Unknown Teacher

The Secretary of State does not make these decisions himself. They are made by a senior official on the recommendation of an independent panel.

Teacher reference number:

0206598

Teacher's date of birth:

7 July 1977

Location teacher worked:

Lancashire, North West England

Date of professional conduct panel:

28 March 2019

Outcome type:

Prohibition order

Notice is hereby given that, in accordance with The Teacher's’ Disciplinary (England) Regulations 2012, a professional conduct panel was convened to consider the case of Ms Tracy Doran, formerly employed in Lancashire, North West England.

The proceedings were held at Cheylesmore House, 5 Quinton Rd, Coventry CV1 2WT at 9.30am on 28 March 2019.

Teacher misconduct

Ground Floor, South

Cheylesmore House

5 Quinton RoadCoventryCV1 2WT

Email TRA.Casework@education.gov.uk

Telephone 020 7593 5393

Information about regulating the teaching profession and the process for dealing with serious teacher misconduct.

Ms Tracy Doran: Professional conduct panel meeting outcome Panel decision and reasons on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education March 2019 Contents A. Introduction 3 B. Allegations 4 C. Summary of evidence 4 Documents 4 Statement of agreed facts 5 D. Decision and reasons 5 Panel’s recommendation to the Secretary of State 10 Decision and reasons on behalf of the Secretary of State 13 2 Professional conduct panel decision and recommendations, and decision on behalf of the Secretary of State Teacher: Ms Tracy Doran Teacher ref number: 0206598 Teacher date of birth: 7 July 1977 TRA reference: 17290 Date of determination: 28 March 2019 Former employer: Larches House School, Lancashire A. Introduction A professional conduct panel (“the panel”) of the Teaching Regulation Agency (“the TRA”) convened on 28 March 2019 at Cheylesmore House, Quinton Road, Coventry, CV1 2WT to consider the case of Ms Tracy Doran. The panel members were Mr Paul Hawkins (teacher panellist – in the chair), Ms Fiona Tankard (teacher panellist) and Mr John Matharu (lay panellist). The legal advisor to the panel was Mr Delme Griffiths of Blake Morgan LLP, solicitors. In advance of the meeting, the TRA agreed to a request from Ms Doran that the allegation be considered without a hearing after taking into consideration the public interest and the interests of justice. Ms Doran provided a signed statement of agreed facts and admitted unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute. The panel considered the case at a meeting without the attendance of the presenting officer, Ms Doran or her representative. The meeting took place in private, save for the announcement of the panel’s decision, which was announced in public and recorded. 3 B. Allegations The panel considered the allegations referred to in the Notice of Meeting dated 8 March 2019 and set out in an earlier letter to Ms Doran dated 17 September 2018. It was alleged that Ms Doran was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct and/or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute in that: 1. She provided false and/or misleading information in respect of her qualifications, including; a. in her application for a teaching role at Larches House School in 2016, by: i. stating that she had obtained a PHD in Special Educational Needs; ii. stating that she had obtained an MA in Inclusive Education; iii. stating that she had obtained one or more GCSE grades which were better than one or more of the grades she actually received; iv. providing a falsified copy of a Doctor of Philosophy certificate; b. in a reference she provided for Individual A by referring to herself as an Educational Psychologist. 2. Her conduct as may be found proven at 1 above lacked integrity and/or was dishonest. Ms Doran admitted the facts of all of the allegations and that her conduct amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute. C. Summary of evidence Documents In advance of the meeting, the panel received a bundle of documents which included: Section 1: Chronology – pages 2 to 3; Section 2: Notice of Referral, response and Notice of Meeting – pages 5 to 10b; Section 3: Statement of Agreed Facts and Presenting Officer representations – pages 12 to 17; Section 4: Teaching Regulation Agency documents – pages 19 to 102; and Section 5: Teacher documents – page 104. 4 The panel members confirmed that they had read all of the documents in advance of the meeting. In addition, the panel decided to admit a further document provided to the TRA on the morning of the meeting, namely an email from Individual B. The panel concluded it was appropriate to admit this email on the basis that:  it only addressed mitigating factors;  it did not undermine the admissions made by Ms Doran;  there was no objection from the TRA to the email being considered by the panel;  whilst not directly received from Ms Doran, the panel was satisfied that it was likely to have been sent on her behalf given it was sent directly in response to a request by the TRA for additional documents Ms Doran wanted to rely upon and Individual B was referred to within the bundle as being Ms Doran's representative;  it was relevant to the matters to be considered by the panel; and  the admission of the document was appropriate in the interests of a fair hearing. The email was added to the hearing bundle at pages 105 to 106. Statement of agreed facts The panel considered a statement of agreed facts which was signed electronically by Ms Doran on 25 January 2019 D. Decision and reasons The panel announced its decision and reasons as follows: In advance of the meeting, the TRA agreed to a request from Ms Doran that the allegations be considered without a hearing. The panel has the ability to direct that the case be considered at a hearing if required in the interests of justice or in the public interest. The panel did not determine that such a direction was necessary or appropriate in this case. The panel also considered whether it was appropriate to adjourn to invite Ms Doran to provide further evidence in relation to her personal difficulties, including her stated health issues. However, it did not consider that an adjournment was in the public interest or Ms Doran's interests, taking account of her admissions and her stated desire to move on. 5 In addition, following consideration of the late email received on behalf of Ms Doran, at the request of the panel the legal advisor made contact with Ms Doran, during the course of the panel's deliberations, to ensure she was content for the email to go before the panel and also to enquire if she would wish to introduce further evidence, if provided with the opportunity. The panel considered it was appropriate for such an enquiry to be made given the references within the email to personal difficulties and health issues. In her discussion with the legal advisor, Ms Doran reiterated that she had no current desire to return to teaching and also alluded to the difficulties she had faced in getting assistance from her GP in terms of obtaining medical evidence. When asked if she wanted the opportunity to get further evidence, she indicated she was not sure. In those circumstances, given that, Ms Doran had not requested an adjournment and having regard to her earlier request that the allegations be considered without a hearing, the panel decided it was appropriate to proceed. The panel proceeded to carefully consider the case, having read all the documents, and reached a decision. On 3 May 2016, Ms Doran successfully applied for the role of teacher and head of Key Stage 3 at Larches House School ("the School"). She commenced work at the School on 1 September 2016. In or around November 2017, concerns were raised regarding Ms Doran allegedly referring to herself as an educational psychologist. This led to checks being undertaken into Ms Doran's qualifications. On 8 January 2018, Ms Doran was advised by the School that a review had been undertaken of her file and a request was made for her to provide her original certificates. On 9 January 2018, Ms Doran did not attend work, citing health reasons. She emailed the School stating that she intended to resign. The School nevertheless continued with an investigation and a disciplinary process was commenced. On 19 March 2018, a disciplinary meeting was held in Ms Doran's absence. Ms Doran was subsequently referred to the TRA. In considering the allegations, the panel did not rely upon any findings made or opinions expressed in papers which formed part of the documentation for the investigation undertaken by the School. It formed its own independent view of the allegations based on the evidence presented to it. Findings of fact Our findings of fact are as follows: 6 1. You provided false and/or misleading information in respect of your qualifications, including; a. in your application for a teaching role at Larches House School in 2016, by: i. stating that you had obtained a PHD in Special Educational Needs; ii. stating that you had obtained an MA in Inclusive Education; iii. stating that you had obtained one or more GCSE grades which were better than one or more of the grades you actually received; iv. providing a falsified copy of a Doctor of Philosophy certificate; Ms Doran admitted the facts of allegations 1(a)(i) to 1(a)(iv). The evidence considered by the panel was consistent with her admissions. Ms Doran accepted that, in her application form made to the School in 2016 ("the Application"), she provided false information by: 1. stating that she had obtained a PHD in Special Educational Needs, when she did not hold this qualification; 2. stating that she had obtained an MA in Inclusive Education, when she did not hold this qualification; 3. stating that she had obtained grade A in all of her GCSE subjects, except music where she stated she obtained a grade B, when she did not hold these GCSE grades; and 4. providing a falsified copy of a Doctor of Philosophy certificate. Ms Doran also admitted that she completed the following declaration form within the Application: "I certif