Bannockburn High School’s head teacher has denied allegations she blocked a Stirling teacher from working at her school.
Karen Hook said it was “absolutely not the case” that she took action to stop Rong Rong MacLeod from getting work after Mrs MacLeod refused to teach Mandarin to pupils on a voluntary basis.
She was accused of holding a grudge against the Chinese teacher, who settled in Stirlingshire more than 20 years ago.
Mrs MacLeod took Stirling Council to an industrial tribunal this week, over claims she has been discriminated against on grounds of her political beliefs and ethnicity.
Mrs Hook gave evidence on Wednesday, day two of the tribunal, in Dundee.
According to the head teacher, the two women first met when Mrs MacLeod was acting as a supply teacher at Bannockburn High in October 2020.
Mrs Hook claims she requested a meeting with her and visited her office.
The Bannockburn head says she then made it clear to Mrs MacLeod that she could not hire her as a Mandarin teacher in an official capacity, as there was no funding available.
Mrs Hook said: “Because she was so enthusiastic and I was so enthusiastic about how we could get Mandarin into Bannockburn High School, I suggested that she could run a club, if she was able to.”
But Mrs MacLeod rejects this version of events, saying an in-person meeting did not take place, and Mrs Hook contacted her by telephone to ask if she would teach the language to children at the school without pay.
Bluebell House job withdrawal not personal, says council
She claims the head teacher consequently held a grudge against her and blocked her from getting a full-time support for learning assistant (SLA) supply job at Bannockburn High’s Bluebell House in 2023.
Four full-time SLA supply vacancies were advertised to teachers within Stirling Council’s SLA supply recruitment pool, including Mrs MacLeod, on a first come, first served basis.
She applied and, according to Stirling Council, was the only applicant.
The council’s position is that the job vacancies were quickly withdrawn due to a staffing takeover by the local authority’s ASN outreach team at Bluebell House, which stayed in place until March 2024.
But Mrs MacLeod maintains she was discriminated against and stopped from gaining employment at Bannockburn High School due to her history with Mrs Hook.
Head teacher denies discrimination
Mrs Hook said she was “not involved” with the hiring process and “didn’t know the names” of the people put forward to be supply teachers.
She added that Mrs MacLeod wasn’t appointed to the SLA supply role because “she was no longer required”.
The Bannockburn High head denied any discrimination, saying she had no knowledge of the claimant’s political beliefs, and that it was “absolutely not the case” that race was factored into Mrs MacLeod not getting the Bluebell House job.
During the hearing, Mrs Hook said the need for supply teachers can change in schools “day to day, hour by hour”.
She acknowledged that there may have been past situations where Mrs MacLeod applied to fill supply posts at Bannockburn High School and then was told she wasn’t needed at short notice.
“But I don’t have the detail on that and I don’t have any knowledge of that,” she said.
Written decision to be issued
The first day of Mrs MacLeod’s tribunal hearings, on April 1, saw the claimant give evidence.
Her claims included being blacklisted from some teaching roles, being asked to act as “a spy” for the China on first coming to the UK, and consequently being “watched” by Chinese government officials due to openly renouncing the Chinese Communist Party.
The tribunal hearings came to an end on Wednesday afternoon, earlier than scheduled.
Summing up Mrs MacLeod’s position, her legal representative said the teacher “chose to break the conditioning that she had” in order to speak out against the Chinese state, and faced harassment as a result.
He added: “All she has ever wanted to do is be able to speak and teach Mandarin Chinese.
“She has not been able to do so.”
He argued that the Confucius Institute was behind “a campaign to block her, to deny her aspirations and to deny her employment”.
Stirling Council’s legal representative said Mrs MacLeod’s appointment to supply teaching roles in schools in the area as recently as last month was “direct evidence” that “discrimination has not taken place”.
He argued that claims of the Confucius Institute or other outside forces interfering with Stirling Council recruitment in schools was “for the birds” and “just nonsense”.
The evidence will now be considered by Judge Sandy Kemp, Anne Shanahan and Kevin Culloch, and a written decision issued.
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