KEEP MS JO SHUTER AT KING SOLOMON

FORMER Quintin Kynaston headteacher has been banned from unsupervised teaching for life after a misconduct hearing into the abuse of school funds found her guilty of “unacceptable professional conduct”.

Jo Shuter, who resigned from the academy school in Marlborough Hill, Swiss Cottage, last year, faced at panel in Coventry last month.

She was handed a “prohibition order” that bans her from teaching children unsupervised, with no chance for a review.

In a written decision, published today (Tuesday), the National College for Teaching and Learning wrote: “In reaching this conclusion the panel has taken into account the significant length of time over which the proved facts took place, the amounts of money involved and the breadth of areas involved in these breaches.”

The panel took the decision to ban Ms Shuter to maintain “public confidence in the profession,” adding: “This is particularly so in Ms Shuter’s case, in light of her high national profile as an influential figure in the education world and public recognition as head teacher of the year and her receipt of a CBE. This high profile increases the risk of public confidence in the profession being undermined.”

The financial irregularities, which Ms Shuter had agreed to before the hearing, were laid out in the report. At the hearing, Ms Shuter agreed that these abuses amounted to “unacceptable professional conduct and/or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute.”

Abuses to the school's expenses systems that were considered by the panel included:

• Mobile phone bills for herself, son and daughter

• Taxis to restaurants including Ivy and Wolseley

• Delivery of £1,500 worth of furniture to her home

• Hotel stay for senior staff of over £8,000

• A 50th birthday party, totalling £7,000

• Used her personal assistant, paid for by the school, to organise her private consultancy work and organising bookings of her Turkish holiday villa

The panel acknowledged that Ms Shuter had been a “force for good in many respects” including the positive effect she had when she took over the failing Pimlico School in 2008. She said that running the school alongside QK had led her to “conflate personal use and school use of taxis.” But it added: “Ms Shuter was only headteacher of Pimlico School until August 2008, whilst the misuse of school funds for personal taxi journeys continued until at least August 2012."

It added: “The Panel notes that Ms Shuter admits that £5,855.67 of taxi expenditure incurred by Ms Shuter over the period 1 January 2011 to 31 August 2012 was definitively identified as not being related to school business.”

Deciding not to allow Ms Shuter to appeal for the decision to be reviewed in the future, the panel wrote: “Despite approximately two more years having passed since these events came to light, Ms Shuter does not, in the Panel’s view, show genuine insight into the severity and impact of her behaviours.”

The prohibition order has been agreed by Education Secretary Michael Gove. Ms Shuter may appeal the decision in the High Court within the next 28 days.