Britain's "strictest Headmistress" Katharine Birbalsingh has launched a fresh attack on Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, accusing the Labour minister of being a "Marxist" and taking away the freedoms of the country's school leaders.
Speaking to Camilla Tominey on GB News, Birbalsingh claimed that Phillipson's implementation of the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill will have "freedoms taken away" from educational figures and "returned to the centralised state".
Following a Curriculum and Assessment Review, Phillipson will develop a "reformed curriculum" that will be taught in all state schools. The bill will also give councils the power to open all types of schools, not just academies.
Highlighting the restrictions she will face if the Bill is passed, Birbalsingh explained: "The pupil admissions number that you have in any one school - let's say I have 120 kids, and one of the local schools which is not very good also has 120 kids, they'll make it so that they'll reduce the number of places in a good school to increase the number of kids in that other school.
Katharine Birbalsingh has hit out at Bridget Phillipson after meeting with the Education Secretary
GB News / PA
"She's trying to centralise all the power in the state. So at the moment, academies have freedoms to be able to do what's right for their particular intake. With this new Bill, we will have those freedoms taken away from us and returned to the centralised state."
Recalling her meeting with Phillipson, which Labour has claimed was "appalling" and Birbalsingh had to be told to "contain herself" after "throwing a tantrum", she shut down the Government's accusations against her.
She told GB News: "We weren't willing to be fobbed off. We weren't very differential, it was obvious that they - there were four of them - they were trying to get the time to tick along.
"There was no interest at all in what we were doing. They were staring at us, being horrible to us, and refusing to give us water."
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Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has initiated a 'review' into the national school curriculum
PAHitting out at the Government, Birbalsingh expressed her outrage at the decision by Labour to scrap certain schemes and freedoms, and vowed to "fight for the children of our nation".
Birbalsingh stated: "I'm shocked by the fact that they've abolished the Latin for excellence program and taken away their funding, as well as the advanced maths program that has put extra maths teachers in the classroom, and that has got 50 per cent more kids taking maths A-level.
"These are things that I have not participated in, but I'm arguing for them because I feel sorry for those head teachers out there who are desperately trying to do right by their kids, who are tailoring their curriculum, tailoring their uniform, making sure that they are able to hire."
She added: "She wants a bureaucratic stamp of a certificate on all teachers who are teaching in our system. We need those freedoms to be able to give a bespoke and tailored offer to our communities.
Birbalsingh told GB News that Phillipson had 'no interest' what she was doing at her school
GB News
"My school is not the same as a school up in the Cotswolds or in the Lake District, or in Hull. It's tailored education to a tailored set of pupils. We are the school leaders, so we know what's best."
A Department for Education spokesman said: "Our mission is to break down the barriers to opportunity, so every child can achieve and thrive no matter their background."
Phillipson has promised to "breathe new life" into what she describes as an "outdated curriculum".
