Teacher denies interfering with coursework

24th January 2003, 12:00am

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Teacher denies interfering with coursework

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/teacher-denies-interfering-coursework
A TEACHER accused of falsifying a student’s GCSE coursework by substituting another pupil’s work strongly denied the claims at a GTC hearing last week.

Eileen Davenport was suspended as head of English at Clarendon House grammar school, in Ramsgate, Kent, after a group of students claimed they had found an essay belonging to one student in another’s file.

An internal investigation at the school found her guilty of gross misconduct, concluding she had purposely included the work to increase the student’s grade, and attempted to cover up her actions by tampering with the essay.

Rosemary Caldwell, deputy head, told the hearing: “The girls told me that pupil A’s name had been Tippexed out from the top of the essay, and the name of pupil B written over it. But when Mrs Davenport was asked to present the coursework folder the following day, the top of the essay had been guillotined off, and the cover sheet had been removed. I put it to Mrs Davenport, but she said she did not have an explanation.”

Mrs Davenport, who is now employed at the Ursuline College in Kent, said:

“The allegations are absolutely not true.” She said she decided to resign after she was suspended because she was “physically, emotionally and mentally unwell”. “I could not continue teaching at the school because it would seriously affect my self-esteem,” she said. The hearing was adjourned.

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