Teach Secondary 14.4

Schools don’t have to prioritise academic outcomes over their pupils’ emotional wellbeing, says Alice Guile – not when the two can happily go hand-in-hand... M ichaela Community School in North London is renowned for its strict rules, silent corridors and for employing the ‘SLANT’ methodology – Sit up; Listen; Ask and answer questions; Nod your head; Track the Speaker. The school gets incredible results, with headteacher Katherine Birbalsingh reporting that 52% of the GCSE grades achieved at the school in 2024 were grade 9. That compares favourably to the 53%grade 9 proportion at £60,000 per year Eton college. Yet Michaela Community School is notably a state school that declares itself to be non-selective. Strict discipline Given such amazing results, one would assume that Michaela Community School ought to be held up as a model example for other British schools to emulate. Indeed, some schools have seen success by adopting their own versions of Michaela-style ‘tough discipline’, including Mercia School in Sheffield, which received an Outstanding rating from Ofsted for its efforts. Stewards Academy in Essex, meanwhile, recently made headlines after adopting a robust policy of giving detentions to top set students scoring less than 90% onmaths tests. Headteacher Stephen Drew claimed that the purpose of said detentions was to help students with their progress. Outside of strict discipline measures, some schools have sought to improve outcomes by placing a stronger focus on subjects viewed as more traditionally ‘academic’, while reducing overall subject choice in the process. Michaela Community School, for example, doesn’t include D&T, drama or ICT as part of its curriculum offer, while restricting the teaching of music to Y7 and Y8 only. Instead, more curriculum time is devoted to those academic subjects – particularly maths and English – that count for double in the Progress 8 measure, compared to other subjects. The school also caps the number of GCSE subjects students can take at eight. Fear of punishment All this begs the question – what if all schools were to adopt similar policies of strict discipline methods, reduced subject choice and giving detentions to academic underachievers in order to boost results? Would this not improve standards of education across the country?We know the constant pressure that headteachers and other senior staff are under to get good results. If these tried and tested methods are found to get results, then it follows that more schools should use them, no? While it’s true that approaches to education based around fear of punishment can get students through exams, they can also take a toll on students’ wellbeing, mental health and love of learning. I left my job at a mainstream secondary school last July, and have since begun the next stage of my career, working as an art and design technology teacher within SEN education. I now regularly work with young people who have been unable to continue inmainstream schools themselves, including school refusers. “The timemight have come forus to reconsider examoutcomes as being the ultimatemeasure ofa school’s success” The best of BOTHWORLDS 34 teachwire.net/secondary