School prayer ban came amid backdrop of violence and intimidation – Headteacher

Michaela Community School in Brent, north London, is facing a legal challenge from a Muslim student over its prayer policy.

Katharine Birbalsingh, founder and headteacher of Michaela Community School in north London, said the decision to introduce a ‘prayer ban’ came against a ‘backdrop of events including violence, intimidation and appalling racial harassment’ of teachers (PA) (PA Media)

A school’s decision to introduce a “prayer ban” for its pupils came against a “backdrop of events including violence, intimidation and appalling racial harassment” of teachers, its founder has said.

Michaela Community School in Brent, north London, previously dubbed Britain’s strictest, is facing a legal challenge from a Muslim student who claims its approach to prayer is discriminatory and “uniquely” affects her faith.

The pupil, who cannot be named for legal reasons, alleges the school’s stance is “the kind of discrimination which makes religious minorities feel alienated from society”, a judge was told.

Amid an ongoing hearing in London, the school’s headteacher shared a statement on social media saying it was defending its “culture and ethos” and decisions to “maintain a successful and stable learning environment where children of all races and religion can thrive”.

Posting on X, formerly known as Twitter, Katharine Birbalsingh said the school had taken the decision “to stop prayer rituals when some pupils started them, against a backdrop of events including violence, intimidation and appalling racial harassment of our teachers”.

She continued: “Our decision restored calm and order to the school.

“We have always been clear to parents and pupils when they apply to Michaela that, because of our restrictive building combined with our strict ethos that does not allow children to wander around the school unsupervised, we cannot have a prayer room.”

Ms Birbalsingh, the founder of the free school of some 700 pupils, about half of whom are Muslim, said it is a “happy and respectful secular school where every race, faith and group understands self-sacrifice for the betterment of the whole”.

“We are one big Michaela family,” she said, adding that she “will never separate children according to race and religion”.

The headteacher said students “from all religions make sacrifices so that we can maintain a safe secular community”.

We believe it is wrong to separate children according to religion or race, and that it is our duty to protect all of our children and provide them with an environment which is free from bullying, intimidation and harassment

Michaela Community School head Katharine Birbalsingh

She said Jehovah’s Witness families had objected to William Shakespeare’s Macbeth as a GCSE text, Christian families asked for revision sessions not to be held on Sundays, and Hindu families objected to dinner plates touching eggs.

“We believe it is wrong to separate children according to religion or race, and that it is our duty to protect all of our children and provide them with an environment which is free from bullying, intimidation and harassment,” Ms Birbalsingh said.

“We allow our children freedoms of all sorts, as long as those freedoms do not threaten the happiness and success of the whole school community.”

The court has been told that Ms Birbalsingh, a former government social mobility tsar, first introduced the policy in March last year, with it being backed by the governing body in May.

In March 2023, up to 30 students began praying in the school’s yard, using blazers to kneel on, a judge heard.

Jason Coppel KC, representing the school trust, said students seen to be praying outside contributed to a “concerted campaign” on social media over the school’s approach to religion, with there also being a since removed online petition attracting thousands of signatures.

The court heard the school was targeted with “threats of violence”, abuse, “false” allegations of Islamophobia, and a “bomb hoax”.

Glass bottles were hurled over the school railings and a brick thrown through one teacher’s window, leaving staff “fearing for their lives”, Mr Coppel said, adding that the situation has since “calmed”.

These were very difficult days for the school, with tensions running high

Jason Coppel KC, for the Michaela Community School Trust

On Wednesday, Mr Coppel told the court the school had taken action on prayers due to concerns about a “culture shift” over “segregation between religious groups and intimidation within the group of Muslim pupils”.

“These were very difficult days for the school, with tensions running high,” he said, adding that it is “hard to see how matters would have been improved by taking more and more disciplinary action”.

He said the school’s actions were based on teachers’ conversations with pupils over certain incidents, such as hearing about a Muslim girl who had dropped out of the school choir because she was told it was “haram”, or forbidden.

“A number of children had been told that they were ‘bad Muslims’ for not praying and had begun to pray,” Mr Coppel added in his written arguments.

He told the court that the school is “exceptionally successful” academically, “highly oversubscribed”, “aggressively” promotes integration, is run with “military precision” and uses an “ultra-strict enforcement of prescribed behavioural rules”.

The hearing before Mr Justice Linden continues and is due to conclude on Wednesday.

A ruling is expected at a later date.