Former Leamington headteacher banned for misconduct including fiddling progress reports and x-rated material on computer

A former primary school headteacher from Leamington was banned for fiddling pupils’ progress - as well as viewing pictures of naked women on his work email address.
David FarrahDavid Farrah
David Farrah

The Teaching Regulation Agency in Coventry was told of a catalogue of misconduct while David Farrar was in charge of award-winning Shrubland Street and Kingsway primary schools.

The disciplinary panel was also told that the 51-year-old picked up a naughty schoolboy “like a roll of carpet” and he was also seen dragging a vulnerable pupil along a corridor.

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Mr Farrar was banned from the teaching profession for unacceptable professional conduct.

David FarrahDavid Farrah
David Farrah

The panel were told that Mr Farrar bumped up pupil SAT performance levels so that pupils' true abilities were incorrectly represented. In some cases pupils seemed to make two-and-a-half years’ progress in just one year.

He was also found to have left the school “vulnerable to financial abuse” by not formalising £32,700 in payments made to a dance teacher at Shrubland.

Mr Farrar was also found to have displayed “serious dishonesty,” the panel ruled.

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The panel were told that searches on his computer revealed x-rated material, including a “number of images of a naked adult female and an adult female in lingerie”.

Emails were also found containing “inappropriate language” and with references to online gaming.

Mr Farrar was suspended after reports were made to police in February 2017 that he was seen “dragging” Kingsway school’s most vulnerable pupil.

A witness said the headteacher's knuckles were “white” from the strain of pulling the boy, who was crying and holding onto a doorframe.

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The boy screamed: "You're hurting my heart, let go!" as he wrongly tried to perform an intervention technique.

The panel said: “The witness stated that she had never witnessed anything so distressing and, as a result, had reported the incident to the police that evening.”

The hearing was told that just 12 days earlier he had reportedly manhandling a Year 3 boy in a playground.

A witness saw him pick the pupil up “like a roll of carpet” before carrying him and carried him for ten metres “before putting him down forcefully”.

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Panel chair Kathy Thompson said: “The witness stated that she went back inside Kingsway but felt uneasy as to what she had seen so returned outside five to ten minutes later.

“In doing so, she again saw Mr Farrar pick up Pupil A, this time by his shoulders, and carry him for a few metres.

“Because of Pupil A's wriggling, the witness explained that Mr Farrar ended up gripping him around the neck and throat.”

Backing a ban, Mrs Thompson said: “In the panel's view, each of the allegations against Mr Farrar is extremely serious.

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“By inflating the teaching assessments of the pupils, Mr Farrar created a false representation of the pupils' true abilities, thereby potentially limiting their access to necessary future support for their education.

“On two separate occasions, Mr Farrar has used unnecessary and inappropriate handling techniques in the physical movement of young pupils.

Whilst the panel accepted that there was no evidence that either pupil had suffered physical harm, Mr Farrar's actions created the real possibility of the pupils being exposed to harm and there was evidence of emotional distress to the pupils.”

Signing off on the ban, which will last for a minimum of eight years, civil servant Dawn Dandy added: “In my judgement, the lack of insight means that there is some risk of the repetition of this behaviour and this puts at risk the future well being of pupils.”

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Mr Farrar, who was not present at the hearing, has 28 days to appeal.

In an email sent to the TRA, he said “Over the past two years, I have found the process overwhelmingly traumatic and draining and cannot contemplate the hearing process even though as will be apparent from my statement I do not accept all of the allegations made against me."

Eloise Chilvers, chair of governors at Shrubland Street Primary School said:

"Creating the suitable environment to enable our children to fulfil their potential is the priority of all at Shrubland Street.

”Mr Farrar left the employment of the school in February 2018.

“It would be inappropriate for us to comment further.”

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