I used to find Katharine Birbalsingh the most irritating teacher in the world.
She was always posting on social media saying children shouldn’t be on their iPhones, forcing pupils to walk the corridors in silence while she gave chatty interviews about original sin and revelling in her role as the strictest headmistress in Britain.
As someone who was expelled from school, I found her zero-tolerance detentions for being a minute late grating; her obsession with rote learning, Kipling, obedience and morals felt Victorian.
Where was the creativity, the compassion, the fun? Life at Michaela Community School in Wembley, north London, sounded grim and it didn’t seem to be preparing children for life in the 21st century.
