A primary school deputy headteacher has been allowed to continue working in the profession after she bit, slapped and scratched a child.
Claire Herbert, who worked at the Red Rose Primary School in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, got into an argument with the girl that became physical on June 18 2022, leaving the child with reddening and bruises on her skin, according to a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) tribunal.
When visited by a police officer three days later, the girl said the teacher had caused two bite marks to her hand and head, scratched her with false nails and called her fat.
Photographs of the child’s injuries showed various red marks, scratches and bruising to various parts of her body, including her face, neck, leg and hand, the tribunal heard.
The incident took place outside the education setting where there appeared to be alcohol involved.
In an email responding to the incident in October last year, Miss Herbert said: “I have read and considered the attached paperwork and I will admit to all allegations listed although it is a blur.”
She had worked at the school since April 2019 and also held the role of deputy safeguarding lead, the tribunal heard.
Miss Herbert accepted a conditional police caution in December 2022 for the offence of common assault on the child.
A TRA panel found the teacher guilty of unacceptable professional conduct that could bring the profession into disrepute.
But it stopped short of recommending a permanent banning order for Miss Herbert as she “otherwise appeared to have an unblemished record”.
“The panel was mindful that this was an isolated incident which it considered, taking into account the mitigating circumstances and wider context, sat at the less serious end of the possible spectrum of severity,” it said.
“The panel took account of the mitigating factors that were present and the contribution Miss Herbert had made, and could continue to make, to the education sector.”
A number of character references provided to the panel commented positively on Miss Herbert’s abilities as a teacher and that she normally demonstrated high standards of personal and professional conduct.
Miss Herbert, who also sustained injuries from the incident, had shown “genuine and significant regret, remorse and insight” for her conduct and had been honest about what happened, the panel said.
Decision maker Marc Cavey, acting on behalf of the Education Secretary, said: “In my judgment, the extent of the insight and remorse demonstrated by Miss Herbert, when considered alongside the isolated nature of the misconduct found and the mitigating circumstances that were present, means that there is only a very limited risk of the repetition of this behaviour.
“I have therefore given this element considerable weight in reaching my decision.”
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