Teacher sacked for sending maskless vulnerable boy out of class

A boy, known only as Pupil J, was told to leave 38 seconds after arriving in the lesson at St Clare's School

A teacher who sent a vulnerable pupil from class for taking off his facemask to sip water has been sacked.

The 15-year-old was told to leave just 38 seconds after arriving in the lesson at St Clare's School, in Porthcawl, Bridgend county, a tribunal heard.

The tribunal report said the teenager had "documented additional learning and behavioural needs".

It added that after the teacher ordered the boy out in December 2020 she forgot she had done so.

The teacher, referred to in the report as Mrs S Smith, appealed against her dismissal but her appeal was thrown out.

The report said Mrs Smith did not check on the pupil, dubbed Pupil J, for 24 minutes, by which time he had gone to a different part of the building.

The teacher's colleagues at the private school raised concerns that sending a child into the cold for so long may have met the "harms test" threshold and called the local authority safeguarding team.

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Mrs Smith was suspended four days later, before being sacked for gross misconduct in February 2021. She appealed against her dismissal in February this year.

The employment tribunal, sitting in Cardiff, heard Mrs Smith was keen facemasks were worn because of her worries about Covid.

Holiday trip despite Covid concerns

Her son, who previously had cancer, had been advised to shield earlier in the pandemic.

Mrs Smith only returned to face-to-face teaching in September 2020 because of this.

But she had gone on holiday to Kefalonia, in Greece, in August 2020 with her son and the rest of her family.

Judge Angharad Lloyd-Lawrie said she accepted Mrs Smith's Covid concerns, but said she had tried to mislead the tribunal as to how fearful she was.

The judge said Mrs Smith's claim she and her family were socially distant throughout their holiday was not plausible.

The tribunal heard that after standing outside the classroom for almost 20 minutes, her pupil was called to a different part of the building to sit in on another lesson.

A tribunal report said the teenager had "documented additional learning and behavioural needs"

Colleagues' concern

The tribunal heard that after standing outside the classroom for almost 20 minutes, her pupil was called to a different part of the building to sit in on another lesson.

Several of Mrs Smith's colleagues raised "low-level concerns" about her conduct, but did not initially tell her where the boy had gone.

The judge said it was likely they did this as they did not approve of how the claimant disciplined pupils "including her shouting at pupils".

On realising the boy had gone, Mrs Smith left her class unattended for eight minutes to find him.

They returned to class together, after another teacher told Mrs Smith where he was.

The tribunal was told that during her suspension hearing on 8 December, 2020, Mrs Smith "became aggressive", calling two of her colleagues derogatory terms before being escorted from the premises.

Mrs Smith argued in her appeal that she was unfairly dismissed, and that her sacking was not a reasonable response to what happened.

But Judge Lloyd-Lawrie said the dismissal was "within the band of reasonable responses".