A Fife teacher whose lessons were so poor pupils asked to be moved from her class has been struck off.
Dianne McHale was deemed unfit to teach by the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) and banned from applying to rejoin its register for two years.
The former teacher of English at St Andrews High School, Kirkcaldy, was found to have ”detrimentally affected” the life chances of pupils, with many seeing exam results suffer.
Following a hearing by the council’s fitness to teach panel, convener Neil McLauchlan said Ms McHale’s professional competence fell ”significantly short” of standards expected of a teacher.
Ms McHale was found to have failed between August 2007 and April 2010 to maintain GTCS standards in several respects relating to professional skills and ability, classroom organisation and management and assessment of pupils.
Children in her classes performed well below their expected level of achievement, with pupils in one particular class doing ”significantly worse” than peers in other classes.
In November 2009 two pupils asked to be moved on the grounds the class was not being taught and a third approached another teacher in tears complaining he was not learning.
External analysis of one set of SQA results described a ”poor performance.”
Ms McHale also failed to check pupils’ submissions for a yearbook to be seen by parents, allowing one pupil to state that he saw himself ”drunk and in hospital” in 2019.
When asked to present her lesson plan during a lesson which was being observed by a senior teacher, Ms McHale handed over half a page of notes scribbled in the final 15 minutes while pupils were writing.
The panel also heard there was persistent low-level indiscipline in Ms McHale’s classes including open defiance of instructions, lack of respect and an ”unacceptable level of cheek,” all of which went unchallenged.
Disciplinary issues had adversely affected attainment to the extent that pupils complained to another teacher they were unable to learn because the classroom was so noisy and they had insufficient home work.
Ms McHale described home work as a ”blind spot” when concerns were raised with her about it by another teacher.
She was absent from the hearing but a representation from her referred to mental health issues she claimed impacted on her performance.
She also alleged she had been bullied and harassed at work, although no evidence was provided.
Mr McLauchlan said: ”The panel was satisfied that the respondent had been provided with support and guidance throughout the competency procedure and she had failed to take the advice provided or to accept the guidance.”
Pronouncing her unfit to teach, Mr McLauchlan added: ”The respondent failed to understand the gravity of the areas of concern which had been drawn to her attention repeatedly by senior colleagues and other experienced external observers.