School leaders have voiced outrage after a primary teacher with an “unblemished” career was brought before a misconduct hearing over an isolated glue gun incident.
Sarah Mead was found guilty of “unacceptable professional behaviour and conduct that might bring the profession into disrepute” by a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel but avoided a teaching ban.
The then deputy head of Meridian Angel Primary School, based in North London and part of the London Diocesan Board for Schools Academies Trust, resigned in May 2022 after a year 6 pupil she was teaching sustained a “superficial burn” injury.
Mead, who did not have support of a teaching assistant and was juggling multiple jobs after SATs week, told the pupil to visit the medical room but forgot to follow the school’s procedures, such as contacting the mother, informing the headteacher or recording it in the accident book. Mead was also on gate duty and had to deal with a separate “high-risk” safeguarding issue on the day of the incident.
