A primary school headmistress has been booted out of the profession after a secret stash of booze was uncovered in her office.
Leanne Grove, 44, was rumbled when a teaching assistant spotted an empty gin and tonic can in her handbag at Hazeldene School in Bedford.
School bosses then found a haul of opened and unopened alcoholic drinks in cupboards and containers in her office.
Grove later admitted drinking on school grounds, including before a governors’ meeting and after a parents’ evening.
She was struck off the teaching register indefinitely after admitting unacceptable professional conduct.
Grove was suspended in March 2023 after a teaching assistant spotted two G&T cans in Grove’s handbag and concerns were raised about her presentation the previous day.
The Teacher Regulation Agency hearing was told how ‘a large number of alcoholic drinks’ were then discovered in her office.
Pupils with special educational needs frequently used her office, leading to the ‘not remote’ possibility of a child accessing alcohol at school.
She was the headmistress at Hazeldene School in Bedford (pictured)
Panel chair Richard Young said: ‘There was reference to the office occasionally being left unlocked and pupils, particularly when they were distressed, regularly using it.
‘In that regard, Ms Grove showed a distinct lack of judgement. Even the presence of empty drinks being potentially visible to pupils was a matter of concern.’
Grove, who resigned from her role in May 2023, admitted drinking in her office on two occasions ‘when there were no pupils in school’.
She said she had ‘moved on in terms of her career and had no desire to return to teaching’ and admitted she had ‘let down the whole school community’.
Mr Young added: ‘Ms Grove held a position of trust and responsibility as a headteacher and was required to be a role model to other staff and pupils.
‘It is inappropriate to bring onto, and consume, alcohol within a school environment other than for specific, controlled and appropriate reasons.’
The TRA said Grove’s behaviour ‘amounted to misconduct of a serious nature which fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession’.
Signing off on the ban on behalf of education secretary Bridget Phillipson, civil servant David Oatley said: ‘There is some risk of the repetition of this behaviour and this puts at risk the future wellbeing of pupils.’
Grove cannot reapply to the profession until 2027. She has 28 days to appeal.
