Teacher who drove pupils at 100mph banned

A teacher who drove a group of school pupils in a high-performance car at more than 100mph (161km/h) has been banned from the profession.

Cheryl Smith put three children and a colleague at "serious risk of harm" when she sped on a wet country lane in June 2019, a misconduct panel found.

Mrs Smith, an "experienced" agency teacher who was working at Denby Grange School in Wakefield at the time, claimed she had not exceeded 70mph.

But the panel found the allegations against her proven.

A misconduct hearing was told Mrs Smith did not have permission to take the pupils out on a "test drive" in what was described in hearing papers as a "high performance" Audi RS3.

It was said that Mrs Smith, who taught English, was known to have previously taken Denby Grange pupils on field trips to car dealerships to see stationary vehicles.

However, witnesses said that leaders at the school, which according to its website is an independent facility for children with social, emotional and mental health issues, would never have sanctioned a test drive.

It was said that Mrs Smith drove the car up and down a road three times, with each pupil taking it in turns to sit in the front.

Mobile phone footage taken by one of the pupils in the car showed the speedometer at 102mph, one witness told the panel.

The proceedings heard that when told to slow down by a colleague also in the vehicle, Mrs Smith "laughed".

The teacher did not attend the hearing, which concluded on 5 March.

The panel was told she had been "adamant" she had not driven above 70mph because of the wet conditions.

It was said Mrs Smith believed that as the car "can reach 0 to 60mph within 4.2 seconds, it would seem a lot faster than an average car".

However, the panel rejected her evidence and concluded she was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct.

Mrs Smith has been banned from teaching indefinitely, although she will be allowed to apply to have the order lifted in March 2027.

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