Deputy head 'told pupils about incorrect answers on Sats tests'

Peter Hill resigned from the school in May 2022

A deputy head teacher "gestured" to a "difficult cohort" of pupils over their incorrect answers during Sats tests, a report has said.

When one pupil asked Peter Hill for a rubber, he "said 'if I was you I would leave it' or words to that effect".

Mr Hill said the students in question were under "excessive and unrealistic" pressures due to mental health and behavioural challenges.

But a teaching panel said he was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct.

The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) said Year 6 pupils at Belgrave St Peter's Primary School, in Leicester, were sitting English exams in May 2022 when Mr Hill told them he or someone else would point to incorrect answers.

During an unannounced visit to the school, which is part of the Rise multi-academy trust, the following day, an observer heard a pupil ask before a test: "Will we be doing that thing where there's pointing at the wrong answers?"

Mr Hill told the pupil that would not happen and that it had not happened the previous day, but a group of randomly selected pupils confirmed what had occurred when questioned.

Admitting the charges, Mr Hill - who resigned on 31 May 2022, before it was referred to the TRA - agreed his behaviour "may bring the profession into disrepute".

In his evidence to the panel he said at the time the head teacher was absent and he had been speaking to Rise trust's director of education, who "wanted the school to raise outcomes for significant numbers of pupils who were working below the expected standard".

"Mr Hill described this as a difficult cohort with significant social, emotional, and mental health needs and behaviour challenges," the panel said.

"It was Mr Hill's evidence that, as a result, there was an expectation on pupils that was excessive and unrealistic."

Rise said it would "continue to make unannounced visits to all of our schools to ensure exemplary administrations of tests"

While finding his behaviour "fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession", the TRA did not impose a ban, saying Mr Hill "had recognised the seriousness of his actions and demonstrated how such conduct would be avoided in the future".

Mark Cole, chief executive of Rise, said it was the trust's staff that "identified the unacceptable professional conduct in question during an unannounced monitoring visit" before they reported it "at the earliest opportunity".

"It was the trust's vigilance that highlighted the behaviours in question," he said.

"We continue to make unannounced visits to all of our schools to ensure exemplary administrations of tests."