A primary school teacher in Manchester has been banned from the classroom following an incident where a pupil sustained a head injury and the teacher subsequently lied to the child's parents about what happened.
Incident details
Daniel Whitley, formerly a teacher at Beaver Road Primary School in Manchester, was found to have acted dishonestly by a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel in May. The panel concluded that he showed little remorse for his actions.
The incident occurred on 28 February 2024 when Mr Whitley caught his foot on a chair, which then struck a pupil referred to as Pupil A, causing a bump to the head in the classroom.
Deception and forgery
During a parents' evening on 4 March 2024, the pupil's parent questioned why they had not received an accident reporting slip following the head injury. Mr Whitley falsely claimed the injury occurred in the playground.
The following day, he completed an accident reporting slip, backdating it and forging a colleague's signature. The note stated: "banged head on climbing frame, small mark, ice pack given."
When speaking to another colleague, Mr Whitley said he had found the note down the back of Pupil A's tray and asked them to pass it on to the parent. The parent complained the next day that the slip did not match Pupil A's account. The pupil stated: "I sit next to a chair and it caught me and hit me… Mr Whitley said he would check it later and would get an ice pack but he forgot."
Admission and consequences
Initially, Mr Whitley denied knowing who wrote the note or administered first aid. However, in a meeting with school officials, he admitted that while turning his chair, the "blue cushioned bit on the side of the chair" hit Pupil A on the left side of the head, but he did not think it warranted a note. He later admitted to forging the document.
The school referred the matter to the TRA in October 2024. A year later, Mr Whitley accepted that his behaviour amounted to unacceptable professional conduct that could bring the profession into disrepute.
The panel acknowledged that he was "panicked and fearful" when forging the document but was "sure in his own mind" that he knew it was wrong and was aware of the school's safeguarding procedures as a new teacher.
Prohibition order
The panel assessed that Mr Whitley's behaviour involved "providing repeated misinformation about a pupil's injury and how it occurred," highlighting a strong public interest in safeguarding and pupil wellbeing.
Mr Whitley is now prohibited from teaching in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation, or children's home in England. He may apply for the prohibition order to be set aside after 11 May 2030, when a panel will reconsider the case.
