Teacher who let snake in school ‘wrongfully’ sacked

Staff member who insisted child with broken leg could keep walking cleared of gross misconduct claims

A “MAVERICK” primary schoolteacher allowed a pupil to bring a snake into class and ignored a child with brittle bones who broke her leg on a school trip, a tribunal heard. Helen Evans was sacked by Llanishen Fach Primary School in Cardiff, her workplace of 22 years, over seven allegations said to amount to gross misconduct. However, she contested the decision and won a claim for wrongful dismissal.

During an investigation by Sarah Coombes, the head teacher, Miss Evans was said to have also mocked senior members of staff by describing them as “dumb and dumber”. She was also accused of bullying and intimidating behaviour by four members of staff.

An employment tribunal in Cardiff heard that in December 2014, Miss Evans did not allow her pupils to go to a Christmas carol assembly in which the whole school was taking part.

Evidence from two members of staff confirmed that “instruction was given that this assembly singalong was for all to attend and this instruction was clearly confirmed within the morning briefing and Miss Evans did not believe the occasion to be compulsory”.

Then in January 2015, the claimant failed to abide by school policy by allowing a snake to be brought into the school. Miss Evans’s defence was that she did not think about the need to follow due process because the children did not handle the snake themselves.

When other staff were asked what they would do in similar circumstances, all of them said they knew about the school’s policies.

The tribunal panel said in a ruling made public this month: “Whether Helen Evans’s actions were intentional or not remains unknown, however witness statements have suggested she doesn’t like rules, is a maverick and likes to do things ‘her own way’. Her actions, whether intentional or not, appear to have resulted in significant stress and anxiety for some staff.”

Three months later, Miss Evans was on a school trip to Cardiff Castle when one of the children, who suffers from brittle bone disease, was forced to walk back to the bus after breaking her leg.

The child was holding hands with the claimant when she caught her foot on the cobbled surface. She was immediately in pain, saying her leg may have broken, after she heard a “click”. But Miss Evans insisted she could stand and walk until a teaching assistant and a parent who was also on the trip sat the injured girl on a wall.

She was taken back to school before going to hospital where it was confirmed she had broken her leg.

The tribunal upheld her appeal for wrongful dismissal because the school did not provided any evidence of gross misconduct. The parties are to attend a remedy hearing at a later date to calculate the payout Miss Evans will receive for wrongful dismissal.