal-bot placed at the head of every school in the country, almost all our problems could be fixed – the future ours for the taking. I honestly don't think ' Britain's strictest headteacher ' has ever said anything I disagree with. In fact, when I read her statements, I sometimes find myself light-headed with relief. In a landscape so thickly forested with absurdity, perversity and plain idiocy, a nugget of common sense shines like a stray diamond – and to follow that common sense with action is rarer still. Yesterday was a case in point. Speaking at a conference for the Family Education Trust at the weekend, Birbalsingh – who runs the Michaela Community School in Wembley, north-west London – criticised schools for focusing on diversity to such an extent that any 'sense of British history' is lost. 'You've got various 'diversity days' bringing all different foods, etc. I am the most diverse person you'll ever find in terms of my background,' explained the 51-year-old daughter of an Indo-Guyanese academic and a Jamaican nurse, who was born in New Zealand and raised in Canada. 'But the fact is that there's nothing unifying the school.' She added: 'If there are no values that everyone buys into – whatever their background, whatever their religion – then there's nothing to hold them together.' Also: 'Why are they not learning algebra? That's what I'd like to know.' They are not learning algebra, or indeed grammar, because of the moral high grounders who have decided that their virtue-signalling agenda is more important. Because once you're done explaining the legitimacy of every one of the 72 genders, that all white people are racist and that, as Brits, we should all be ashamed of our colonialist past, there's not much time left in the school day for the solving of equations. Never mind that we could consequently be launching illiterate and innumerate children into the world. These two things can devastate an adult's life chances and happiness, limiting their access to basic services alongside better-paying and more-rewarding jobs, and perpetuating an intergenerational cycle of poverty. Let's get stuck into 'white privilege', into self-flagellation and societal division! Setting aside the gaps of knowledge these children may be left with (and the skewed historical perspectives they will be stuck with), how is any of this about diversity? How did a concept based on embracing variety and inclusion become about promoting division – about blame, guilt, and building walls where there were none? We see it everywhere in adult life. As one gay, Asian friend told me: 'After a lifetime of nobody commenting on either my gayness or my Asian-ness, people are now ever keen to point out both, even in a professional context. They think it makes them 'progressive'. To me, it feels extremely regressive.' In schools, Birbalsingh has seen the same thing happen, she says: children being split into ethnic, religious or LGBTQ+ groups, young people having their differences highlighted, purely so that they can be used to demonstrate how OK we all are with those differences. Not just OK but thrilled for them! This is 'wrong', but British teachers are mired in 'white guilt', she explains. So let them enjoy a night in with a hair shirt and a knotted cord – why bring the children into it? What do you think the psychological impact of telling a generation of children that they are inherently bad will be? Off the top of my head, I'm thinking: not good. The teaching of ' toxic masculinity ' wasn't a massive success, was it? I mean, if the resulting disaffection, social dislocation, poor academic performance, and mental health epidemic is anything to go by. And the ' white privilege ' narrative is scarily similar: you're toxic, not because of your gender this time, but your skin colour and your country of birth. In her book, The Power of Culture, Birbalsingh explains why what is taught by those who stand in front of a classroom is actually pretty similar to 'battling for the future of a civilisation'. 'For if the culture of our schools affects the character of our pupils, and the character of our pupils then eventually shapes the culture of our society, undoubtedly what we teach our pupils does make a genuine difference to the world around us.'
Telegraph
6 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Labour under fire for touchscreen assessment plans for four-year-olds
Bridget Phillipson has come under fire over guidance calling for children as young as four to be tested using touchscreen devices. The Department for Education (DfE) has written new guidelines, to come into effect from the next term, requiring schools to assess reception-age pupils using screens. Campaigners have said that the change 'implicitly endorses and normalises device use in reception classes' and risks 'undermining the rights of parents' to restrict their children's screen time. Politicians, teachers and campaigners sent a letter to the Education Secretary and Peter Kyle, the Technology Secretary, urging that the guidance be immediately revoked. Signatories include Katharine Birbalsingh, known as Britain's strictest headteacher, Justine Roberts, the founder of Mumsnet, and Sophie Winkleman. The letter said: 'We are united in our deep concern at this retrograde step which pushes our youngest schoolchildren, the majority of whom will be just four years old, on to touchscreen devices, and which implicitly endorses and normalises device use in reception classes.' The new statutory Reception Baseline Assessment will involve a teacher using a device to conduct the assessment, with the child carrying out the test with a second touchscreen device. The assessment, done within six weeks of a child starting at reception, has usually involved the use of toys and teddy bears. The Government now says: 'Your child will complete the assessment by: using a touchscreen device; answering questions verbally with the teacher; working with materials given to them by the school.' A spokesman for the DfE defended the guidance, telling The Telegraph that 'digital assessments reduce the administrative burden on teachers, freeing up their time to focus more on teaching and supporting pupils' learning.' Campaigners said that, with some exceptions for children with special educational needs, a screen-based assessment 'can only be inferior' to the previous model. They added that doing so risks 'undermining the rights of parents to raise their children in a screen-free, or 'screen-lite', environment, as many are now choosing to do'. 'Protect childhood' The letter has also been backed by Laura Trott, the shadow education secretary, as well as other MPs from the Conservatives, Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats. Ms Trott told The Telegraph: 'Testing children as young as four on screens, instead of using books or physical objects, undermines their development. The evidence of lasting damage to children so young is now overwhelming. We must change course and protect childhood. 'We've sleepwalked into a society where children are increasingly glued to screens rather than engaging with the world and each other.' The Conservatives are working to ban smartphones in schools and stop exam boards from shifting assessments to online-only. Ms Trott said: 'If we don't act now, future generations will not forgive us.' Mr Kyle has repeatedly stated the Government's aim to protect children from online harms, including restricting their time on social media. Earlier this month, it was reported that he was considering introducing a time limit on social media apps for children and a 10pm curfew. A spokesman for the DfE said: 'Giving every child the best start in life is central to our mission to break the link between background and success, and our Plan for Change will help get thousands more children school-ready by age five. 'These assessments give a clear picture of children's abilities when they start reception to measure progress by the end of primary school. They are carried out one-on-one with a teacher, so for children who are unable to use a device, verbal responses can be input by their teacher, and paper-based versions are available. 'Digital assessments reduce the administrative burden on teachers, freeing up their time to focus more on teaching and supporting pupils' learning.'
Times
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Times
Trans children more likely to be white and privileged, says head
Transgender children tend to be 'white and privileged', Britain's so-called strictest head teacher has claimed. Katharine Birbalsingh, head of the Michaela Community School in Wembley, northwest London, said her school was unlikely to have any trans pupils because of its mainly ethnic-minority intake. Birbalsingh, who previously worked as the government's social mobility tsar, told The London Standard: 'If one actually did a survey on this sort of thing nationally, I think you would find that white privileged kids would be more likely to be doing that. No question.' • Birbalsingh: Gentle middle-class parenting can be harmful She added: 'Our society is such that victimhood is admired. And if you feel that you're white and privileged, then you don't have much of a victimhood narrative to
Telegraph
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Trans children more likely to be ‘white and privileged', says Katharine Birbalsingh
Transgender children are more likely to be 'white and privileged', Britain's so-called strictest head teacher has claimed. Katharine Birbalsingh, 52, also said that they are searching for 'victimhood narratives', which she claims are 'admired' in modern society. The former government social mobility tsar, who is head teacher at the Michaela Community School in north west London, suggested she was 'unlikely' to have any transgender pupils because of the school's heavy ethnic minority intake. 'I think if one actually did a survey on this sort of thing nationally, I think you would find that white privileged kids would be more likely to be doing that,' she told The Standard. 'No question. 'Our society is such that victimhood is admired. And if you feel that you're white and privileged, then you don't have much of a victimhood narrative to embrace. 'So then you need to find something to embrace to be respected by your peers.' Ms Birbalsingh said she did not expect to be welcoming a trans pupil soon because much of the Michaela intake is from the inner city. 'That plays a huge part,' she continued. 'I think they'd be less inclined.' She added that she would want to support any child identifying as trans at the school and 'make sure they weren't just participating in a fad'. The head teacher said her school discourages children from doing anything 'performative'. 'Of course there are obstacles – racism, transphobia, homophobia, misogyny, all that exists clearly,' she added. 'But how you react to that obstacle is up to you. We reject victimhood and embrace agency and personal responsibility.' 157 children under 10 await gender care New figures show 157 children awaiting gender care in England and Wales are aged 10 or under. The data, obtained following the Supreme Court's ruling on the definition of a woman last month, also show there were 6,225 children on the national waiting list at the end of March – up from 5,560 at the same point a year earlier. Although the court ruling does not directly affect pupils, as gender recognition certificates are only available to people aged 18 or over, experts have said it will have consequences for the school admission policies of single-sex schools. The Telegraph has previously revealed that the NHS is treating nursery school-age children who believe they are transgender after watering down its own guidance. Ms Birbalsingh, who is known for her strict, uncompromising rule, said her school's values 'encourage the kids to seek the truth'. She has already banned phones entirely at Michaela and encourages parents not to buy them for under-16s at all. In April last year, the High Court upheld her ban on Muslim prayers taking place during the learning day. A pupil claimed the policy was discriminatory and infringed her right to religious freedom. However, the court sided with Ms Birbalsingh who had argued the ban was vital to ensure 'children of all races and religions can thrive'.
