A Tower Hamlets teacher has been banned from working with children in the classroom.
Fahmida Aziz, who taught pupils at Bigland Green Primary School, in Shadwell, did not tell her employers that she lived with a registered sex offender or that she had been caught stealing items from Tesco.
The 28-year-old started working at the school in 2014 and was employed there for more than four years.
The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) announced on Wednesday, January 27, that she had brought the profession into disrepute and could not re-apply to be a teacher for a least two years.
Aziz, who was a Newly Qualified Teacher when she started working at the school, did not attend the hearing.
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Sho plifting in Tesco
The teacher was caught stealing “a ready meal and coconut milk” from a supermarket in May 2016, TRA documents show.
Police said she admitted the offence, but as she had no previous convictions for theft, she was given a caution.
The teacher did not inform the school and they found out about the offence through an entry on a shared Multi-Agency public protection database.
She also gave the school her old home address.
The panel ruled that on the balance of probabilities she had provided “false and or misleading information”.
Visiting prison during lesson time
While teaching at the school, Aziz requested leave and said she needed to attend court, TRA documents show.
A witness, who was not named in the documents, said they found evidence that she was actually visiting someone who had been jailed.
It said: “Witness A stated that once the computer was rebooted the following day, a letter from Ms Aziz to the governor of HMP Pentonville was on the screen.
“This letter was printed and handed to Witness A. The letter, dated 21 June 2014, stated ‘I had booked a visit to see [REDACTED] on Thursday, June 19, 2014’.”
The panel concluded that the letter provided sufficient proof that her request for leave was untrue.
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Living with a sex offender
The TRA panel heard that a person the teacher lived with was convicted of a sexual offence in 2015.
Although legally obliged to report any cautions, warning or convictions about herself or anyone in her household, she did not inform the school.
The Met Police confirmed that Aziz did live with some on the list – although his name was redacted from the documents.
The TRA said: “The panel had sight of [REDACTED] certificate of conviction and a MAPPA information sharing document provided by the Metropolitan Police. These documents indicated that [REDACTED] had been convicted of a sexual offence and that he had been named on the sex offenders register for seven years.
“The panel acknowledged that the conviction post-dated the signing of the declaration form, but accepted that the declaration placed an ongoing obligation on Ms Aziz to update the School on relevant matters. The panel noted that there was no evidence to suggest that a notification had been made to the School following [REDACTED] conviction.”
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Conc lusions
While it was noted that she had previously been an “effective teacher” who “got the best out of pupils” some of her actions amounted to serious professional misconduct, the TRA panel ruled.
The panel also took into consideration that she had “experienced an incredibly distressing and traumatic life”.
On behalf of the Secretary of State, decision-maker Alan Meyrick reviewed evidence from the panel and banned Aziz from the classroom indefinitely. Although she is entitled to re-apply in two years if she wishes.
“I have considered the panel’s comments ‘whilst the panel found that Ms Aziz did act dishonestly, it noted that this did not negatively impact upon pupils and was at the less serious end of the spectrum’,” he wrote.
“I have considered whether a two year review period reflects the seriousness of the findings and is a proportionate period to achieve the aim of maintaining public confidence in the profession. In this case, I believe that a 2 year review period does meet that test.”
He added: “This means that Ms Fahmida Aziz is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England.”
