A headteacher accused of smacking her three-year-old pupil and son in her office after school was unfairly sacked after she “tapped” his hand, an employment judge has ruled.
Shelly-Ann Malabver-Goulbourne was head at Northwold Primary School in east London, part of Arbor Academy Trust, when the incident unfolded at about 6.20pm on January 17 2022.
Following an employment tribunal, a judge ruled in November she was unfairly dismissed and is entitled to compensation. Full details of the case were only published on Tuesday.
The trust has called it a “complex and relatively unique case that questions the balance between the rights of a parent, HR laws and the safeguarding rules”.
