A Muslim pupil today lost a High Court challenge against a ban on prayer rituals at a high-achieving school in London which was once dubbed Britain's strictest.
In a written ruling issued at the High Court in London this morning, Mr Justice Linden dismissed the pupil's arguments against the prayer rituals ban. But the judge upheld the student's challenge to a decision to temporarily exclude her from the school.The pupil took legal action against Michaela Community School in Brent, North London
She first grabbed the headlines at the 2010 Conservative Party conference with a damning speech on the state of England's schools where she said standards had been 'so dumbed down that even the teachers know it' and the education system was broken 'as it keeps poor children poor'. Students at the school get detentions if they talk in the corridor or if they forget their pencil case or ruler.
But Ms Birbalsingh, who describes herself on social media as having 'small c conservative values', faced criticism for comments she made as the Government's social mobility tsar. Just four months later, Ms Birbalsingh made headlines again when she told the National Conservatism conference that parents should be willing to take their children out of schools if they are 'too woke'.
In an 83-page judgment dismissing the student's case, Mr Justice Linden wrote: 'It seems to me that this is a case ... where the claimant at the very least impliedly accepted, when she enrolled at the school, that she would be subject to restrictions on her ability to manifest her religion. 'Although the claimant says that she is aware of resentment of the PRP amongst some Muslim pupils, there is no evidence that this has affected enrolment or led any of them to choose to leave.
Reacting to the ruling today, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said: 'I have always been clear that headteachers are best placed to make decisions in their school. They added that the governors and headteacher at the school of some 700 pupils, about half of whom are Muslim, had 'a margin of latitude, discretion or judgment' over its policies.
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