A supply teacher at a Peckham primary school has been banned from the profession for telling a Year Six child “I really want to slap you” and grabbing them so hard she left a mark on their arm, a teacher misconduct hearing was told.
Noreen Chambers, 63, who worked as a supply teacher at St Francis RC Primary School and had been 30 years in the profession, was slapped with an indefinite teaching ban following a professional conduct panel review held on June 10, 20022.
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The panel heard that on March 6 2020, during an afternoon lesson, the teacher grabbed a child, leaving a “two inch long” mark that “looked like a thumb print”.
The teacher is said to have said to the same child “I really want to slap you” and asked “do you want me to hit you?” or words to that effect.
The panel also heard that she said to a second child: “If I was your mother I would have slapped the back of your head,” or words to that effect.
At the end of the school day, a child told the headteacher that the supply teacher had “grabbed” them, showing them the mark on their arm.
A second teacher was told the same thing and four pupils recorded statements. Ms Chambers was suspended from teaching on March 9 while the matter was investigated.
The panel was told that Ms Chambers was “angry” about this and “did not respond to the call well”.
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In a report from the misconduct hearing it was said Ms Chambers also refused to provide a written statement despite being asked to on multiple occasions.
The Teaching Regulation Agency panel hearing, which Ms Chambers did not attend, concluded that she would be prohibited from teaching indefinitely.
The panel said that the teaching ban was necessary, particularly because of Ms Chambers’ “failure to demonstrate any insight or remorse for her actions”.
Now, she cannot teach at any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England.
She may apply for the prohibition order to be reviewed in two years’ time and can appeal the Teaching Regulation Agency decision within 28 days of the order being made.
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