Inspectors are coming... hide naughty pupils in the squash court
A TEACHER who blew the whistle by revealing that unruly pupils were kept away from Ofsted inspectors on a squash court has won a claim he was fired unfairly.
Ged Thomas was tipped off while on sick leave that troublesome teenagers “had been removed from lessons out of sight” into the sports area, his tribunal judgment said.
The PE and maths teacher alerted Ofsted and was asked for details, the hearing was told.
The judgment added: “That for him was the last straw. He formally raised his concerns. These were clearly protected disclosures.”
Mr Thomas, 53, was sacked by Berwick Academy after online comments critical of then head Alexis Widdowson. She quit before the Northumberland secondary school was judged by Ofsted inspectors to be “inadequate” – the lowest grade.
The tribunal heard she was at “loggerheads” with Mr Thomas but had left when he was sacked in 2018 after ten years.
Employment judges ruled he was dismissed unfairly after a “deeply flawed” disciplinary inquiry said his comments were the sole reason for him being fired. Its 44-page report
said Mr Thomas “received text messages from a colleague and parents saying certain pupils, known for misbehaving, had been removed from lessons to the squash courts”.
It continued: “Hiding children from inspectors would almost certainly amount to concealment of information which tends to show relevant failures”.
Mr Thomas, of Berwick, said after the hearing he had raised concerns about standards with his MP, governors and Ofsted over four years.
He added: “There was a certain fear to speak out that you were going to be the author of your downfall.
“But I found it impossible to just sit by.”
Mr Thomas’s compensation will be determined at a further hearing.