Nottingham headteacher banned after school pupils ‘shoplifted, drank and had sex’ on Swiss ski trip

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A school head in charge of a skiing trip has been barred from teaching after pupils allegedly stole knives, drank bottles of spirits and had sex.

Justine Drury, 52, was principal at the CP Riverside School in Nottingham at the time of the trip to Switzerland in 2017. The school provides education for children aged 13 to 16 with behavioural or social issues.

A Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) misconduct panel heard a female pupil had sex with other male students, allegedly including one after she was blackmailed, and another teenager on the trip had sex with a pupil in exchange for £30.

Ms Drury, who left the school later in 2017, stated in her interview that one of the pupils disclosed to her on the first day “that she had sex with a boy” while intoxicated.

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She later told teachers that her sexual activity with a pupil had been filmed on a mobile phone by another student, who was using the recording to blackmail her into having sex with him.

A teacher claimed they took the phone from the pupil after asking if there was “anything on it that was going to get him into trouble” but could not access it.

The panel heard the lack of supervision also led to other behaviour including pupils stealing from a shop near the hotel, which ended with them being reprimanded by the police.

On the third day, pupils were said to have broken down the door of the restaurant in the hotel and stolen around 10 bottles of spirits. One pupil was also reportedly found with a knife that had been stolen from the kitchen.

The TRA said she failed to get parental consent for all of the attendees and “did not take sufficient steps to reduce the risk of inappropriate behaviour by pupils”, despite a witness saying of the 12 students on the trip, 10 had Special Educational Needs, eight were known to be sexually active, seven were known to have substance misuse problems and three were involved with the justice system.

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Ms Drury stated in her investigation interview she was “led to believe” the school had written consent for all the students and “all the parents were very involved in the whole process”.

The teacher added she did “not recall an incident with a knife” or recall “being given a knife”.

However, Ms Drury stated she remembered “there was an incident”, but the pupil involved “likes to draw attention to herself”.

The panel said the most appropriate action following the disclosure of the potential non-consensual sexual activity would have been to discontinue the ski trip and notify the police, parents and trustees.

But the TRA noted Ms Drury regarded it as “too soon” to send all the pupils home at that stage, as she wanted to give the pupils the “opportunity to prove themselves”.

It found that “any ordinary person would view the number of incidents that took place, including sexual activity, criminal activity and underage drinking, and the lack of measures Ms Drury had in place to deal with such instances, to be completely unacceptable”.

The panel was satisfied that Ms Drury was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct and that her actions may bring the profession into disrepute for failing to safeguard the pupils.

The head, who did not turn up to the hearing and denied the allegations, was banned from teaching in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England indefinitely. She is able to appeal the ruling in five years.

CP Riverside School and the East Midlands Education Trust said in a joint statement: “When the allegations emerged following the residential ski trip in February 2017, the school worked with the police and the local authority designated officer, participating fully in their investigations and carrying out an investigation of its own.

“Ms Drury left the school in July 2017. East Midlands Education Trust supported the school’s leadership between March 2017 and February 2018 before the school joined the Trust in March 2018.

“The school seeks to reassure all parents and carers of students in our care that we take our safeguarding responsibilities extremely seriously, hence the action taken at the time.”