A former principal who lied to police over allowing a convicted child sex offender on her school’s premises has been barred from teaching for life.

Maddalena Reina was told by a professional conduct panel of the Teaching Regulation Agency that she would not be allowed to apply to have the ban lifted after a review period - a decision confirmed by the Department for Education decision-maker, Alan Meyrick.

The names of her former school and employer were not disclosed.

Panel members heard that Ms Reina admitted that she allowed the sex offender “A” to be present while she met colleagues to discuss work-related matters, allowed A onto school premises for approximately nine hours and allowed pupils to be in A’s presence.

She also admitted failing to carry out any risk assessment of A’s presence at the school, allowed A access to her work iPad, including to confidential material, and lied to police by implying A had never visited the school.

In May 2017, a referral was made by the police to the Waltham Forest local authority designated officer regarding a relationship between Ms Reina and A, which came to light following a proposed holiday Ms Reina and A were intending to take.

This was because A was required to notify the police if he wished to leave the country and it was discovered that Ms Reina was due to accompany him.

Ms Reina was subsequently suspended, but resigned in July 2017 before a disciplinary investigation concluded.

The panel decided that she had committed misconduct of a serious nature, which was also a serious safeguarding failure and presented a risk of harm to her pupils.