Three year ban for teacher who called students "dumb"
AN ENGLISH teacher in Long Sutton who referred to his pupils as "dumb" has been banned from teaching for three years.
AN ENGLISH teacher in Long Sutton who referred to his pupils as "dumb" has been banned from teaching for three years. Former Peele Community College teacher Lenin Chigbundu attended a General Teaching Council for England hearing in Birmingham on Friday, at which four allegations of unacceptable conduct brought against him were proven.
He had been teaching at the school for just 13 days in January 2007 before he was suspended, during which time he made a number of inappropriate comments to students, which included:
* Referring to pupils in class as being dumb.
* Telling pupils in class that their parents had not brought them up properly.
* Referring to a year eight pupil as being "cheap" during an English lesson.
* Referring to a student as being "dragged up".
* Saying to a year 11 pupil: "If I were a sniper I would have got you."
Among those who gave evidence at the hearing was headteacher Dr Cathy Taylor, who spoke to Mr Chigbundu about the allegations when they were first brought to the school's attention.
The school's Head of English Tessa Harpham revealed that at least one student was distressed by his comments and also led to complaints from parents.
In her evidence, Dr Taylor said Mr Chigbundu accepted he said those things to his pupils, but he did not accept that the comments were inappropriate.
Speaking after the hearing, Dr Taylor said: "His approach to teaching was not what I expected because of a number of things which were not appropriate for a teacher.
"He was suspended and then we went through the disciplinary proceedure, after which he was sacked by the governors."
Mr Chigbundu was also punished for accessing information unrelated to teaching on his school laptop, printing 3,000 pages of information from a school printer in a six-day period, being late to lessons and staff briefings and working as a supply teacher while suspended.
Dr Taylor herself had investigated the use of school computers and found that the websites Mr Chigbundu had been using had at best an "extremely tenuous" link to the school curriculum.
The school also asked him to pay 150 for the pages he printed, an amount which is still outstanding.
The panel found that the comments made by Mr Chigbundu were "demeaning to pupils" and that his behaviour relating to all the proven allegations fell far below the level of standards expected of a registered teacher.
The panel imposed a three-year Prohibition Order, after which time he will be allowed to apply for teaching registration. Mr Chigbundu was given 28 days to appeal the decision.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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