A TEACHER HAS been removed from the Teaching Council’s register after a probe found her guilty of applying sellotape to the mouths of five students. 

In the country’s first ever public teacher fitness inquiry last year, it heard about the alleged offence, but the teacher in question said allegations against her of professional misconduct were “historic and unfounded”. 

The five fifth-class girls told the inquiry they were ‘chatting and messing’ on 7 March 2012 when the teacher allegedly placed tape on their mouths.

One of the five all the girls were chatting and laughing in class.

“She was quite angry that we were all messing and talking and she wasn’t happy. She said ‘whist’”. Asked if that worked, the student replied no.

“We kept talking. She kept telling us to be quiet. She was quite angry and made it very clear I was to put the sellotape on. I felt I had no other choice,” she said.

The principal said the five students were ‘visibly distressed’ after the incident.

“Their expression, demeanour when they came in, I knew there was something wrong.

I took them all out and they said the teacher had put sellotape over their mouths. They were upset. One or two were crying. There were little red marks on their faces around their mouth. The teacher was told not to return to the school.

The Teaching Council panel found the teacher guilty of professional misconduct in the case of all five girls involved.

In order to become and continue working as a teacher, all teachers must be registered with the council. 

As the sanction in this case is removal from the register for a period of one year, the teacher will be able to reapply to be on the register in a year’s time. 

With reporting from Louise Roseingrave

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