On Monday, the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) held a professional conduct panel hearing regarding the actions of James Middleditch, a former teacher at Sir John Leman High School in Beccles.

Mr Middleditch successfully applied for a position as music teacher at the school in November 2022.

It is alleged that during the application and interview process, Mr Middleditch intentionally concealed the fact he had previously taught at Archbishop Sancroft High School in Harleston (now the Harleston Sancroft Academy), and his reasons for leaving. 

Archbishop Sancroft High School pictured in 2021. The school is now the Harleston Sancroft Academy. (Image: Google Maps)

The panel heard that Mr Middleditch, who has also taught at Ipswich Academy, was suspended from Archbishop Sancroft in December 2021 following the commencement of a Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) investigation. 

It is alleged that, in addition to not disclosing this information to Sir John Leman High School, he falsely filled in a criminal record self-declaration form.

In response to the question, Do the police or children’s social care have your name on file for any reason? Mr Middleditch allegedly answered ‘no’, despite being aware that this was not the case due to the LADO investigation. 

Mr Middleditch was not present or represented at the hearing.

The panel heard that Mr Middleditch had also taught at Ipswich Academy. (Image: Google Maps)

The TRA heard from Ruth Gurney, who was acting headteacher at Sir John Leman High School when these alleged falsehoods came to light.

She said that she had spoken with the headteacher of Archbishop Sancroft who advised her to meet with Mr Middleditch in the presence of a male colleague, which she did.

Ms Gurney said that Mr Middleditch became “very angry” during the meeting when she advised him that he had been suspended pending an investigation.

She said he described his experience at Archbishop Sancroft as a “stitch up”, and that this meeting was a “waste of his time”. 

Ms Gurney said that after 10 minutes, Mr Middleditch stood up abruptly and his chair went “flying”. She said he sat down at the headteacher’s desk and wrote his resignation note.

She said that after this, he was “reluctant” to leave her office and was “quite aggressive”, to the point where she said she would call the police if he did not leave.

It was heard that Mr Middleditch has alleged that the self-declaration form in which he supposedly denied being aware of the police or children’s social care services having his name on file has been doctored by Ms Gurney or “one of her stooges”.

Ms Gurney said this was not the case.

The panel is expected to conclude the hearing on Tuesday.