A primary school teacher in South Ockendon has been banned from teaching after he hurt a Year 1 child while picking him up by his neck. A decision by the Teaching Regulation Agency, which will be reviewed in two years, found that the primary teacher used “unjustified physical contact” with the child.
A panel investigated allegations that Mr Cheng “Placed his arms behind Pupil A’s on to the back of their neck,” and that this also lifted the child off the ground, as well as “Not promptly, or at all report[ing]” that he had acted in that manner towards a child.
In the notes from the disciplinary hearing dated March 5 2024, Mr Cheng described the day of December 19 2023, as “stressful” and that the pupils were “extremely lively and excited due to the Christmas activities that had happened that day”. He stated that Pupil A had not listened to his instructions multiple times by the time the class was getting ready to be dismissed.
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According to Mr Cheng, [Pupil] A had also misbehaved towards other pupils. For instance, he unfolded a paper clip and began chasing another pupil around the classroom with it. At this point, after [Pupil] A continued to not listen to further repeated instructions. He said, “I made an error in my decision making and actions, handled him by his shoulders, and lifted him off the ground.”
During an investigation, the child in question, Pupil A, was asked what had happened the previous day that had upset him. The child admitted, “I wouldn’t sit on the carpet.” In response to that, Pupil A told the interviewer, “He did this to me (lifted hands behind head, like arrest), he carried me.”
The child confirmed that Mr Cheng was the adult he was referring to, and when asked if his own feet were on the floor, Pupil A said, “No!”
In the School’s disciplinary meeting with Mr Cheng dated 17 January 2024, Mr Cheng acknowledged that he “made an error of judgment”. The panel noted that there were some differences in how Mr Cheng described placing his arms on Pupil A, and how the pupils who were present at the time of the alleged incident described the events.
Mr Cheng admitted to both allegations after an investigation took place at Dilkes Academy. Children aged between five and six, who witnessed the event, all separately demonstrated the events that unfolded, confirming what had happened. It was recorded in the notes of the School’s separate interviews with Pupil C and Pupil D that they were each asked to demonstrate how Pupil A was being carried by Mr Cheng. The panel noted that both pupils separately demonstrated that Pupil A’s arms were behind his back.
Mr Cheng admitted that during the afternoon of December 19 2023, while the class of Year 1 pupils was getting ready to go home, he lifted Pupil A off the ground and carried him using a hold which involved putting Pupil A’s hands behind his head. Mr Cheng said: “I grabbed a pupil to guide them to their seat. I grabbed him way to [sic] hard and he cried.”
Earlier in the investigation, Mr Cheng was asked: “Were the child’s feet on the floor or was he lifted off the floor?”. He responded with “no comment.” Later, in Mr Cheng’s disciplinary investigation meeting dated January 17 2024, Mr Cheng was asked whether he remembered whether Pupil A’s feet were off the floor. Mr Cheng said, “Yes, his feet were off the floor.”
Employed by Dilkes Academy in September 2023, Mr Cheng had signed to confirm that he had read a copy of the Staff Handbook. Under the heading “Significant Accidents / Incidents”, the Staff Handbook clearly states that, “It is your legal responsibility to report these immediately as they are discovered - do not leave it to someone else.”
It was found that Mr Cheng failed to report the events that took place, and that Pupil A immediately cried after the incident and that he suffered pain and discomfort in his shoulders. Mr Cheng reported the incident only after another staff member at the school reported a separate incident the following day to the Designated Safeguarding Lead.
Having found all of the allegations proved, it was also found that the allegations amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and/or conduct that “may bring the profession into disrepute”. The panel found that Mr Cheng’s conduct was of a serious nature, which fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession.
While the panel noted that Mr Cheng’s conduct on December 19, 2023, was on the lower spectrum of harm, the evidence, looked at in its entirety, gave the panel cause for concern. The panel was of the view that Mr Cheng showed some remorse and that no malice or harm was intended by his conduct. The panel found that the misconduct was serious as it included unjustified physical contact with a Year 1 pupil.
Mr Cheng said at the hearing: “I would like to make it perfectly clear I had no intent or malus [sic] or ill will or active thought to cause distress to the child. It was again to use the answer I gave, a poor error of judgment. And what I should have done was sought another adult to help.”
As a result of the panel, Mr Cheng has been banned from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. He may apply for the prohibition order to be set aside, but not until 2027.
The review is not an automatic right to have the prohibition order removed. Without a successful application, Mr Cheng remains prohibited from teaching indefinitely.
