27: Katharine Birbalsingh On UK Education Reform, Career Controversy And Educating Children During A Pandemic

In this episode, Jane talks to Katharine Birbalsingh, British education reformer and headmistress of the Michaela Community; a state school in North London where GCSE results are among the best in the country. But Katharine is a rarely out of the media, and not always in glowing reports of her school. Since her blog caught the attention of senior ministers and she was invited to speak at the Conservative Party Conference on educational reform, Katharine is often seen as a highly controversial figure – she talks here about her belief in discipline, having received death threats for her views, and why she fights so hard for what she does.