Headteacher Sacked for Admonishing Own Child Wins Unfair Dismissal

A former headteacher of Northwold Primary School (London E5) sacked for admonishing her own child for trying to grab hand sanitiser (having previously managed to get it in his eye) has just won an unfair dismissal case.

The Mail has the story:

Shelly-Ann Malabver-Goulbourne was trying to get her three-year-old to stop playing with a hand sanitiser in her office when she used two fingers to attract his attention, an employment tribunal heard.

The incident was witnessed by the teacher in charge of child safety, who accused her of hurting her son and completed a “cause for concern” form to report a “safeguarding incident”.

Ms. Bhagwandas reported witnessing the Head smack her son on the hand, that the child had been crying and that she had “pacified” him. Ms. Malabver-Goulbourne was suspended and a disciplinary investigation launched.

It led to the Head being suspended and the police called.

Even the police, normally so keen to throw unlimited resources at supporting anyone who makes an accusation, however unfounded or mischievous, deemed this to require no further action.

Although officers ruled that her actions were “reasonable chastisement” by a parent, Ms. Malabver-Goulbourne was found guilty of gross misconduct [by the Trust] and sacked.

The Trust told her that “whether a tap or otherwise, this was unnecessary physical contact with a pupil, which constitutes an assault” and a breach of policies and statutory guidance.

She is in line for compensation after an employment judge concluded there was no evidence that she had committed “physical chastisement or an assault” and ruled her dismissal unfair.

Employment Judge Julia Jones said the school’s code of conduct does not prohibit all physical contact between pupils and teachers and pointed out that as a parent of pupils that would be a difficult rule for the Head to abide by.

Upholding her claim for unfair dismissal, the judge said the [Arbor Academy] Trust “had sufficient evidence… that she was trying to prevent injury to her child and addressing his behaviour”.

Small consolation to the Headteacher concerned, having discovered that a single member of staff’s complaint, however trivial or misguided, could lead to the destruction of her career.

One wonders what the subtext was here – a personal vendetta perhaps, or maybe there’s a whole backdrop to this story that hasn’t been revealed. Or even, perhaps it was a procedure that ran away with itself and to save face it was pursued to the brutal end.

Interesting though to note that Ms. Bhagwandas appears as Deputy Head in a school newsletter dated January 10th 2022. According to the Telegraph the incident took place exactly one week later on January 17th 2022. Ms. Bhagwandas was subsequently listed on the school website on an undated page as “Acting Head of School”, and is named in that capacity on the Arbor Academy Trust’s Leadership page. She does not appear on the current school staff list (which doesn’t list a Deputy Head) but according to her LinkedIn page she is still Deputy Head at Northwold where she has worked since 2010.

The sacked headteacher was appointed in 2017.

Just as a general observation, denunciations for moral or religious misdemeanours and disloyalty or treachery have always been the tool of choice for individuals, organisations or governments to pursue feuds or get rid of inconvenient people, or just to feel the warm glow of righteousness that comes with condemning someone else.

What this sorry saga mostly tells you though is that, just as during Covid, never before in our so-called liberal democratic state supposedly built around individual freedoms has so much machinery been put in place to facilitate this sort of carry-on. One also wonders how much this incident cost. Hopefully, however, the Headteacher concerned will now be amply compensated.

No wonder there’s a shortage of heads.

Worth reading in full, or if you want the longer version try the Telegraph‘s coverage.