A Perth High School teacher who completed pupils’ assessments herself has been struck off.
Natasha Sturrock completed National 4 history assessments under pupils’ names while she was working at the secondary school as a history teacher.
She then handed the tests over to another colleague claiming they had been completed by pupils.
Her actions took place between August 2017 and June 2019, and were found to be ‘dishonest’ by a fitness to teach panel convener.
Sturrock also claimed pupils had passed National 5 and Higher awards for leadership, but failed to provide sufficient evidence which showed pupils had met required standards.
This was in the academic year of 2017-18 and the panel found these actions were ‘lacking in integrity’.
Request for removal from register
Sturrock admitted both of these allegations to the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) and that they took place while she was employed by Perth and Kinross Council, at Perth High School.
She made a request to have herself removed from the GTCS register of teachers in March, and a panel today issued her with a ‘removal with consent order.’
This means she is banned from teaching with immediate effect and is prohibited from applying to be registered for teaching for at least two years.
The GTCS panel said that in light of Sturrock’s actions, her ‘fitness to teach is impaired and she is unfit to teach.’
A spokeswoman for Perth and Kinross Council said: “We do not comment on individual members of staff.”
Pupils’ grades
The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) was asked to clarify if pupils’ grades would be affected or removed as a result, or if any reassessments were required to take place.
The SQA responded that it does not comment on individual cases.
However, a spokeswoman said: “SQA will seek to minimise any disadvantage to learners affected by malpractice through no fault of their own.”
Conversation