An agency teacher who allowed a four-year-old boy to leave school has been cleared. Evangeline Edwin claimed she handed the child over to a responsible adult when the incident occurred in November 2019.
An earlier Teacher Regulation Agency panel hearing heard that the child was later found 10 minutes away from the school by a member of the public. But, in concluding the case, the panel said they believed Evangeline Edwin’s account that she genuinely believed she had released the boy into the care of an appropriate adult and that they believed her actions are not deemed as dishonest, reports Liverpool Echo.
The panel was previously told that the former teacher told school leaders despite the boy being expected at an after-school football club, she “definitely” released him to a woman with red hair. But during that time, the boy managed to cross a series of main roads unaccompanied.
On the second and final day of the hearing, Miss Edwin took the stand to give her evidence, where she accepted she had let the youngster, known as Pupil A leave the school. But she said she had let him go to a woman with red hair, which had been “distinctive” and was the first thing that came to her mind.
Miss Edwin said that she had no reason to “cover my tracks” or change her version of events. She told the hearing that upon watching CCTV in September 2021, she learned a second child had got up at the same time as Pupil A when leaving the classroom and left with the correct parent.
She said seeing this footage “made the situation even worse” but rejected she was not paying attention. Addressing the day in question, Miss Edwin told the TRA panel how she didn’t want to be teaching in early years and was “openly relieved” to be completing her last day in reception.
She said she “didn’t want to be there” and simply wanted to “get through the day” and go back to Year 4 as a teaching assistant. That morning, Miss Edwin said she was “looking forward to another wonderful day with the children".
After being told by colleagues Pupil A had left despite being expected at the after-school football club, Miss Edwin said: “I clearly remember leaving him with someone.” She said she had “definitely” sent Pupil A with an adult and went to check if he had gone to the football club. He had not.
Miss Edwin said when she found out the boy had been reunited with his parents, she calmed down and left a note for a fellow teacher by way of an apology and to say she had “learned my lesson”. The former teacher said Childwall had been her “dream school to work in” and she “just wanted to clear my name, I just wanted to fix everything”.
She told the panel that she had no reason to lie or mislead people but accepted it had been a safeguarding risk. Miss Edwin said: “I wanted to fix it so this didn’t happen to another child.”
Asked by presenting officer Holly Quirk, should she be allowed to teach again, how she would ensure pupil safety, Miss Edwin said: “Since the incident, I have constantly tried to overcome and not go into myself. I try to fix whatever mistakes I make.
“I know that next time I wouldn’t go off what someone said on face value. I was too young and naive to recognise I should have insisted someone else was there who was more comfortable.
“I wouldn’t open the door until someone else could help me with this. No matter where I go, I will always take safety and safeguarding more seriously.”
No sanctions imposed and Miss Edwin is cleared
Miss Edwin asserted to the panel that she had released the boy to the care of an adult. Nigel Shock, chair of the panel, said this represented that the former agency teacher had failed to prevent the child leaving but she could not have ensured the child attended the football club he was intended to be at as she was not aware of the session.
Mr Shock said evidence given by Wendy Mason, headteacher at Childwall, had been “inconsistent” and at no point had a formal statement been taken from Miss Edwin about what happened. It was said while the teacher had failed to adequately safeguard Pupil A, there was “insufficient evidence” that she had been properly aware of the school’s policies and procedures around releasing children at the end of the day.
The chair said Miss Edwin had been told it was “no big deal” and she should ask who the adults attending the school at the end of the day were collecting, then let the child out accordingly. Miss Edwin said in evidence she had followed this procedure two days before the incident occurred.
Mr Shock said there was also insufficient evidence of Miss Edwin being given appropriate training as to the release procedures. As to whether the former teacher had given an inaccurate account of events, it was found she had not intended to mislead the school or panel, and had “genuinely believed” her version of events - that she had handed Pupil A over to an appropriate adult - was true.
As a result, on the balance of probabilities, it was found that while Miss Edwin had not done as she had said, her conduct was not deemed to be dishonest. Mr Shock said the panel was not satisfied that Miss Edwin’s actions had represented misconduct of a serious nature and deemed she was not guilty of unacceptable professional conduct.
The panel chair said they were not convinced the incident on November 27, 2019 had constituted behaviour that would bring the teaching profession into disrepute. No sanctions were subsequently conferred upon Miss Edwin.
