Primary school pupils left 'crying their eyes out' after strict headmistress asked police to tell them off for pulling faces in school photo

• Ann Hughes said to run Ysgol Goronwy Owen, Anglesey, in 'climate of fear'
  
• Pupils aged 10 tried to sabotage photo while teachers boycotted school
  
• Five had called in sick after vote of no confidence in the head, aged 64
  
• Disciplinary panel also told she said 'cr**' to pupils. The hearing continues
  

By James Tozer for the Daily Mail and Liz Hull for MailOnline

Published: 14:57 EST, 5 March 2014 | Updated: 15:05 EST, 5 March 2014

Disciplinary: Ann Hughes, 64, was alleged to have run her rural Welsh primary school in a 'climate of fear'

A group of primary school children were left ‘crying their eyes out’ when a strict headmistress asked a police officer to tell them off for pulling faces in their school photograph, a disciplinary hearing was told today.

Ann Hughes allegedly ran Ysgol Goronwy Owen, a village primary school on the Isle of Anglesey, in a ‘climate of fear’, swearing at pupils and showing favouritism to those whose first language was Welsh.

So when a group of 10-year-old classmates tried to sabotage the end of year picture because their usual teachers were on strike, she responded ‘excessively’ by asking school liaison officer Pc Brian Jones to reprimand them, it was alleged.

The staff members were absent after all but one of the school’s teachers called in sick following a vote of no confidence in Mrs Hughes, who had been headteacher for 17 years, and her ‘dictatorial’ management style.

She was later suspended and then sacked from the school in Benllech following a catalogue of complaints from teachers and parents, which included calling children names, excessively shouting and punishing them in public.

Mrs Hughes, 64, who previously had a 40-year unblemished teaching record, appeared before the Professional Conduct Committee of the General Teaching Council for Wales, sitting in Ewloe, near Queensferry, north Wales.

Giving evidence, the mother of one pupil, referred to as Pupil L - accused Mrs Hughes of a huge over-reaction by asking Pc Jones to intervene following the incident involving Year Six children in June 2011.

‘He (her son) came home from school absolutely distraught,’ she said.

‘He was crying his eyes out, saying he was never going to school again. He was terrified.

‘My dad was a police officer, he has respect for them. He was absolutely terrified.’

Pc Jones admitted some of the children, who had begun a petition and circulated a note to encourage others to sabotage the photo, broke down after he told them he was disappointed with their behaviour.

Village school: The panel was told Mrs Hughes had been the head of Ysgol Goronwy Owen for 17 years

‘I spoke to them as a class, I didn’t speak to any individual children,’ he said. ‘I told them how some of them had made a member of staff cry and how a few of them had ruined the photo for the whole class.

‘I told them that if they had an issue they should have talked about it and should not have been seeking to sabotage the photo or manipulating others.

‘One or two did break down and start crying, I remember a large number of children turning to look at those responsible. In my view they were crying because of the guilt at what they had done.’

Panel: Ann Hughes arrives at the hearing today

Presenting officer Martin Jones suggested the reason the children were upset was because they thought they were in trouble with the police.

Pc Jones said he would be ‘inordinately surprised’ if they believed it was a criminal matter, although he admitted he could not be certain.

In fact, the officer, who said he was treated like a ‘celebrity’ by pupils every time he went to the school, received an angry phone call from one of their fathers following the ticking off.

‘He rang me and said he was angry, he said it was not criminal that his child didn’t want to take part in the photo and I agreed with him,’ the police officer added.

Mrs Hughes, of Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, faces further allegations including that she used the word ‘c**p’ when speaking to pupils, repeatedly called one child ‘twp’ - the Welsh word for ‘stupid’ - and shouted excessively in the classroom.

She is also accused of failing to investigate and address bullying of two pupils, highlighting parents’ complaints during school assembly thereby potentially identifying pupils, and engaging in unnecessary open criticism of children’s mistakes.

Further claims include openly criticising a pupil’s error in the spelling of his middle name and tearing up his SATS examination paper in front of him, and being insensitive by commenting on the length of a pupil’s absence to his brother following the death of their father.

Supply teacher Bethan Roberts told the hearing the school was left ‘up the creek without a paddle’ when five of the six permanent teachers phoned in sick on the same day in May 2011.

She said she never heard Mrs Hughes shouting in class and blamed ‘lack of co-operation’ from the staff, who were often seen ‘whispering’ about the headteacher, for the problems.

They returned in the new school year in September, following Mrs Hughes' suspension, and two temporary headteachers were put in charge. However, during that time 23 children were pulled from the school by their parents because of the crisis.

Accused: The case was heard before the General Teaching Council for Wales in Ewloe, near Queensferry

Comments (361)

Share what you think

• Newest
• Oldest
• Best rated
• Worst rated

 View all

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now