Female teacher who drove three pupils at 100mph in high-performance Audi RS3 banned from education

Cheryl Smith, 44, sped on a wet country lane as the pupils took it in turns to be a passenger in the Audi RS3 in June 2019, the misconduct panel heard.

Mobile phone footage taken by one of the pupils showed the speedometer of the vehicle at 102mph during one of the rides. Mrs Smith claimed she did not exceed 70mph during the incident.

However, a teaching misconduct panel found the allegations against her were proven and she has been banned indefinitely.

Mrs Smith was sent to Denby Grange School by an agency on February 25, 2019. According to its website, the school “provides both day and residential placements and an alternative education programme for pupils who require more specialised interventions than can be provided in a mainstream school”.

Mrs Smith was a tutor at the school and her role consisted of planning, teaching and assessing English. On June 25, 2019, it was alleged Mrs Smith took three pupils on a trip with the assistance of another individual at the school. The individual reported her concerns to the school the same day and a referral was made, with the agency notified. Mrs Smith was informed of the allegations.

A month later – during a lesson in July 2019 – one of the pupils involved showed a second member of staff a video of the inside of a car which appeared to be moving extremely fast. The pupil claimed that he had taken the video when he was out with Mrs Smith.

Mrs Smith – who had “fantastic references” as a teacher – attended a meeting with the agency to discuss the allegations in August but claimed she had driven safely. She said she had travelled in the car with the individual and the three pupils in the back of the vehicle.

Mrs Smith then drove up and down the road three times, with each pupil taking it in turns to be in the front, the panel heard. According to one of the pupils, Mrs Smith laughed when she was told to slow down driving the car.

She stated that she never went over 70mph and believed that “as the car in question was an Audi RS3 and can reach 0-60mph within 4.2 seconds, it would seem a lot faster than an average car.”

Her engagement with the agency was terminated. Mrs Smith had previously arranged for pupils to visit a garage to look at cars and sit in them whilst the cars were stationary, the panel heard. No written risk assessment was completed for a trip of this nature.

Having considered all the evidence before it, the panel was satisfied that Mrs Smith’s actions "amounted to failing to safeguard pupils and exposing them to the risk of harm”.

The panel considered that Mrs Smith’s conduct on the field trip, while “acting in loco parentis”, risked setting unacceptable standards of behaviour for children leading them to believe it was acceptable to break the national speed limit and/or drive in a reckless manner.

The panel further found that Mrs Smith’s conduct amounted to both unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute. Mrs Smith is now prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England.

She may apply for the prohibition order to be set aside, but not until 11 March 2027, three years from the date of the order set.