School Heads unite for education conference as majority told they are ‘too progressive’ in their teaching methods

Downe House, an independent boarding school for girls, recently welcomed over 200 school leaders and teachers from across the UK to its annual Academic Conference on Maximising Pupil Progress, hosted at its campus near Newbury in Berkshire. A highlight in the country’s educational calendar, the audience, made up of both state and independent schools, heard keynote speeches from two high profile speakers in the world of education, the Rt Hon Nick Gibb MP, Minister of State for Schools and also education trailblazer, Katharine Birbalsingh, CBE and founding Headmistress of Michaela Community School in Brent.

Minister Gibb reflected on his long service at the Ministry of Education where he has been a consistent champion of high standards and expectations within schools. He spoke about the impact the Covid lockdown has had on pupil progress and child mental health, highlighting that school life is still far from normal in many parts of the country. Commenting on the Government’s vision for continued improvement in education, he also explained how the recent emphasis on systematic phonics during the teaching of reading in the early years of school was the reason that the UK is now placed fourth out of 43 countries in terms of the reading ability of nine and ten-year-olds. He concluded his speech by highlighting that it is possible to achieve the highest standards for even the most disadvantaged pupils, stating that ‘we need to give all young people their futures back.’

Katharine Birbalsingh delivered an equally passionate plea around maximising pupil progress via a characteristically controversial and candid speech that had many school Heads gripped from start to finish. Birbalsingh, who is founding Headmistress at Michaela Community School, (the top performing state school in the country), explained how the distinctive and traditional values and culture of her comprehensive school in Brent had resulted in her pupils achieving the highest Progress 8 (value-added) score in the country last summer. Although Michaela serves an inner-city and economically deprived area and accepts pupils with a wide range of abilities and an array of challenging circumstances, every year more than half of its pupils achieve a grade seven or above, across at least five subjects.

Birbalsingh covered an array of contentious topics during her speech, including her view that ‘too many schools, including many independent ones, adopt progressive teaching methods and approaches,’ when she believes they would benefit from a more traditional approach to delivering lessons. She argued that not everything in the past was good, but said it wasn’t all bad either. She told the congregation that they should place greater focus on knowledge acquisition saying that ‘without knowledge, creativity is impossible and that most schools don’t make knowledge the main goal in the classroom, when they should.’

She also explained that consistency is key and told the conference delegates that if they were to visit Michaela School, they would notice that all of the desks are in rows, with a teacher at the front of the classroom, and that there are few distractions on the walls, with a small selection of books aptly placed on windowsills for fast access. Birbalsingh also argued that technology is being overused in classrooms and that devices like iPads in classrooms were being used as a ‘tech tick box’ exercise rather than to support learning.

Birbalsingh also touched on pupil behaviour, stating that it is one of the main reasons teachers leave schools. Defending traditional behaviour methods, teaching and values, she argued that ‘behaviour needs to be taught and embedded,’ saying that ‘values matter’ and that we should ‘expect a lot from pupils, and if we do, they will rise to the challenge.’

Following the keynote speeches, Nick Gibb and Katharine Birbalsingh took questions from the audience. Topics raised included how to tackle the recruitment and retention crisis that many schools are currently facing; the challenges and opportunities provided by technology and AI; and how schools can help parents by building a strong and distinctive ethos that all pupils and parents can buy into.

A number of Sixth Form students at Downe House School also attended the conference and heard the keynote speeches, with several remaining behind at the end of the talks to challenge Ms Birbalsingh in-person on some of her comments, especially around her assertion that technology is being overused in schools.

Matthew Godfrey, Deputy Head at Downe House School who organised the conference, said: “It was such a pleasure to welcome so many inspiring educational leaders into our community. We always aim to be at the forefront of outward looking educational debate and discussion and it was fascinating to share experiences and expertise with like-minded educationalists. We are looking forward to planning for next year’s conference”.

With an impressive line-up of top guest presenters, the day also included breakout sessions with Gemma Piper, CEO of Kennet School Academies Trust, based in Thatcham, Andy Atherton, Director of Learning and Research at Downe House, Clare Wagner, Head of Henrietta Barnett School in north London, the highest performing girls’ school in the UK and many more.