One member of staff said they left teaching all together because of the alleged behaviour at Rowan Park
Rowan Park School in Litherland. Photo by Colin Lane(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
A former assistant headteacher has been accused of ‘branding’ a colleague ‘like a farm animal’ when she allegedly pressed a hot spoon into her arm at school, a hearing into her conduct has heard. Nicola Houghton is alleged to have undertaken acts that amounted to unacceptable professional conduct while in a leadership role at Rowan Park School in Litherland.
Miss Houghton joined the school in 2012, progressing to a senior management position until her departure in December 2020. The second day of a teacher regulation agency (TRA) hearing was told how staff were left feeling “degraded” and “violated” by her conduct, which is alleged to have included showing staff a video of a woman’s genitals, touching their legs and making comments about their sex lives.
Tribunal members were told by one former teacher how Miss Houghton touched her thigh during a lunch break in front of other staff, describing it as “quite a significant event.” The teacher said it wasn’t something she expected in the work place and was left “completely shocked.”
The former colleague said she stood up immediately and “swiped away” Miss Houghton’s hand. She added how the former assistant head then allegedly attempted to do the same to a second member of staff prompting the teacher to intervene.
Asked how she felt, the teacher said she was “horrified” by what happened and couldn’t understand why it would have occurred. She added how her “mind was just blown” by what she had experienced.
When Miss Houghton was said to have made a comment about her then colleague’s sex life, the staff member said it left her feeling “violated and quite upset” by the remarks, deeming it to be a private matter she would not discuss in work. She added how she was “mortified” by what had been said.
Jonathan Storey, representing Miss Houghton, repeated her apology made to a colleague during day one of the hearing and expressed remorse at any discomfort her behaviour caused. Mr Storey added how Miss Houghton was “very sorry” that the woman’s experience of Rowan Park was negative because of her.
It was alleged that Miss Houghton set the culture at the school as she was “the top person in that building.” The teacher said her life had been “significantly impacted” by Miss Houghton’s actions to the point where she considered moving house.
A second member of staff told the hearing they left the profession altogether after their experiences at the Sefton school, including allegedly having a hot spoon pressed into her arm by Miss Houghton. The former teacher said they were left embarrassed when the assistant head made comments about her breasts and said she always “dressed appropriately” for work.
The comments left her feeling “degraded,” the hearing was told, prompting the staff member to “bury the feelings she made me feel.” It was said how Miss Houghton had “jabbed her knuckle” into her former colleague’s back and would “chase me around the table” to play the game nervous.
Regarding the spoon incident, the former staff member said it was like Miss Houghton was “branding” her “like a farm animal.” The hearing continues.