Teacher is banned for hitting child on the head

A SUPPLY teacher has been banned from the profession for at least three years after “slapping” a pupil around the head.

Carolyn Darnell struck the girl during a science class at Bilton School, Rugby, a Teacher Regulation Authority tribunal heard.

The day after the incident, the 15-year-old visited her doctor, complaining of a headache and neck pain.

Ms Darnell denied unacceptable professional conduct and stated she “playfully bonked her on the head with some paper.

This is all I did. I absolutely did not slap, strike or hit her.”

The hearing found Ms Darnell’s actions on May 15, 2019, “fell significantly short of the standards expected”.

She was given a prohibition order – preventing her from teaching, which she can ask to be lifted in three years’ time.

She is unlikely to do so. Ms Darnell has informed the TRA she’s “given up teaching and has no wish to return after 13 years of successful teaching”.

In a statement, the girl said: “I went to stand up and give her my work and as I turned around, she slapped me around the back of my head with her hand. She slapped me that hard my chin touched my chest. At the time, I was in shock, so I didn’t think about doing anything. Other pupils were in the classroom and saw what happened.”

The girl, referred to as Pupil A, had told the tribunal she “didn’t feel like she could trust teachers anymore”.

The panel received statements from children who witnessed the incident.

One had written: “During science Miss was joking around with (Pupil A) and she hit her in the head as a joke but she did it too hard and hurt Pupil A.”

Another wrote: “Pupil A was a bit loud and Mrs Darnell came over to tell her to quiet down, so she did and as Mrs Darnell turned to walk away she hit her on the back of the head, but I am not sure if it was by accident or not.”

The panel ruled Ms Darnell had used her hand and her actions “amounted to misconduct of a serious nature which fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession”.

The TRA report states: “Ms Darnell hit a pupil with unreasonable and inappropriate force which was a serious matter.

“Teachers are accorded a privileged position of trust and responsibility. It is an essential requirement of the teaching profession that teachers do not hit children who have been placed in their care.

“It is paramount that force against a child is only used in the defined circumstances where it is reasonable and in accordance with statutory provisions.”