A HIGH school physics teacher who told pupils they were on his “s***” list has been struck off.
Andrew Kerr worked at Ardnamurchan High School in the Highlands when he swore at a student in S5.
He also helped a pupil cheat by showing them a copy of the marking guidance for one of their Higher coursework pieces.
Mr Kerr was dismissed by the Highland Council following the allegations, and has now been struck off by the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS).
He faced a total of seven charges, four of which were found proven at a hearing earlier this month.
The panel agreed that between 15 August 2012 and 16 April 2013, he used inappropriate language towards an S5 pupil and in particular he did say “If you were on my s*** list before, where do you think you are now?”
It was also found proven that he “provided a copy of the marking guidance for a Physics NAB to an S5 pupil and instructed the said pupil to complete the Physics NAB whilst having sight of the marking guidance.”
They also found that he “presented the Physics NAB for verification as having been properly completed by the said S5 pupil in the knowledge that it had not been properly completed”.
He also breached the school’s policy by using existing NAB’s as practice for the real thing.
Criticism
During the hearing, Mr Kerr stated that he believed the head teacher was determined to have him removed from the school due to his health issues and his criticism of the head teacher’s leadership and decision-making.
He also claimed that the pupil who was taking the NAB assessment had been supervised while the mark scheme was out, meaning that the security of the document could not have been breached.
He added that there was a lot of “banter” in his classrooms and did not agree that his use of the expression “s*** list” was inappropriate in the particular context in which it was said.
The panel concluded that he had “fallen significantly short of the standards expected of a registered teacher”.
They said that “his actions and behaviour indicated a falling short of personal and professional standards as well as a lack of integrity.”
They added that he showed “no insight or remorse” regarding his behaviour.
Mr Kerr will remain removed from the register until an application for re-registration is made. He will not be allowed to register an application for a total of 12 months.
