School trip places 'taken by teacher's family'
A PUPIL at a Midland special school, where the former head teacher is accused of spending thousands of pounds of school money on private holidays, missed out on a trip to Jamaica because another teacher took four members of her family instead, a tribunal heard.
Susan Duncan, ex-head of The Meadows School, and Margaret Simcox are accused of unacceptable professional conduct for allowing four members of Miss Simcox’s family to attend the school trip to Jamaica.
Former chair of governors Wendy Dugmore told a General Teaching Council hearing in Birmingham yesterday that it was untrue that the places taken by Miss Simcox’s family could not have been filled by pupils.
She said there was definitely one student in the school in Dudley Road East, Oldbury, who was “desperate” to go on the Caribbean holiday.
“He actually came up to me and said, ‘I have been asked to see you because I want to do the trip next year. I wanted to go this year’,” she said. “He was desperate to go.”
“I couldn’t understand why Margaret’s son was on the trip,” she added. “At the time I was told by a senior member of staff that he just happened to get a cheap flight and he just happened to stay at the same resort as the children.”
Miss Simcox and Miss Duncan are also accused of allowing the family members to travel on a school trip without being properly checked to work with children and for making false claims for expenses including trips to Jamaica and Antigua.
An earlier allegation that Miss Duncan inappropriately removed £27,600 from one school budget to the Jamaica Fund trip has been dropped.
Neither teacher attended the hearing but, in a witness statement, Duncan said she claimed for scuba diving equipment on expenses because it was essential if she was to pass one of the objectives set out in her personal review – to become a dive master.
Miss Dugmore said this was untrue as the equipment was already provided at Cannock Dive Club, where Miss Duncan was studying for her diving certificates.
“She wouldn’t have needed the knife, the slate, and she wouldn’t have needed two lots of equipment,” Miss Dugmore added. She also denied claims that plants and benches bought by Duncan were used in school grounds.
During the hearing Miss Dugmore revealed she had once been “very good friends” with Duncan but that three months before the head teacher was suspended she had begun to act strangely.
“For some reason I still don’t understand, three years on, she decided that she was going to befriend another member of my family, my sister, and she would completely cut me out of her life,” Miss Dugmore said. “Her friendship was no longer with me but with my sister which caused me lots of personal issues.
“It was very, very strange. I had a number of text messages from her which were very unpleasant. I switched my phone off and that was the last contact I had with her. I don’t know why she did it.”
Earlier the hearing was told that in November 2004, Miss Duncan travelled to Antigua on a private holiday where she swam with dolphins. She claimed the swimming experience as an expense on the basis that it was a risk assessment for a future school trip.
In April 2006, Miss Duncan and Miss Simcox travelled to Jamaica and claimed the cost of the trip on the same grounds.
Miss Duncan, who was relocated to Victoria Park School in Oldbury, in the capacity of advisory head teacher, resigned in February 2007. Miss Simcox was dismissed from Meadows School in April 2007 for gross misconduct.
The hearing has been adjourned until Tuesday for extra documents to be located and read by the panel.
