Head teacher who kept porn on phone is banned for life

♦ A head teacher who kept pornography on her phone and doctored SATS results has been banned from teaching for life.

Catherine Jones, a mother of two and former history teacher, was also found to have taken £350 from a PTA collection box, which she allegedly used to help pay her mortgage.

Ms Jones, 42, was promoted to head teacher of Stoneleigh Academy, Oldham, in September 2012. However by March 2016, two colleagues reported concerns and she was suspended.

A misconduct panel in Coventry heard that when Ms Jones was given a new work iphone in June 2015, she asked an IT apprentice to back up her photos. The panel heard that the apprentice saw “images of an explicit sexual nature” while two other staff reported seeing “images of explicit sexual acts”.

The Teaching Regulation Agency panel also concluded she had altered pupils’ marks in the SATS exams to improve results.