Holiday head is shamed

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Updated:

A headmistress who was sacked for going on holiday after calling in sick has been found guilty of unacceptable professional conduct.

Lesley Tidy was spotted by one of her dinner ladies as she waited at Leeds Bradford airport for a flight to Tenerife in February 2006.

But instead of trying to hide, she was said to have phoned the school bursar to boast that she was having ‘a really nice time at the airport’.

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Sacked head teacher Lesley Tidy

Lesley Tidy: 'Sun, sea and surf'

And while on holiday she sent the bursar a text message, saying: ‘Sun, sea and surf – what more does a girl want?’

Staff at Thackley Primary School in Bradford were not amused, a conduct committee of the General Teaching Council sitting in Birmingham heard.

Mrs Tidy, 53, from Leeds, was sacked and lost an appeal against unfair dismissal.

At yesterday’s hearing, chairman Judy Moorhouse said: ‘If she was fit enough to go to Tenerife, she was fit enough to go to school.

‘In her role as leader of the school community, she should have led by example at all times.’

Mrs Tidy was given a conditional registration order, which means she must complete a ‘recognised and relevant leadership course’ before working as a head again.

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