A former primary school headteacher who once won a UK teacher of the year award has been banned from teaching indefinitely after bullying her own staff. Mahzia ‘Pepe’ Hart was found to have bullied pregnant teachers and mocked staff.
Mrs Hart resigned from her role at a Somerset school in 2015 after what she said was a “vile, toxic and damaging social media campaign” against her. Just eight years before she had received the Pride of Britain Teacher of the Year award.
During her ten-year spell at Trinity CofE Primary School, in Radstock, the school achieved the Princess Diana anti-bullying award. But the Teaching Regulation Authority (TRA) found that she had bullied pregnant teachers, intimidated, mocked and made inappropriate comments about members of staff, and told them not to take sick days or be friends with each other, reports Somerset Live.
Mrs Hart has been indefinitely prohibited from teaching in any school in England. After two years, she will have the opportunity to apply for the removal of the order to be considered. Mrs Hart denied all allegations against her.
The TRA panel heard one teacher, identified only as Colleague C, claimed she was told by Mrs Hart she could not attend ante-natal checks when she was 26 and 30 weeks pregnant. Colleague C was new to the profession at the time and ended up attending the out of hours service because she was worried about her baby. She was also told to conceal her bump, not tell people she was pregnant, and to ignore her morning sickness. She recorded that she was told by Mrs Hart: “All this being tired will not wash with me, it needs to change, just because you’re pregnant.”
She also said Mrs Hart said: “I keep wondering if you got pregnant because you think teaching is too difficult.” Another teacher was allegedly left with her head in her hands saying “I can’t take this any more,” after Mrs Hart made her change classroom displays at 33 weeks pregnant, then told her off in front of other teachers as she did not think they were good enough.
One teacher claimed she did not take any sick days out of fear she would be spoken of negatively by Mrs Hart. Mrs Hart openly made disparaging comments about teachers who were sick and reportedly said: “We do not have sickness at our school. Those who go sick don’t come back. They are dud teachers. They don’t care about the children.”
Among the inappropriate comments to and about staff, Mrs Hart is said to have described one teacher in texts as a “15 tonne whale.” When the teacher suffered an allergic reaction after eating a banana, Mrs Hart texted that it was “unusual for a gorilla.”
One teacher, identified as Colleague S, was allegedly left too scared to socialise with other members of staff after Mrs Hart aggressively told her she did not want “bitching” or “backstabbing.” Colleague S had stayed at another teacher’s house when they car shared to a course together.
Two teachers who had marked books together were quizzed individually by Mrs Hart about why they wanted to be friends with each other, which she discouraged. Another teacher said Mrs Hart did not want teachers socialising without her.
The panel of the Teaching Regulation Authority who heard Mrs Hart’s case said: “The conduct of Mrs Hart amounted to misconduct of a serious nature which fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession.” But allegations that Mrs Hart had mocked pupils were found to have not been proved.
In fact, Mrs Hart’s contributions as headteacher were praised by pupils’ parents. One parent whose child was rejected from other schools until Mrs Hart gave him a place at Trinity said: “When Mrs Hart took him he thrived, if it was not for her we do not know where we would be. […] It was a deprived area. School made things better. She went above and beyond.”
The parent added: “To hear this process is taking place is infuriating. She helped so many people. […] I think this is madness. We should be putting Mrs Hart back in the system, she made children’s lives unbelievable.
“She was too kind to people in my opinion and always defended her staff, sometimes overly supporting them.” Another parent said: “The school meant the world to everybody. That woman […] changed my kids’ lives.”
One added: “Children have lost out. […] So many children will not get the benefit of Mrs Hart.” The panel said there was a public interest in allowing Mrs Hart to continue as a teacher. They said: “Her contributions to pupil achievements have been highly significant. As the panel has already determined, there was little dispute relating to Mrs Hart’s commitment to improving the lives of pupils.”
It was because of this contribution that the panel recommended Mrs Hart be given the opportunity to apply for the prohibition order to be overturned after two years, instead of a longer period which would normally be the case for such serious findings. But Mrs Hart said in a statement that she would appeal for the whole prohibition order to be overturned in court.
She said: “Many of the allegations dated back 15 years. They have no bearing on the education and support I gave to pupils and families. Throughout my twenty-five years in education, I consistently had the very best intentions for children, parents, and staff alike. I have dedicated myself to children. I believed education was about serving communities and bettering the lives of all pupils.
"I worked hard to ensure that every child in my care, particularly those from deprived backgrounds, got the best from school and were treated with fairness. This was undisputed, even by the TRA and their own witnesses.”
