A FORMER high school staff member has been found guilty of serious professional incompetence and banned from teaching.

Christine King who taught humanities at Hawarden High School was dismissed last year after 14 years in post.

Yesterday, following a two-day General Teaching Council for Wales (GTCW) hearing held in her absence, Mrs King was found guilty of 11 allegations amounting to serious professional incompetence.

She was issued with a prohibition order – the most severe form of sanction – and her name was removed from the register of qualified teachers.

The hearing at St David’s Hotel in Ewloe was told Mrs King, who qualified as a teacher in 1982, had failed across a range of teaching competencies covering issues of planning, delivery and assessment of learning.

Senior members of staff also referred to a ‘Dickensian’ style of teaching and said some students were too afraid to go to her lessons.

“Damage limitation” was employed in an attempt to prevent pupils being taught by her for successive years.

Headteacher Roger Davies said children’s learning had been disadvantaged.

School improvement officer Paul Nolan described Mrs King’s lessons as “dismal” and added she might have suffered from stress.

Concerns were raised in autumn 2012 but presenting officer Rhiannon Dale said despite an extended period of support which included one-to-one meetings, lesson observations and other guidance, Mrs King’s level of competence “fell seriously short of that expected of an experienced, registered teacher”.

Between November 2012 and May 2014, her performance did not improve and she was dismissed on August 31, 2014.

Miss Dale added there was no indication of whether Mrs King, who was not legally represented, admitted the allegations or agreed they amounted to serious professional incompetence.

Giving evidence, Mr Davies described Mrs King’s teaching as “ineffective”.

Lesson observations showed a lack of structure or planning, assessment was poor and her classroom was not a positive environment engaging with children.

Pupils reported to the sick bay and parents reported their children avoiding school rather than go to Mrs King’s lessons.

In written evidence, Mr Davies said Mrs King had told him the world had changed and she had not caught up with it. He agreed with her.

While Mrs King responded positively to suggestions to improve her teaching, Mr Davies said she was “rarely able to translate that into her practice”.

Asked whether targets set for her were reasonable, Mr Davies accepted one to develop a website had been ambitious but that generally the targets had been “entirely realistic and reasonable”.

Questioned by the panel, he confirmed that, in 2009, Estyn inspectors had found no issue with Mrs King’s teaching.

Head of humanities Alistair Cubbin said there had been a clear deterioration in Mrs King’s teaching since 2012, evidenced by an increase in complaints from pupils or parents of pupils.

Mr Cubbin said children “did not learn” and he arranged classes to minimise the number of students being taught by Mrs King in successive years, saying he wanted to “limit the damage”.

Assistant headteacher Geraint Hughes, who was asked to help Mrs King develop a more positive relationship with students, said he gave her paperwork with some suggestions to read through ahead of a meeting.

She described the ideas as interesting and used some in an observed lesson but Mr Hughes said the ideas were not used well and she was not able to “modernise her approach”.

Mrs King had “had her fair share of lower ability students” and was “in teaching for the right reasons”, said Mr Hughes, but he accepted he had “serious concerns” about her teaching.

Paul Nolan, of the regional school effectiveness and improvement service, said being in Mrs King’s lessons was a “dismal experience”.

Mrs King was always willing to discuss her observed lessons but seemed mystified that there were any concerns.

Mr Nolan confessed he was unsure whether her confusion was real or assumed.

“I just don’t know whether we’re dealing with someone who is completely incapable or whether this is a device, a way of managing the stress she was under,” he said.

Delivering the committee’s judgement, chairman Gareth Roberts said Mrs King had showed a level of competence that fell far short of that expected of a registered teacher and serious professional misconduct had been established.

Mr Roberts said the committee’s decision had been taken reluctantly but Mrs King had shown very little insight and on more than one occasion had said she could not see what was wrong with her lessons.

Learning had been severely compromised and both the school and the profession had been impacted.

He added Mrs King would have the right to apply to be re-registered to teach in two years time but would need to satisfy the GTCW that she was suitable to return to teaching.