A shameless secretary stole more than £22,000 from the primary school she worked at to pay for her own home improvements.
Charlotte Pearce, 45, dived into money from a fund set up to help children from deprived backgrounds even though she was already earning enough from the three properties she owned with her husband.
Newport Crown Court heard mum-of-two Pearce stole from the Ysgol Gymraeg Cwm Derwen school in Wales where she worked as a secretary, over a period of six years.
Pearce, of Caerphilly, set up false invoices to cover her tracks. Once a trusted worker, she would then write out cheques to herself, including one for more than £3,000.
The court heard she used the school account to pay for a skip she hired to renovate her mother's house and even paid for items from Amazon including towel rails and toilet roll holders in her own home.
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Prosecutor, Andrew Davies, said: "The defendant used her position of trust and responsibility as a secretary at Ysgol Gymraeg Cwm Derwen over a number of years to systematically steal money or goods from the school.
"She was falsifying Amazon accounts to purchase items to do up her or her mother's properties and charging them to the school."
The school's headteacher, Kathryn Matthews, said: "The financial loss will have a long-lasting impact on the staff and the school. It has affected staff morale and caused tension in the school."
Pearce admitted six fraud charges.
Mitigating, Tim Pearce, said: "The defendant said some of the staff were friends and holiday partners which makes the betrayal much worse. There is considerable remorse."
Pearce was handed a six month suspended sentence and told she must carry out 200 hours unpaid work.
Judge Daniel Williams told Pearce: "You used that position of trust. You stole from a school that can ill afford its precious resources being drained by a member of staff.
"At the time you were in full-time employment and your husband was being paid well. You owned three properties yet through your actions you have deprived children, some living in poverty, of much-needed resources.
"The school has been forced to make savings which has had an impact on these children."
