Teacher at Southampton's Cantell School swore and hit pupil around head with book

A disciplinary hearing ruled Xanthe Hackett deliberately struck the Year 9 boy after he swore in class.

The General Teaching Council for England heard the teacher admitted she had lost control of the maths lesson at Cantell Maths and Computing College in Southampton.

Mrs Hackett claimed she had picked up the book and raised it “to brush his head to sweep him out of the room”, but the pupil, whose name has not been revealed, had turned as she remonstrated.

After hearing evidence from five children in the room at the time, the three-man committee rejected her version, saying they believed she deliberately set out to hit the youngster.

Panel chairman Clair Greg said her actions had been “unwise and ill-considered” but not malicious.

She said the committee also found there was not enough evidence to prove Mrs Hackett had told another pupil the boy was “stupid”, and that she had “hit the book round his face because he deserved it”.

The chairman said Mrs Hackett, who did not attend the hearing, had given “contradictory” evidence, and did find her guilty of swearing in earshot of a female pupil, who the teacher also described as “stupid”.

Mrs Hackett, who was newly-qualified at the time and has since left the profession to work for a charity, admitted saying the girl was stupid, but insisted she made the comment in exasperation as she walked away.

The committee accepted “on the balance of probabilities” that the words hadn’t been directed at the girl, but said they “seriously demean a pupil and fall below the standards of propriety expected”.

Ms Greg said it was clear Mrs Hackett’s role at the Violet Road school was “challenging compared to her previous limited teaching experience”, and that she “dreaded” teaching the Year 9 class.

But she said a reprimand, which will stay on Mrs Hackett’s record for two years, was the only appropriate punishment. She said: “If Mrs Hackett returns to teaching this must not happen again. The two pupils should not have been subjected to the words used.”

Cantell’s business manager Terry Baudins said the school takes the safety of pupils very seriously, and acted swiftly to deal with Mrs Hackett’s actions.