Teacher who slapped 5-year-old ‘lost control’, resigns

A kindergarten teacher who hit a child in the head in frustration has admitted it was ‘‘not an acceptable way for a professional person to respond’’.

Nicholas Duval-Smith showed remorse for the incident, immediately apologising to the 5-year-old boy and reporting himself to his employer, Motueka Rudolf Steiner Kindergarten.

Furthermore, he three days after, a decision said.

The New Zealand Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal said his ‘‘conduct and attitude following this incident persuades us that cancellation [of his teaching registration] is not necessary’’. resigned tribunal

Duval-Smith was supervising the boy in May last year when he began ‘‘repeatedly lunging’’ into a circle of children.

When he tried to move the boy out of the circle, the child spat on his hand, the tribunal’s decision said.

Duval-Smith took the boy to the bathroom and asked him to wash the spit off. When he refused, the teacher ‘‘lost control of himself’’ and dealt an ‘‘openhanded hit’’ to the back of the child’s head.

In an explanation to the tribunal, Duval-Smith said he found working at the Motueka centre stressful because of this child’s ‘‘challenging behaviour around boundaries’’.

‘‘The moment of hitting the child happened with feelings of frustration and anger at his refusal to do as I asked.’’

The tribunal found this amounted to serious misconduct – ‘‘the use of physical force, even at a lower level, is unacceptable in New Zealand schools’’ – but said Duval-Smith’s remorseful response meant a rehabilitative penalty was more appropriate.

He was censured and ordered to undertake professional mentoring.