BRITAIN’S strictest headteacher is on a “common sense” crusade and claims learning difficulty diagnoses mean we often forget many kids are simply “naughty, lazy and disruptive”.
Serge Cefai says he has no time for “do-gooders” or “flaky” mental health issues – with his survival of the fittest attitude seeing him lock horns with his own colleagues – axing those who “don’t care enough”.
Serge Cefai, executive headteacher of St Thomas the Apostle school in Peckham, south east London[/caption]
Each pupil is ranked based on performance and behaviour[/caption]
The all boys school is currently fifth across Greater London[/caption]
The 68-year-old’s methods at St Thomas the Apostle School in Peckham, South London, sees pupils treated with military precision, while individual performance rankings are plastered on billboards in every classroom.
Phones are confiscated at the start of each day, one-way corridors and staircases are completely silent, and detentions are held on Friday nights and Saturday mornings.
But his strict methods appear to be working, with the school ranking fifth across all of Greater London – and he claims parents have never voiced any concerns since he arrived in 2013 because his results are so good.
Mr Cefai told The Sun: “You’ve heard about all the labels in school these days, dyspraxia, dyslexia, whatever it is.
“Well, I’ll give you a couple of labels that maybe need to be reintroduced: naughty, lazy, disruptive.
“It’s as though those sorts of kids don’t exist anymore.”
He added: “Much as I have been described as strict and so on, I care more about our kids than the so-called do gooders who only do bad, who would prefer to patronise them.”
Twice a year, every pupil in his school is ranked by teachers for academic performance, behaviour, and effort, with the results on display around the grounds.
“It’s not anti woke, it’s pro kid,” says Mr Cefai. “Expectation levels are everything.”
The controversial ranking system has won the school both admiration and criticism, and seen the head clash with his own colleagues.
Mr Cefai is told by fellow staff members that such rankings encourage humiliation, shame and extra pressure – but he disagrees and prefers to see it as building resilience.
He said: “The trendy wendies cried ‘what about the poor kids at the bottom, won’t they get upset?’ Well, as if the kids don’t know already.
“What I don’t understand is why head teachers haven’t got the courage to say what I’ve been saying for 30 plus years.”
The strict head has also had to combat knife crime, with the borough seeing a high rate.
“There’s red lines, any kid who brings in a weapon to our school, especially a knife, is never walking back,” Mr Cefai said.
“Kids bringing drugs, they’re never coming back. A kid that hits any of my teachers or is overly violent are never coming back.”
Mr Cefai went on to highlight the pastoral care woven into his school’s system.
For example, if a family is struggling and needs a new uniform, he will pay for it out of his own pocket.
The corridors and staircases are silent – and weekend detentions are common[/caption]
Mr Cefai says he’s sacked teachers before who ‘don’t care enough’[/caption]
The school has approximately 1,100 pupils aged 11-18[/caption]
And the same goes for if there is a house fire – the school will buy new furniture.
“Obviously, I can’t ignore the poverty, but we bring in compensatory factors for that, as many as we can,” he said. “Our pastoral system links completely in with academic result.”
Cefai arrived in England aged four, unable to speak English, from North Africa.
He remembers “not only no expectation, but no understanding of the education system”.
He says these early experiences shaped how he deals with students today.
“These flaky mental health issues when kids are taking examinations as though you’re never gonna have to do anything testing in your life,” said Mr Cefai.
“Well, now that my rankings mean so much, my kids get practice from year seven, going through assessments that have consequences.”
These flaky mental health issues when kids are taking examinations as though you’re never gonna have to do anything testing in your life.
Serge Cefai
By the time students sit their GCSEs, they are used to being under pressure.
“I don’t want the first time they ever get an assessment that means something to be their GCSEs,” he added.
Mr Cefai said the ranking system also helps engage parents.
“We’ve got 170 kids in the year – if I tell a parent, ‘I’m sorry, your kid’s 170th in Maths or English’, that’s engagement. Proper conversation.”
He wants children to trust him, and build a relationship based on the truth. “We believe in proper conversations and telling the children the truth,” he said.
He added: “Is it old-fashioned? Well, you be the judge of that, I just think it’s common sense.”
The UK’s strictest head teachers
One of Britain’s strictest head teachers turned his school hall into an “overflow car park for detentions”, said fed-up parents and pupils.
James Davidson cracked down on uniforms at Penair School in Truro, Cornwall – allegedly formally disciplining 240 pupils in a single day last week.
Parents claimed Mr Davidson had given out detentions “for little things” like a top button undone or a shirt not tucked, adding it “seems completely bonkers”.
The school has said there will be no further reminders and it will be issuing a 10-minute detention the following day if “high expectations” aren’t met.
The uniform policy, detailed on the school’s website, includes black-only shoes, with all removable tags taken off – while skirts must be knee-length to 18 inches.
Jewellery is banned, except for one stud in each ear, while hair must be worn in a “conventional style”.
Meanwhile, a head teacher in Kent was branded the ‘UK’s strictest’ after booting a student out of school over his haircut.
Despite parental uproar, Jon Richardson from Strood Academy has refused to change the rules.
Liam, 15, was placed in a behavioural unit due to his skin fade, which he allegedly has to ease his eczema.
His stepdad Barry Sandman explained that his hairstyle was a way of cooling his neck to stop flare ups.
The youngster’s condition has worsened due to the “stress” of being removed from class – but Mr Richardson isn’t budging.
Elsewhere, a self-confessed “strictest head teacher” shared her top tips for keeping naughty kids under control.
Katharine Birbalsingh, 48, is the founder and headmistress of the Michaela Community School in Wembley – a diverse school in one of London’s most deprived areas.
The high-achieving school was established in 2014 by Birbalsingh as headmistress and has often been described as the “strictest school in Britain”.
Over summer the West London academy saw 98 per cent of its students achieve 4+ (C) or more in last week’s GCSEs.
