A former primary school principal failed to follow appropriate recruitment policies, a misconduct panel has found.

Sharon Flowers worked at Bramingham Primary, on the outskirts of Luton, from its opening in 1993 until leaving in 2020.

The Teaching Regulatory Agency (TRA) panel found that Ms Flowers made mistakes when recruiting staff by failing to hold formal interviews and not offering a position.

The panel recommended that she not be excluded from the profession, but found that she had engaged in unacceptable professional conduct and conduct likely to bring the profession into disrepute.

Ms Flowers had been headteacher at the school – which has 400 pupils aged four to 11 – since 2001, but left before the disciplinary proceedings were completed.

In an audit, Luton Borough Council found that it had failed to comply with its school recruitment policies, introduced after the Soham murders and other incidents.

THE panel finished that Ms. Flowers, who was not present and legally represented at last month’s hearing, had violated the protection of student welfare.

She revealed one employee was appointed when a role had not been advertised and only one reference was subsequently obtained – and it did not come from his current employer.

A second member of staff was not interviewed when he returned to work at the school after a period of absence, nor when he applied for other internal positions.

Pre-employment checks were also not carried out when this staff member returned to the school.

The TRA found that another employee had failed to complete an application form or undergo a formal interview upon reappointment.

But he noted that Ms Flowers had engaged in the proceedings to a “substantial extent”, had positive moral credentials and had never been the subject of any previous regulatory action during her long career.

“There was a clear theme… in that all were former members of staff at the school and all known to Ms Flowers,” the panel found.

“The evidence showed that Ms Flowers had relied too heavily on her own knowledge and trust in staff during her new recruitment.

“While this demonstrates a lack of judgment… it cannot fairly be described as a complete disregard or failure to follow appropriate safeguarding procedures.”

The committee’s findings were sent to the Secretary of State for Education’s office, which ruled that Ms Flowers should not be banned from teaching given her contribution to the profession, but said the findings should be published.