Headteacher who allowed primary school children to travel in taxis alone banned for three years

Image: Flickr - Educators.co.uk

A primary school headteacher in Burton has been suspended from teaching at any school for the next three years after an investigation revealed a number of major violations on his behalf, including allowing pupils to travel unsupervised in taxis.

The investigation found that Neil Jinks carried out 17 incidents of misconduct which led to his ban on teaching.

During the investigation, led by the Teaching Regulation Agency, it emerged he had allowed primary school pupils to take taxis alone.

He was also found to have failed to complete adequate fire risk assessments and made a false claim about a reference for his son from another school.

In a report made public by the Agency, it was revealed that Mr Jinks, who had worked at the school for 14 years, would be eligible to apply for the prohibition order to be set aside, but not until 2022.

The hearing was told that Mr Jinks, who was the headteacher of Holy Rosary Catholic Primary School, was guilty of 'unacceptable professional conduct' that 'may bring the profession into disrepute'.

On the panel's ruling that Mr Jinks would be prohibited from teaching, the report reads: 'This means that Mr Neil Jinks is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England.'

The investigation found that Mr Jinks had allowed pupils to travel unsupervised in taxis to sporting activities - Mr Jinks admitted these allegations.

Other findings suggested that school staff did not receive adequate training for safeguarding procedures.

The report reads: 'The panel heard evidence from staff at the school that they could not recall when they received safeguarding training, or if this related to the guidance in September 2016 (the most-up-to-date at the time).

'In his oral evidence, Mr Jinks stated that, with the possible exception of one teacher, all staff had current level one safeguarding training.

'He accepted that he did not ensure that staff received immediate training on safeguarding matters in light of the guidance in September 2016.

'The panel had sight of emails in the bundle in which Mr Jinks asked staff if anyone required level one safeguarding training and forwarded on the September 2016 guidance.

'The panel did not consider that this amounted to providing adequate training on the guidance.'

The report stated that failure to provide training unnecessarily placed at risk the safety of children at the school.

The report finalised by saying: 'The panel was satisfied that the conduct of Mr Jinks amounted to misconduct of a serious nature which fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession.'

Mr Alan Meyrick, acting on behalf of the secretary of state, noted that Mr Jinks had a previously unblemished teaching career, yet his failures to ensure safeguarding made a prohibition order appropriate.