Readers respond to a news report and an article by Nadeine Asbali on a prayer ban at Michaela community school in London I was disappointed by the court ruling on Michaela community school’s prayer ban (High court upholds top London school’s ban on prayer rituals, 16 April), and shocked to see the jubilant reaction from several prominent politicians. Children praying in school is not disruptive or threatening, and for Kemi Badenoch to suggest that these pupils are attempting to “impose their views on an entire school community” screams of xenophobia. With this ruling, it’s the other way around ..read more

British mountaineer died trying to reach summit in 1924 with his colleague, Sandy Irvine, whose body has never been found It was an expedition that began with an air of excitement but ended in tragedy: during their attempt to reach the summit of Everest in the summer of 1924, British mountaineer George Mallory and his colleague Sandy Irvine disappeared – their success, or not, still shrouded in mystery. Now 100 years after the fatal climb, digitised copies of many of Mallory’s letters, in particular those exchanged with his wife, Ruth, are to be made public by his alma mater, Magdalene College ..read more

Improving provision for pupils outside mainstream education ought to be a top priority The doubling in the rate of children suspended from school in England since before the pandemic provides alarming evidence of worsening problems with behaviour and lack of in-school support. Persistent disruption was the reason most often cited in figures covering last spring, followed by physical assault against another pupil. The steep rise in suspensions of four- and five-year-olds is a particularly alarming trend, with 10,256 primary-age children suspended for assaulting an adult. Being out of schoo ..read more

No matter how low you sink, your dreams can still come true: one woman’s inspirational story As a woman with decades of business experience, a Cambridge graduate with a fulfilling career running my own company, alongside a joy-filled family life, few would guess from looking at me today how close I came to having a very different story. From the outside, my childhood was idyllic – my family lived in Nigeria until I was 11, before moving to London. I went to Sunday school at church every week and I aspired to be a doctor, just like my cousin. I envisaged having a beautiful house, a fulfilling c ..read more

Students speak out after a pupil lost her legal challenge against a top London school after it brought in a ban to promote social cohesion It was in year nine when Hanzla started praying in the playground during lunchtime at his secondary school in Birmingham, despite restrictions from his teachers. “I’d find anywhere in the playground and get my friends to kind of make a circle around me – those friends were Muslims and non-Muslims – so the teachers would not find out,” he said. “A lot of the time it used to be raining and sometimes even snowing and the weather was cold ..read more

Rising inflation and falling pupil numbers also forcing schools to cut spending on extracurricular activities Primary schools across England are having to shed staff and cancel trips and activities this year as rising inflation and falling pupil numbers cause a rapid deterioration in their finances. A survey of more than 1,000 school leaders and teachers by the National Foundation for Educational Research found that three-quarters said their primary schools were cutting teaching assistant roles, while a third were also cutting teacher numbers ..read more

Remote proctoring tools have faced pushback at colleges over privacy and discrimination concerns, but their use in K-12 schools has attracted less scrutiny In the middle of night, students at Utah’s Kings Peak high school are wide awake – taking mandatory exams. At this online-only school, which opened during the pandemic and has seen its enrollment boom ever since, students take tests from their homes at times that work best with their schedules. Principal Ammon Wiemers says it’s this flexibility that attracts students – including athletes and teens with part-time jobs – from across the state ..read more

Statement says it made clear to Michaela community school that ‘in winter it would not be possible to pray later’ One of the UK’s most prominent mosques has denied providing advice to the Michaela community school that all afternoon prayers could be deferred, disputing claims heard in court. Katharine Birbalsingh, who runs the non-faith state school in Wembley and is often called “Britain’s strictest headteacher”, defeated a high court challenge this week to her policy of stopping pupils praying at lunchtime ..read more

Minouche Shafik appeared beleaguered as House members grilled her over reported upsurge in antisemitism on campus The head of a prestigious US university clashed with members of Congress today in highly charged hearings over a reported upsurge in antisemitism on campus in the wake of Israel’s war in Gaza. Minouche Shafik, the president of Columbia University, appeared beleaguered and uncertain as one Congress member after another assailed her over her institution’s supposed inaction to stop it becoming what one called “a hotbed of antisemitism and hatred”. This article was amended on 17 April ..read more

Some say more schools may ban organised prayer after court ruling but others say judgment was based on unique circumstances The ruling on a prayer ban at a top London school has created a “classic English policy muddle” that has divided school leaders over its implications, with some experts predicting that more schools could ban organised prayers as a result. The warning came after a high court judge upheld the ban at Michaela community school in Brent, north-west London, dismissing a challenge by a Muslim pupil who claimed it was discriminatory and breached her right to religious freedom ..read more