Teacher banned ‘after hitting special needs child over head’

Decision: Kay Johnston has said she will fight her indefinite ban from the classroom

A special needs teacher who had a public row with Michael Gove has been banned from the classroom after allegedly hitting a five-year-old around the head and pushing him off his chair. 

Kay Johnston, 59, was barred from teaching indefinitely after also allowing a teaching assistant to humiliate the child, who had “complex learning difficulties”.

Scotland Yard officers investigated a separate incident at East Wickham Primary Academy, in Bexley, and cautioned a 20-year-old classroom assistant for child cruelty involving the same pupil. 

Johnston, who tried to gag the press by unsuccessfully applying to have her misconduct hearing in private, was not investigated by officers but found on “the balance of probabilities” to have hit the child on January 29, 2014, after the misconduct panel viewed CCTV.

She today told the Standard she will be “fighting” the case, but refused to comment further. 

The National College for Teaching and Leadership panel report states that they saw images showing Ms Johnston “raise her hand”, which then moves towards the pupil’s head, with the child’s head and upper body then seen “to jerk to the side”.

Just minutes later, the report says, the CCTV shows her seemingly pushing the five-year-old, who has special needs, off his chair. The panel ruled: “Ms Johnston is seen to lift his leg and tip the chair, causing him to fall to the floor.”

The report states two days later the teacher of 30 years’ experience made “no effort” to stop assistants “manhandling” the child, who is seen being spun on his back by the feet, carried across the room and “roughly returned” to class from the sensory room. 

The pupil’s shoelaces were also tied together for two hours, causing him “discomfort” and “falling over on a number of occasions”, the panel said. 

 

Despite being alone with the child for 30 minutes, she failed to untie them or instruct teaching assistants to. The report found, however, Ms Johnston was not aware of the laces being tied together while it was being done. She was also found to have unfairly excluded the child from classroom activities. A Scotland Yard spokesman said it cautioned a 20-year-old woman over the incident involving teaching assistants. 

Ms Johnston was thrust into the public eye after having her application to set up a free school in Lewisham rejected by the Department for Education four times — accusing the department and then education secretary Mr Gove of racism.

She made the accusations after a High Court battle against the DfE and claiming an official told her one reason for objecting to her plans was because it was “for the black community” and “all their mentors are black”.

Judges ruled the DfE had to change its procedures to measure the impact on equality of applications to open free schools. Johnston wanted to open a free school aimed at trying to help steer teenagers away from gang life. She later founded the independent Enterprise Diamond School, in Hither Green. She was working as a supply teacher at East Wickham Primary Academy and was only in her first week with the class, a small group of complex needs children, when the incidents occurred.

The report concluded: “Ms Johnston acted in a violent manner towards Pupil A and failed to prevent him from being adversely affected by the inappropriate actions of teaching assistants for a sustained period.” 

She has been banned indefinitely and can only seek a review of the decision after four years. She also has a right of appeal to the High Court. 

East Wickham Primary Academy failed to respond to a request for comment.