A teacher who pushed a pupil who called him a “bald-headed prick” has been banned from the profession.
A report from the Teaching Regulation Agency, published this week, says the boy was left with a bump on his head after claiming he hit his head on a shelf.
The report says Simon Thatcher, who was a science teacher at Bushloe High School - now Wigston Academy in Leicestershire - admitted in a police interview pushing the pupil.
The misconduct panel heard there had been previous incidents involving the 43-year-old and the boy, and there was an arrangement that Mr Thatcher would not teach him.
However, in July 2016 Mr Thatcher was asked at short notice to cover a music lesson which included the pupil.
The teacher and pupil agreed that the boy should leave the classroom.
The report says: “An incident occurred at the door during which Pupil A claimed that Mr Thatcher swore at him.
“A few minutes later, Pupil A opened the door to the classroom and shouted ‘bald-headed prick’.”
It says that after the lesson, Mr Thatcher heard the pupil say “derogatory remarks” about him in the corridor, and the teacher walked across to challenge him.
The report describes him as “standing and bending down very close to Pupil A”.
It adds: “The boy claimed that Mr Thatcher ‘got in my face’ and he tried to walk around him to get away from the teacher.
“Pupil A claimed that Mr Thatcher pushed him, causing him to hit his head on a shelf behind him. Pupil A fell to his knees.
“Another teacher found Pupil A on the floor, upset and crying.
“Following the incident, Mr Thatcher turned his back on Pupil A and left the scene.
“Mr Thatcher told the police he felt threatened by Pupil A and pushed him away. He claimed he was not aware that Pupil A had hit his head on anything.”
The report adds that while there was no medical evidence to confirm that the boy suffered a physical injury, the panel found his evidence in a police interview that “I had a lump for like two days” to be persuasive and credible.
The report says: “The panel acknowledges that Mr Thatcher may have been provoked by Pupil A.
“However, as he was the adult and teacher in that situation, Mr Thatcher should have taken measures to de-escalate the situation and he should not have placed a hand on Pupil A.
“As there had been difficulties in the relationship between Mr Thatcher and Pupil A, which Mr Thatcher had received advice from the school about, he should have been aware of the dangers of confronting Pupil A in the way that he did.”
It acknowledges that Mr Thatcher had “a previously good history”, but says he had not provided any evidence to suggest that a similar incident would not happen again.
Alan Meyrick, who made the final decision on behalf of the education secretary, agreed with the panel’s recommendation that Mr Thatcher be banned from teaching indefinitely, but be allowed to ask for the prohibition to be reviewed after three years.
