A BEHAVIOUR support teacher stuck his middle finger up at a primary aged pupil and told the child to “spin on it”.
Donald Mackay, who worked at a school in Alness, near Inverness, made the rude gesture to a young boy earlier this year.
Mr Mackay was called to a Fitness To Teach hearing with the General Teaching Council for Scotland last month after a complaint was made about his behaviour.
He faced one charge – that on 12 February 2015 he “did stick up his middle finger to a primary aged pupil and told him to ‘spin on it”.
Mr Mackay, who worked at the school for 11 years, waived his right to a full hearing by admitting the allegation in full.
The investigating panel ruled that his fitness to teach was impaired and issued him with a Reprimand Consent Order, which will remain in place until 31 December 2015.
The hearing decision notice, posted online yesterday, states that the panel reasoned that “no harm had been caused to a child” and that there has been “no repetition” since the incident.
It also reads that Mr Mackay “has previously had a good history” in the teaching profession.
It does not explain the circumstances surrounding the incident, or whether Mr Mackay is still working at the school.
Experience
Mr Mackay’s LinkedIn profile details a wealth of teaching experience lasting over 20 years.
It states that he was a “Biology/Science teacher” at various schools in the Highlands between 1991 and 2004.
He then went on to become a behaviour support teacher at the Bridgend Education Centre, where it states that he still works.
The profile also states that he is currently working on “trying to develop a real-life based basic literacy/numerical program for the use of students in the ‘Behaviour Support’ field.”
Before becoming a teacher, he also worked as a greenkeeper at the Torvean Golf Course in Inverness, and a groundsman greenkeeper with a Highland health board.
He completed his undergraduate in History and Politics at Stirling University, and did a PGCE in Biology/General Science at Newcastle Polytechnic.
The Bridgend Education Centre and Mr Mackay were unavailable for comment.
