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Teacher banned for swearing at pupils at Highland school

Andrew Kerr
Andrew Kerr

A high school physics teacher has been struck off for swearing when addressing his pupils.

Andrew Kerr used the inappropriate language while working at Ardnamurchan High School in Lochaber.

He has now been removed from the register by the General Teaching Council (GTC), which found that he had “demonstrated neither insight nor remorse”.

At a hearing earlier this month, Kerr admitted that he may have used one four-letter word during “robust banter” between himself and pupils.

He also denied allegations from pupils in his S5 higher class from 2012 to 2013 that he had used the “f-word” in front of his students, which was accepted by the GTC.

He was also found to have provided a pupil with a marking guide for a National Assessment Bank (Nab) and instructing him to complete the exam before it was submitted for verification.

Pupil A submitted a statement in evidence, saying that Mr Kerr told him “don’t even tell your dad about it” and “make sure you get a few wrong”.

The same pupil claimed that Mr Kerr had swore at him in class.

In his evidence Mr Kerr had told the GTC that Pupil A was a “disruptive student” and that the school had encouraged the teacher to “log” any instances of bad behaviour.

The report states that when this did not work “the respondent (Mr Kerr) invoked a programme of classical behaviourist techniques which may have at times seemed harsh treatment but was having a positive effect on Pupil A”.

Mr Kerr also admitted using current Nabs as practice tests against the school’s policy, which he put down to “time pressures”.

The physics teacher said he believed the claims against him were part of a plan to remove him from the school by head teacher Chris Miller-Craig after Mr Kerr suffered a period of ill-health.

In their findings, the GTC panel reported that Mr Kerr had “sought only to blame the head teacher and colleagues for what were clearly failings on his part”.

Mr Kerr has been struck off from the GTC’s register and will not be allowed to reapply to return to work as a teacher for a minimum of 12 months.

Mr Kerr was not available for comment yesterday.