A supply teacher was escorted out of a Cheshire school after ‘losing control of his emotions’ at a pupil and branding them a ‘pathetic loser’.
Michael Good admitted to lashing out while teaching a class at St Anne’s Roman Catholic Voluntary Academy, in Stockport, in September 2021.
A Teacher Regulation Agency (TRA) tribunal heard allegations that Good hit the student on his arm after repeatedly asking him to stop turning around and to be quiet – but these were found not proven.
The teacher admitted he ‘unprofessionally’ called the pupil a ‘pathetic loser’ as a witness described him using a ‘condescending, belittling and aggressive tone’, Manchester Evening News reported.
Following a three-day TRA hearing last month, Good was found guilty of serious misconduct in relation to his comment.
Michael Good admitted to lashing out while teaching a class at St Anne’s Roman Catholic Voluntary Academy, in Stockport, in September 2021
Pictured: St Anne’s Roman Catholic Voluntary Academy, in Cheshire
He was not present at the tribunal and not represented, but said in a written submission that he had ‘let himself down’ and was ‘very sorry’ for shouting at the pupil.
‘At the height of Covid-19 with the close proximity of the desk and students to where [he] had to stand, the very close quarters and persistent disruption caused to [his] lesson by one specific student and the sudden and unjustified allegations and threats to get his [REDACTED] and the police onto [him] for assaulting him,’ he said.
‘This was genuinely a one-off error of judgement and I have learnt from this mistake. It will never happen again.
‘I have reflected…and understand and accept I fell below the standard required of a teacher. I cannot change what happened, but I can learn from it.’
The tribunal ruled that the teacher’s behaviour in the classroom that day ‘amounted to misconduct of a serious nature which fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession’.
But the panel decided not to suspend Good or strike him off from the profession due to his ‘unblemished teaching record and compelling character references’.
They wrote: ‘There was a strong public interest consideration in retaining the teacher in the profession, since no doubt had been cast upon his abilities as an educator and he is able to make a valuable contribution to the profession.
‘The panel considered that the publication of the adverse findings it had made was sufficient to send an appropriate message to the teacher as to the standards of behaviour that are not acceptable.
‘Mr Good accepted his response was wrong for any teacher but stated it was perhaps understandable at that moment.
‘Mr Good admitted he shouted at Pupil A as he was annoyed and understood this could have upset the student, but there was no evidence of this.
‘He stated every student deserves for the teacher in the room to be in control of their emotions, and he failed to do this for a moment, but this was not without context or provocation.
‘Mr Good stated he could have used a quieter tone and better words but the reason for the emotion was the disruption needed to stop.’
Following the incident, Good said he has undertaken and passed a course on ‘awareness of effective behaviour management in the classroom’.
