'Peers School dumped special needs pupils on me' (From Oxford Mail)

'Peers School dumped special needs pupils on me'

7:08pm Thursday 2nd July 2009 in

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A TEACHER at Peers School in Littlemore, Oxford, said she was given an “unreasonable” number of special needs children — and told to “get on with it”, a hearing was told.

Denise McKillop, who used to teach at the school, is accused of serious professional incompetence.

Today, she told a hearing she felt let down by school management. Mrs McKillop allegedly failed to meet required standards in classroom management while teaching in the humanities department.

The teacher, who worked at Peers — now the Oxford Academy — for five years, told the General Teaching Council that in her last school year of 2006/07 her classroom lists “showed a high level — an unreasonable level — of special needs children in each classroom”.

Allegations of incompetence were made against her, but she said senior management ignored her pleas for help. Representing herself at the hearing in Birmingham, Mrs McKillop said: “While Ofsted were on school premises ... management decided to remove disruptive students. A number of those children taken off premises during the Ofsted inspection were students I complained about.”

Mrs McKillop said she received complaints from concerned parents about disruptive students and claimed two parents were planning to remove their children from Peers.

The hearing continues.