A teacher has been banned from the classroom after dragging a young child across the floor “like a child dragging a teddy”.
Georgina Graham had worked as an early years foundation stage teacher, covering the age group from birth up to five years old, at Hunningley Primary School for almost 10 years before she was suspended in 2023 pending investigation into her alleged actions.
After the school reported two allegations of common assault against pupils A and B to the police in March that year; she was suspended and two police investigations commenced. By May, the police investigation concluded, with no further action taken against Ms Graham and she was referred to the Teaching Regulations Agency (TRA).
Witness statements described an incident in which Ms Graham dragged a screaming Pupil A across the floor with one hand “almost like a child dragging a teddy or a doll along the floor behind them”. Before this, the young child had needed calming down after becoming upset and overwhelmed by her surroundings; Witness F had been sat next to the child prior to the incident.
Witness E claimed to have heard a scream and turned to see Ms Graham holding the pupil’s hand and shouting at her to get up, while she was “visibly very upset and on the floor.”
The child could be heard screaming “no stop let go” as Witness E saw the bottom half of her body go limp on the floor.
In a separate incident, Ms Graham was found to have used “used inappropriate and/or excessive force in relation to Pupil B”.
Pupil B had been walking down the corridor with Witness D, when Ms Graham walked behind him and grabbed his wrists with no warning and raised them above his head. The witness said it “felt forceful and there was no warning given”, adding that Ms Graham got frustrated with the pupil and felt he “needs to learn how to behave” despite his struggles being known to staff.
Witness D confirmed that Pupil B “wasn’t doing anything - no one was at risk”.
Ms Graham then let his body “dangle” and “dragged” him into the hall before dropping him on the floor, where she laughed and said “oh you can stay there then”.
A TRA panel decided to indefinitely ban Ms Graham from teaching, which can only be appealed in three years, for “inappropriate and excessive force used against two vulnerable children” and a “serious loss of control” despite another member of staff asking her to stop.
The panel expressed concern that Ms Graham might repeat her actions if allowed to continue as a teacher, as the former teacher had challenged the seriousness of the conduct but presented no evidence of training undertaken or steps taken to manage a loss of control in the future.
“Ms Graham ought to have exercised self-control over her own actions”, the panel report judged.
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