Katharine Birbalsingh is a British teacher and education reformer who is the founder and head teacher of London’s free Michaela Community School. Ideologically, she identifies as a small-c conservative. She cultivated an interest in education when reading French and philosophy at Oxford and, after graduating, went into teaching at state schools in London. She began hosting a blog, To Miss with Love, in 2007 under the pen name Miss Snuffy and later offered her support to the Conservative Party education policies and the reforms made by Michael Gove during his tenure as Education Secretary. Birbalsingh is the author of two books, Singleholic and To Miss with Love, and editor of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Teachers: The Michaela Way and Michaela: The Power of Culture. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours. In 2021, Birbalsingh was appointed chair of the Social Mobility Commission.
Katharine Birbalsingh CBE
