A teacher who admitted altering pupils’ coursework and awarding grades that were not supported by their work has been banned from the profession after a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel found she had committed serious misconduct.
Tandy L’Enfant, who was employed as Lead Teacher of Health and Social Care at The Joseph Whitaker School in Mansfield, was subject to a prohibition order following a professional conduct hearing.
The panel heard complaints from former pupils about the quality of teaching they received. One student claimed Ms L’Enfant “did not really teach us” and instead “would put on television shows or movies during class which were not educational programmes but rather what the class wanted to watch instead”.
However, after reviewing the evidence, the panel concluded there was insufficient evidence that pupils were regularly left to watch television rather than being taught. As a result, the allegation that she failed to provide adequate tuition was not proven.
The hearing instead focused on serious failings in the assessment and authentication of coursework.
The panel found Ms L’Enfant had amended pupils’ assignments before they were submitted for assessment and presented the work as if it had been completed solely by the students. It also concluded she awarded grades that were not justified by the evidence, failed to maintain proper assessment records and asked pupils to sign declarations confirming work was their own before it had been completed.
Ms L’Enfant admitted several of the allegations during the disciplinary process.
Investigators were told some pupils received distinction grades despite not completing the required assignments. One student said: “I have not submitted or finished Unit 1. But have been given a distinction which I don’t understand how.”
The panel found her actions lacked honesty and integrity and had the potential to undermine confidence in vocational qualifications and the teaching profession.
One allegation that Ms L’Enfant instructed pupils to copy work word-for-word was only partly supported by the evidence. Although one student recalled being told to copy work “exactly how it was written even with the spelling mistakes”, the panel found there was insufficient evidence to show this happened more widely and did not uphold that allegation.
In its decision, the panel said the proven misconduct amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that could bring the profession into disrepute.
Acting on the panel’s recommendation, the Secretary of State for Education imposed a prohibition order preventing Ms L’Enfant from teaching. She will not be eligible to apply for the order to be reviewed for two years.