the times | Tuesday May 17 2022 19
News
A head teacher has been reported to the
police after a pupil secretly recorded a
video of him saying the n-word as he
told a child off for using the racial slur.
Mark Tomkins was disciplining a
pupil at Maidstone Grammar School in
Kent when he quoted the word the boy
was accused of using on social media.
The conversation is understood to
have been recorded on an Apple watch,
and the video was later published on
Instagram, where it was viewed more
than 1,000 times.
In the one-minute clip, Tomkins can
be heard saying: “I was told that some
comment had been made about a
student and the word ‘n***er’ was used.
“First thing I thought was that some-
one had used that word against you, but
I found out that you were the one who
used it.
“And should I treat someone differ-
ently if they use the word towards you?
If someone posted that and a photo-
graph of you?”
The student tries to argue his case
and tells the teacher: “Calling me it is
different.”
Tomkins replies: “Well, yes it is, but
one should ask the question, ‘Why is it
different?’ Just because of your colour
DAVID MCHUGH/BRIGHTON PICTURESStudent sues
for £4m over
broken leg
A former languages student is claiming
£4 million from the University of Bir-
mingham after he slipped in a puddle
while at a late-night event at the
student union.
Thomas Hazell told a judge at the
High Court in London that he had suf-
fered from bone cancer and feared he
may lose his leg because of the injuries
he sustained when he fell on a wet dis-
abled-access ramp.
Hazell, 28, had been at the event at
the university student union in 2017. At
the time the keen musician, who was
secretary of the university’s a capella
singing society, was in the final year of
his degree. He has since become a
French and Spanish teacher.
Hazell’s lawyers said his fall was
caused by negligence, alleging that staff
at the union permitted the floor to be-
come dangerously slippery. They also
accused staff of failing to post warnings
about the wet surface.
Lawyers for the University of Bir-
mingham students’ union — which is
one of the largest in the country, repre-
senting more than 34,000 students —
have admitted liability for his fall, but
told the court that the union would
contest the amount of damages.
Hazell told the court that the injury
could ultimately result in his leg being
amputated. He suffered from a rare
bone cancer as a teenager. It was treat-
ed successfully but two of his leg bones
were replaced by prosthetic ones.
Hazell had to undergo surgery to fit a
new implant after the fracture, in addi-
tion to further treatment because infec-
tion set in. His teaching career was de-
layed and he suffered from depression
because of the fall, the court was told.
A date for a full trial has yet to be
scheduled.Jonathan Ames Legal EditorP
upils at a girls
school are being
given extra help
with their exams
this year — thanks
to a special friend (Peter
Chappell writes).
Pip the Cavapoo has been
brought into classes at
Brighton Girls to help calm
the nerves of pupils taking
exams for the first time.
Many A-level candidates
across Britain have never
sat a public examination
because of the pandemic.
Pip, a cross between a
Cavalier King Charles
spaniel and a miniature
poodle, is a hit with the
girls, who say she has
helped them to concentrate
and calmed their nerves.
She has been sitting in on
exam classes and younger
pupils’ reading groups.Molly Kronhamn, 17, who
is taking A-levels in history,
Classics and English
literature, said: “I have
been OK with the revision,
it’s the thought of the actual
moment of the exams that
has been nerve-racking.”
Molly, who hopes to go to
York University, said: “It
was lovely to have Pip with
us when we have been
revising — she is a calming
distraction.”
Cluny Graham, 17, who is
studying A-levels in biology,
economics and sports
science, said: “While I like
the learning side of my
studies, I strongly dislike
the actual exams and the
stress they bring. Pip has
been a lovely calming
influence during revision.”
Introducing dogs in
schools has been growing inpopularity since the
educationalist Sir Anthony
Seldon said all schools
should have a pet to reduce
stress. He said in 2019: “The
quickest and biggest hit
that we can make to
improve mental health inour schools and to make
them feel safe for children
is to have at least one dog in
every school.”
Rosie McColl, the head
teacher at Brighton Girls,
said: “There is growing
evidence of the benefit of aschool dog for children’s
and adults’ social and
emotional wellbeing and
what better time for Pip to
hang out with the girls than
exam time.”
A-level resilience,
letters, page 28Stress-busting Pip is
the new teacher’s pet
Molly Kronhamn, of Brighton Girls, says that Pip helps to calm pupils’ nerves while they reviseA girl who argued that biological sex is
real after a talk about transphobia felt
forced to leave her school after pupils
hounded her for challenging the views
of a visiting speaker.
She was treated like a heretic for
questioning a politician’s assertions
about sex, a teacher at the school said.
The female member of the House of
Lords visited the private girls’ school, a
Stonewall diversity champion, to talk
about transphobia in parliament.
The girl told The Times: “The lan-
guage she was using was implying criti-
cal theory took precedence over biolog-
ical reality in defining women.” She
added: “When I questioned that, she
said it wasn’t an issue of semantics. She
said trans people don’t have basic
human rights in this country. After-
wards I spoke to her and said I’m sorry
if I came across as rude.”
The pair parted amicably, the girl
said. But on returning to the sixth form
she was surrounded by up to 60 girls
who shouted, screamed, swore and spat
at her. She escaped and said she col-
lapsed, unable to breathe properly.
Teachers were initially supportive
but withdrew their backing after the
other sixth formers accused the girl of
transphobia. The teenager returned to
school a few times but was told she
would have to work in the library if she
said anything provocative in lessons.Girl ‘driven out of school
after disputing trans views’
She also spent breaktimes and lunch-
times in the library. The girl left in
December and is studying at home.
A teacher at the school said: “We
know how these views are being
silenced in the adult world through
high-profile legal cases and the bully-
ing and defamation of celebrities such
as JK Rowling. This is also happening in
schools.” Writing for the website Trans-
gender Trend, he said that the similari-
ty of transgender ideology to religious
fundamentalism “alerted me to the
danger of what has been going on in our
schools over the last few years”.
The teacher added: “It was probably
somewhat naive of her not to realise
that this is indeed ‘an ideology’ and one
with which you’re simply not allowed to
disagree.” The 18-year-old girl ended up
denounced by other pupils in the
school. The teacher said: “It is quite
chilling to witness first hand how this
ideology operates and grows.”
Staff were initially supportive but,
after complaints from other sixth form-
ers, ended up apologising for not main-
taining a “safe space” in the sixth form.
The girl told The Times that she
would have completed her A-levels at
the school had it not been for the inci-
dent in October.
The pupil said she was in effect forced
to quarantine in the library instead of
spending time in the sixth-form centre.
A ban on banning free speech is still a
ban, Hugo Rifkind, page 27Nicola Woolcock Education EditorHead reported to police
for repeating racial slur
Laurence Sleator doesn’t mean that word isn’t inappro-
priate.”
Council officials and Kent police who
investigated the matter concluded
Tomkins had not committed an of-
fence. Officers said two students
involved in the recording and publica-
tion of the video had been given advice
“concerning the need to gain a person’s
permission before publishing a private
conversation online”.
In a letter to parents, Tomkins said
that the incident had affected him
deeply.
“As you can imagine, this has been
extremely distressing for me personally
and for the reputation of the school,” he
wrote. “Please be assured that I will
continue to lead the school with fair-
ness and kindness, as I have always
done.”
Maidstone Grammar, a school for
boys aged between 11 and 18, has
defended Tomkins. The head of theschool governors has said he has their
full support and has criticised the pupils
involved for “tarnishing the reputation
of the school”.
Mark Rolfe, chairman of the school
governors, said: “Any suggestion that
Mr Tomkins is racist is completely
untrue and without foundation.
“He has the governors’ full support
and I am extremely disappointed to
find that a group of students have tried
to tarnish the school’s good reputation
in this way.”
The school’s rules state that students
are not allowed to take photos or videos
of people on school premises and they
should not share any content without
the consent of those involved.
A spokesman for Maidstone Gram-
mar added: “The recording of what was
intended as a private conversation was
subsequently shared by the boy and
posted more widely by other parties.
“The matter has been discussed with
Kent police, who have confirmed that
the headmaster has committed no
offence.”
Tomkins has led Maidstone Gram-
mar School for nearly ten years. The
last Ofsted report, in 2019, gave the
school a “good” rating, noting that
Tomkins led the school with “passion
and determination”.Mark Tomkins said
the incident had
affected him
deeply