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A High Court ruling that a school’s ban on prayer rituals is lawful should give “best-placed” headteachers “confidence” in making decisions for their pupils, the Education Secretary has said.
The Michaela Community School in north London successfully defended a legal challenge brought by a Muslim pupil over the school’s policy after she claimed it was discriminatory and “uniquely” affected her faith due to its ritualised nature.
However, the school, founded and led by headteacher Katharine Birbalsingh, a former government social mobility tsar, argued its prayer policy was justified after it faced death and bomb threats linked to religious observance on site.
In a judgment on Tuesday, Mr Justice Linden dismissed the pupil’s bid and said there was “a rational connection between the aim of promoting the team ethos of the school, inclusivity, social cohesion etc and the prayer ritual policy”.
Following the decision,…
