Britain's "strictest Headmistress" has launched a fresh attack on Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, accusing the Labour minister of "taking away" freedoms of the country's school leaders.
In an open letter to Phillipson, Katharine Birbalsingh expressed her concerns that the minister's time in office will "destroy the huge gains made over the last decade and a half" in "helping disadvantaged children across England".
Birbalsingh stated: "I don’t know if you are being ideologically blind and therefore ignoring the obvious negative impact of your decisions – or perhaps you just don’t understand the harm your changes will cause.
"I am hoping it is the latter and I am writing to offer my advice and help so that you might see that the road you are taking will have catastrophic consequences for the poor in this country."
Speaking to GB News about her letter, Birbalsingh said that she "cannot understand" the changes planned to be implemented by Phillipson, and how they will "fix the problems" she claims are in Britain's education system.
Birbalsingh explained: "I just don't understand what they're trying to fix. All of the various reforms that she's making will destroy the great changes that have been made over the last decade that have resulted in England rising to the top. We are now considered top in the Western world.
"I don't understand why she would want to take freedoms away from academies, when it's precisely these freedoms that have brought about this success."
Highlighting the impact of one of Labour's provisions in the Bill, which will force all schools and academies to "follow the national curriculum", Birbalsingh stressed that school leaders will be unable to "make the right judgements" for their pupils and cater to their "bespoke needs".
Birbalsingh fumed: "Different schools have different intakes, different challenges, with regard to hiring staff, their buildings, and what they can offer.
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"The idea that it should just be the same for everyone no matter what, and that we headteachers are unable to make the right judgements to give children a bespoke offer that is tailored to their needs, that instead the diktat should come down from centralised Government telling us what to do, whether or not we can or can't do it according to our building or our funding or our intakes."
She added: "There's so much that obviously goes into making a school successful, I just don't understand why she doesn't trust us headteachers to make the right decisions."
Highlighting the success of Birbalsingh's own school, the Michaela Community School in Wembley, the headteacher was asked by host Miriam Cates why she believes her recent successes were not congratulated by Labour or Phillipson herself.
Birbalsingh told GB News: "I really can't explain it, I don't understand. I suppose maybe she sees us as a free school, as a success of the previous government.
"She didn't want to be caught out recognising that the previous government had done something good, which is really sad that politics can be so tribal."
Warning Labour of the direct impact on teacher employment as a result of the Schools Bill, Birbalsingh claimed that retention levels will "drop" due to "taking away freedoms" for school leaders with her reforms.
Birbalsingh concluded: "There are issues with recruitment, and retention is a huge issue for schools and continues to be.
"That is something that the Conservative government did not address, and it's something that she could look to address.
"But actually with her reforms on taking away academies freedom around pay, it's quite likely going to cost teachers massively in terms of their salaries.
"She's making it so that if you take away the freedoms that headteachers have and that school leaders have and that teachers have, we're going to have a larger problem when it comes to recruitment and retention."
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In an open letter to Phillipson, Katharine Birbalsingh expressed her concerns that the minister's time in office will "destroy the huge gains made over the last decade and a half" in "helping disadvantaged children across England".
Birbalsingh stated: "I don’t know if you are being ideologically blind and therefore ignoring the obvious negative impact of your decisions – or perhaps you just don’t understand the harm your changes will cause.
"I am hoping it is the latter and I am writing to offer my advice and help so that you might see that the road you are taking will have catastrophic consequences for the poor in this country."
Speaking to GB News about her letter, Birbalsingh said that she "cannot understand" the changes planned to be implemented by Phillipson, and how they will "fix the problems" she claims are in Britain's education system.
Birbalsingh explained: "I just don't understand what they're trying to fix. All of the various reforms that she's making will destroy the great changes that have been made over the last decade that have resulted in England rising to the top. We are now considered top in the Western world.
"I don't understand why she would want to take freedoms away from academies, when it's precisely these freedoms that have brought about this success."
Highlighting the impact of one of Labour's provisions in the Bill, which will force all schools and academies to "follow the national curriculum", Birbalsingh stressed that school leaders will be unable to "make the right judgements" for their pupils and cater to their "bespoke needs".
Birbalsingh fumed: "Different schools have different intakes, different challenges, with regard to hiring staff, their buildings, and what they can offer.
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"The idea that it should just be the same for everyone no matter what, and that we headteachers are unable to make the right judgements to give children a bespoke offer that is tailored to their needs, that instead the diktat should come down from centralised Government telling us what to do, whether or not we can or can't do it according to our building or our funding or our intakes."
She added: "There's so much that obviously goes into making a school successful, I just don't understand why she doesn't trust us headteachers to make the right decisions."
Highlighting the success of Birbalsingh's own school, the Michaela Community School in Wembley, the headteacher was asked by host Miriam Cates why she believes her recent successes were not congratulated by Labour or Phillipson herself.
Birbalsingh told GB News: "I really can't explain it, I don't understand. I suppose maybe she sees us as a free school, as a success of the previous government.
"She didn't want to be caught out recognising that the previous government had done something good, which is really sad that politics can be so tribal."
Warning Labour of the direct impact on teacher employment as a result of the Schools Bill, Birbalsingh claimed that retention levels will "drop" due to "taking away freedoms" for school leaders with her reforms.
Birbalsingh concluded: "There are issues with recruitment, and retention is a huge issue for schools and continues to be.
"That is something that the Conservative government did not address, and it's something that she could look to address.
"But actually with her reforms on taking away academies freedom around pay, it's quite likely going to cost teachers massively in terms of their salaries.
"She's making it so that if you take away the freedoms that headteachers have and that school leaders have and that teachers have, we're going to have a larger problem when it comes to recruitment and retention."
Find Out More...