Yorkshire headteacher sent ‘problematic’ pupils home after registration

A headteacher who sent “problematic” pupils home after registration to inflate attendance figures has been barred from the profession.

The head told staff to give some students work to do away from the school to avoid formally excluding them, a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel heard.

The teacher’s name, as well as the school he worked at in the Yorkshire & the Humber region, has been redacted from the TRA report explaining the details of the case and published on Friday.

The panel found the head also sent “malicious” emails to colleagues from anonymous accounts questioning their integrity.

One witness told the misconduct hearing that the head applied the work-from-home policy to up to 20 “extremely difficult students”, some of whom were sent home for “long periods of time”.

It was said that the policy’s intention was to reduce the school’s exclusion figures and improve attendance data.

An email from the headteacher to staff, showed to the panel, told how he wanted to “inconvenience” the mother of one pupil by suggesting they only attend school at 09:00 and 14:00 each day to collect work and receive an attendance mark.

In the email, he said this would “mean our attendance is not hit” and “gives colleagues some respite” from the girl’s “appalling behaviour”.

The head did not attend the misconduct hearing, but in a written submission he denied the policy was adopted to reduce exclusion figures and improve attendance.

However, he conceded it “would have that effect”.

The panel also found the head had sent anonymous emails to staff which “appeared to seek to undermine or deride” them.

In a further written submission, his representative said the head felt “considerable remorse and embarrassment” for sending the emails.