‘Cheating’ teacher appeals dismissal

MAN WAS SACKED FOR HELPING IN GCSE EXAMS

A TEACHER caught helping children to cheat in their GCSE exams is fighting the decision to sack him.

Kenton School dismissed former head of languages Martin Scott after he and another teacher Inmaculada Gabucio Laguna - handed pupils annotated exam ‘cheat sheets.’

Last year, an employment tribunal ruled the school had sacked him lawfully.

However, Mr Scott is set to challenge the decision at a London hearing later this month - although the school maintains it did the right thing.

“The trust are aware of Mr Scott’s pending appeal.,” said a Kenton spokesperson.

“We take any staff conduct that compromises or jeopardises any students’ progress extremely seriously and fully support the decisions the school took in relation to this case.” After senior staff caught the cheating unfolding in 2017, Mr Scott was suspended for seven months while Miss Laguna was sacked on the spot.

Mr Scott took the school to a tribunal, claiming he only “did as I was told” at the command of Miss Laguna.

He also stated mental health issues - including depression impaired his judgement and decision-making when helping pupils cheat, arguing the school hadn’t done enough for him.

The panel in North Shields ruled his actions were “deliberate and thought-through” and backed the Drayton Road school, the largest in Newcastle.

“It would not be a reasonable adjustment to allow a teacher to remain in post having established that he was guilty of serious misconduct that was such that it undermined the integrity of the exam system,” stated the panel’s report. [The school] found that it could no longer trust the claimant to perform his professional duties.”

Mr Scott, who along with Miss Laguna was not banned from teaching by a watchdog, will stage an appeal at a one-day hearing on September 30.

That will take place at the Rolls Building in Holborn, London.

The school found that it could no longer trust the claimant to perform his professional duties Tribunal