A whistleblowing teacher who was sacked after revealing that naughty school children were being 'hidden away on the squash courts' during an Ofsted inspection has been awarded a £50,000 payout.
Ged Thomas, 53, was fired from his role at the Berwick Academy, Northumberland, after making the claim to Ofsted. He also posted critical comments about then headteacher Alexis Widdowson on Facebook.
The school claimed the remarks were 'derogatory or offensive about the school' and breached its social media policy and code of conduct.
Mr Thomas, a PE and Maths teacher, later took the academy to a tribunal claiming unfair dismissal after his 2018 sacking.
Ms Widdowson, meanwhile, resigned before the damning report - which labelled the academy as 'inadequate' - was published.
Employment judges later ruled that Mr Thomas was unfairly dismissed - due to what the tribunal heard was the school's 'deeply flawed' internal disciplinary investigation.
Now Mr Thomas has been awarded a £50,000 payout by employment judges.
Ged Thomas (pictured) told Ofsted that unruly pupils were kept hidden away from inspectors during a visit to 'inadequate' Berwick Academy, in Northumberland
The PE and Maths teacher was later sacked by the academy after he posted critical comments about headteacher Alexis Widdowson (pictured) on Facebook
In January 2018, Mr Thomas had contacted Ofsted to warn them that unruly pupils were kept hidden away from inspectors during visit to the school.
The inspectors later deemed the school to be 'inadequate' - the lowest level on the scale.
At the initial hearing, employment Judge Tudor Garnon said: '[Mr Thomas] received text messages from a colleague and parents saying certain pupils, who were known for misbehaving, had been removed from lessons to the squash courts out of sight of the inspection team.
'Hiding children from Ofsted inspectors would almost certainly amount to concealment of information which tends to show relevant failures.
'That for him was the last straw. He formally raised his concerns to Ofsted through their online school teachers portal, whilst sitting in his car.'
The school tried to claim during the hearing that the social media posts were the only reason Mr Thomas had been sacked, not his whistleblowing.
However, a Newcastle employment tribunal found they were not an 'indication of disloyalty' and ruled the internal investigation leading to Mr Thomas's dismissal was 'deeply flawed'.
Mr Thomas made the social media comments on The Berwick Advertiser's Facebook page under a link to an article about Ms Widdowson's departure.
The Tribunal heard that replying
