Former Oldbury head teacher is Susan Duncan struck off
A former special school head teacher who took a Caribbean holiday on expenses has been struck off the teaching register for five years.
Susan Duncan was found guilty of unacceptable professional conduct after falsely claiming for a £3,000 Jamaican getaway while employed at The Meadows School in Oldbury.
The 51-year-old was also found guilty of making a false claim of £306 for a swimming with dolphins excursion while on a private holiday to Antigua, a General Teaching Council (GTC) heard in Birmingham yesterday.
Ms Duncan claimed she and another teacher at the school, Rita Simcox, who was described at yesterday’s hearing as her partner, went to Jamaica in April 2006 to carry out a risk assessment for a future school trip to the island.
The former head, who did not attend the disciplinary hearing, also claimed that the swimming experience, which happened in October 2004, had also been for risk assessment purposes.
GTC panel chairman Ralph Ullmann said Ms Duncan’s behaviour put the reputation of the profession at risk.
“This was not an isolated incident,” he said. “We believe it was conscious and deliberate wrongdoing. Dishonesty is a serious matter and we have decided prohibition is necessary.
“Ms Duncan had occupied a position of responsibility. As a head teacher, she had a duty to set standards of integrity. We find that she failed to do so. Ms Duncan has taken advantage of a wide authority granted to her in financial matters and a wide trust placed in her by the governing body, the LEA, and the school. She has abused the authority she had.”
