Confiscated phone caught teachers calling children offensive names

A headteacher has apologised after teachers were recorded referring to children using derogatory terms.

The recording, which was nearly four hours long, was made on a phone that had been confiscated from a pupil at Newhouse Academy in Heywood, Greater Manchester.

Among the recordings, staff were heard calling one child a ‘silly bitch’.

Another asked ‘is she a knobhead?’. Another replied ‘can be, why?’ It also captured a teacher saying a child was a ‘bellend in class’.

Headteacher Alex Burnham wrote to parents saying the comments ‘in no way align with our school’s values’. The school later added that the teachers involved had faced disciplinary action.

Mr Burnham’s letter was shared online. It said: ‘As a school we believe that we should not only celebrate with you when there is positive news, but we are also open and transparent if there is more difficult information to share.

‘That is why we wanted to notify you about an incident that took place earlier this term where a student’s phone was able to record a private conversation between a small number of staff members after their phone had been confiscated.

‘The content of the discussion that was captured in no way aligns with our school’s values as it included negative comments about several students, as well as references to popular culture that have no place in a school setting.

‘I want to stress that this should not have happened, and we have taken the strongest possible action against those involved.’

In a statement, a spokesperson for the academy added: ‘Early in October we became aware that a student had recorded a private conversation between staff after their phone had been confiscated.

‘We expect our community to be a place of integrity and respect. Where those values are not upheld then we will address that fairly, but robustly.

‘The incident was immediately investigated, and, after seeking HR advice, the appropriate disciplinary action was taken against the individuals concerned.

‘We also recognised that there was work needed to rebuild trust with those staff members. Where it was right to do so, we undertook restorative work so that the staff could apologise for their actions.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.