Staff member who brought fishing knife into Grove Academy spared teaching ban

A member of staff who made a ‘significant error of judgement’ by bringing a fishing knife into a Chalvey school has avoided a ban from the teaching profession.

Christopher Jones worked as a pastoral manager at Grove Academy, based in Ladbrooke Road, from April 2019 to December 2022.

In November 2022, he brought a knife into the school and stored it in an office cupboard for two weeks.

The office was shared by a number of the pastoral manager’s colleagues and was not secured at all times – meaning it could have been accessed by school pupils.

Mr Jones, who has now joined a new school, admitted his actions amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and could have brought the teaching profession into disrepute.

Members of the Teaching Regulation Agency’s professional conduct panel met on January 31 to decide whether to recommend he should be banned from teaching.

A report, published on February 19, said: “The panel considered that while there was a risk of harm to pupils, the likelihood of that risk materialising was low, given that the knife was concealed in a cupboard in an office to which pupils did not routinely have access.

“However, in the general context of significant and legitimate public concern about knives and young people, his conduct was serious.

“Any knives on school premises must be stored safely, having been the subject of a robust risk assessment. Mr Jones failed to ensure that happened.”

The report added: “The panel concluded that although the risk of harm materialising was low, the impact, should it materialise, was extremely high.”

The panel said it was satisfied Mr Jones’ conduct fell ‘significantly short’ of the standards expected of the profession.

The pastoral manager told the panel his actions had been an error rather than a deliberate act.

Mr Jones’ admission and remorse meant it was unlikely his actions would be repeated, the panel added.

The panel decided there was a strong public interest in retaining Mr Jones in the teaching profession due to his undoubted qualities as an educator.

“The teacher did not deliberately set out to commit wrongdoing or cause harm. However, he had knowingly brought a knife onto school premises and kept it there without making it safe,” the report said.

“This was a significant error of judgement.”

The panel added it had received evidence from Mr Jones’ current school that he had gone ‘above and beyond’ to help pupils stay on top of their work.

The panel made a recommendation to the Secretary of State for Education that Mr Jones should not be subjected to a banning order.

A decision, made on behalf of the Secretary of State, said a banning order was neither proportionate or in the public interest.

“A prohibition order would clearly deprive the public of his contribution to the profession,” the Secretary of State said.

A spokesperson for Grove Academy said: “In 2022, a staff member alerted leaders to a knife found in the back of a cupboard in a staff office.

“The staff member to whom it belonged claimed it straight away and the school took immediate action.

“The staff member was immediately suspended and, in line with the disciplinary process, was consequently dismissed.”

The school said it made referrals to the police and the Teaching Regulation Agency. It added that the incident was without malice but ‘clearly unacceptable’.

A statement added: “Grove Academy places the safeguarding and welfare of its students as first priority. The school holds high standards for all staff, and takes prompt action when circumstances require.”