Teacher censured for lifting student by shirt and carrying him out of class

The student refused twice to go to a school head so Barry Simpson grabbed him by the shirt between the shoulder blades and carried him out. Photo / iStock

A teacher has been censured after lifting a defiant student by the shirt between his shoulder blades and carrying him out of the classroom while he waved his legs around in objection.

Barry Simpson resigned from the school after the incident and his practicing certificate has since lapsed, but he will need to complete a professional development course on appropriate classroom management if he wishes to teach again, the Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal has found.

Barry Simpson had only been teaching at the school as a part-timer for four weeks in May 2015 when a student in the class he was covering started ripping a page out of his exercise book.

When challenged by the teacher the student said he was lending paper to the student beside him but then proceeded to make a paper dart.

The student and his neighbour denied having the paper dart and kept passing it under the desks while speaking to him.

The student refused twice to go to a school head so Mr Simpson grabbed him by the shirt between the shoulder blades and carried him out.

"He picked the student up from his seat. His feet could not touch the ground. He was struggling against Mr Simpson and his legs were flailing in a bicycle motion," the summary of facts said. "He eventually put (student) down on his feet and guided him firmly into the room. Mr Simpson was concerned that the student would run away if unrestrained."

The student apologised and was removed from any of Mr Simpson's classes. Mr Simpson resigned while the school was completing its investigation into the accident.
In a letter to the school, Mr Simpson admitted he had "crossed the divide of being a good teacher and should not have taken the action he did".

Costs are to be decided at a later date.