A TEACHER, who was unfairly dismissed, hopes nobody else will have to experience what she went through at John Kyrle High School.

An employment tribunal held in Birmingham found that the school had unfairly dismissed Joanne Lucas on March 31, 2017, for gross misconduct.

The school argued that Mrs Lucas, who was director of performance and head of drama at the time, had “wilfully neglected her duties by failing to prepare students adequately for summer 2016 GCSE, AS and A2 level exams”.

But Mrs Lucas argued that “sham reasons” were given for her dismissal.

She accepted that students’ grades in drama were disappointing but argued that an initially undiagnosed medical condition affected her ability to teach.

She said that she requested help with her duties, but it was not provided.

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John Kyrle High School said that it was unaware of the nature of her condition, or that her ability to teach was being affected.

However, the tribunal found that all claims of discrimination arising from disability were “well founded and succeed”.

The school also failed to make reasonable adjustments.

Mrs Lucas also argued that the school was motivated to dismiss her out of an “animus towards her trade union activities”. These claims were also considered to be well founded and succeed.

Mrs Lucas said she felt numb but relieved with the tribunal’s outcome.

“It’s not joyous. Now begins a new phase of moving forward that could prove as difficult as it has been the last four years.

“We came to a point two years ago when we had to consider whether we needed to sell the house.

“We had exhausted any funding this was just to live.

“It’s soul destroying. 28 years of being a teacher and then suddenly you are not. And you have accusations made which rock the core of your belief in humanity.

“Although this part has come to an end. I just don’t want anybody else have it happen to them.

“My son went to the school and the teaching staff are excellent but the higher you get up the echelons the less pleasant the air is.

“The staff that I taught with and worked down the corridors from are excellent and everybody wants the best for the school.

“My perception which the judge held to be true was that the senior management team perhaps don’t go about it the right way.

“Maybe there needs to be some reflection on their part as to how they move forward.

“There’s still too many people who are there that could be in jeopardy by any comment they make. That is a sad state of affairs.”

Denise Strutt chair of governors at John Kyrle High School admitted that there are lessons to be learned from their failings.

“We make no apology for continually trying to get the very best for our pupils,” she said.

“Ensuring they are happy and successful is the reason why we do what we do.

“We are, however, deeply saddened that the tribunal concluded that the actions taken against this teacher were not conducted in a way that reflects the ethos and values of our school and found in the individual’s favour on a number of points.

“This includes views that the individual was treated detrimentally because of their links to trade unions and that the school did not do enough to support the staff member concerned with their health issues.

“A disciplinary process is something that is led by governors with input from the senior leadership team and there was extensive advice from both external lawyers and HR specialists.

“We followed all advice closely and, as a result, our insurers felt our case was strong. The tribunal, however, disagreed.

“While no details are yet to be agreed, we want to assure parents of two things. Firstly, the school has insurance in place in case of this outcome.

“Secondly, while there are clearly lessons to be learned, I want to reassure parents that, despite the failings in this individual case, our staff are happy at the school.”

Mrs Strutt also highlighted the school’s latest Ofsted inspection, which concluded, ‘staff are proud to work at the school’.

“We continue to get so much positive feedback from our staff surveys,” she added.

“There were failings in this case; this is not the sign of a systemic problem.

“We will take positive action to ensure this situation does not happen again.

“We want to do everything we can to secure the best for our students.

“We are also deeply committed to ensuring that our environment is one where every member of our community can be happy, healthy and successful.”