One of England’s highest performing state schools, famed for its top results, strict discipline code and charismatic headteacher, has been challenged in the high court for its policy of banning prayer rituals on school premises.
The case against Michaela community school in Brent, north-west London, has been brought by one of its Muslim pupils, who claims the ban is discriminatory.
The judicial review hearing was told the ban had fundamentally changed how the pupil felt about being a Muslim in the UK. Not being able to pray at school made her feel guilty and unhappy, the court heard.
It was “like somebody saying they don’t feel like I properly belong here”, her lawyer, Sarah Hannett KC, told Tuesday’s hearing.
Lawyers representing the school had sought to have the proceedings held in private. They claimed there were potential safety concerns given earlier threats against the school, including a “bomb hoax”, in connection with the prayer issue.
After hearing submissions from members of the press, however, Mr Justice Linden ruled that the hearing should be held in public and that the school and its headteacher could be identified. The pupil who brought the challenge cannot be named for legal reasons.
The prayer policy was introduced in March last year by the school’s founder, Katharine Birbalsingh – frequently described as Britain’s strictest headteacher – when the school found itself the target of abuse and harassment after pupils were seen praying in the school playground by passersby. About 30 students took part, some kneeling on their blazers as they were not permitted to bring in prayer mats, the court heard.
Before these events, the court heard that prayers were not expressly banned at Michaela, though it had no dedicated prayer room. The new policy had the “practical effect of only preventing Muslims from praying because their prayer by nature has a ritualised nature rather than being internal”, the court heard.
The pupil’s lawyer said it was in effect “a ban uniquely on Muslim prayer”, stopping pupils praying “at a time as required by Islam”. In contrast, it would not, she said, prevent a Christian child sitting quietly in the corner of the playground from praying.
The claimant is challenging the ban on three grounds: that it is a breach of the public sector equality duty; that it is discriminatory under section 19 of the equality act; and that it is contrary to article 9 of the European convention on human rights as incorporated into UK law.
Her lawyers said they were not seeking a dedicated prayer room, but argued that pupils should be allowed to pray – usually for around five minutes – during the lunch break, on dates required by their faith, without interrupting lessons.
Jason Coppel KC, representing the school, said there had been a “concerted campaign” on social media over the school’s approach to religion, including an online petition with thousands of signatures that had since been removed.
He argued that reporting on the case could “give rise to a real and immediate risk of harm to the headmistress, other members of the school staff [and] potentially pupils at the school”, after earlier “threats of violence”, abuse and “false” allegations of Islamophobia.
Police had to be called after claims that bombs had been placed at the school, glass bottles were thrown over the school railings and a brick thrown through a teacher’s window, resulting in staff “fearing for their lives”, Coppel said. He said the situation had since calmed down.
He said the headteacher, who last year quit her role as the UK government’s social mobility head, was concerned coverage of the hearing could create a serious risk of “physical danger to our school community”. Linden agreed the school had received “disgraceful” abuse but concluded: “I do not accept that the evidence in this case establishes a risk to the lives or safety of members of the school staff or the school community that would justify holding the hearing in private.”
The hearing continues on Wednesday.
