A former deputy headteacher has been banned from teaching after bullying and intimidating staff at a primary school in Barry. A panel of the Education Workforce Council (EWC) found on Friday that Indira Yagambrun engaged in a prolonged pattern of unreasonable, intimidating and dishonest behaviour towards her colleagues at Romilly Primary School.
Hearing evidence
Over the course of a six-day hearing, the panel heard evidence from a number of Yagambrun's former colleagues including one who said the former deputy head interrupted her lesson multiple times and made her feel like she was being "watched". The panel also heard that Yagambrun had told a teacher that she was under investigation when this was not the case and that she made staff feel on edge due to constant threats.
Indira Yagambrun, who joined Romilly Primary School in 2004 when it was known as Romilly Junior School, was suspended in September 2022 after concerns about her conduct culminated in a series of complaints. An internal disciplinary investigation was completed in October 2023, but no disciplinary process ultimately took place against a backdrop of long-term sickness absence.
EWC findings
The school subsequently referred Ms Yagambrun to the EWC, which regulates the education workforce in Wales. The EWC committee found a number of allegations against Yagambrun proved and concluded that her conduct amounted to unacceptable professional conduct. The committee said the proven behaviour had occurred over a prolonged period and was particularly serious because Ms Yagambrun held a senior leadership position and was an experienced practitioner.
The panel heard oral evidence from six witnesses, all called by the presenting officer Luke Lambourne. The witnesses included Katy Williams, who is head of Additional Learning Needs (ALN) for the Vale of Glamorgan Council and formerly headteacher of the school; Daisy Williams, former teacher at the school; Adele Sawdon, a council support worker and previously a lunchtime supervisor at the school; Claire Richards, a learning support worker; Harriet Valentino, a member of the School's Parent Teacher Committee (PTA); and Jemma Thomas, a teacher at the school. Ms Yagambrun did not attend the hearing, and no witnesses gave evidence on her behalf.
Incidents detailed
Among the findings was an incident involving support worker Adele Sawdon. The committee heard that Ms Sawdon had been questioned by Ms Yagambrun about an allegation involving a child and was told she was under investigation. The EWC found that Ms Yagambrun had told Ms Sawdon she was under investigation when that was not the case. The committee concluded that this behaviour was intimidating, unreasonable and bullying in nature, and found that Ms Yagambrun had acted without integrity in relation to the incident. It also found that she had behaved unreasonably towards Ms Sawdon on other occasions.
In one incident, Ms Sawdon was supervising children alone on a school field when Ms Yagambrun questioned why she was there without another supervisor and told her to find someone else herself. The committee said Ms Yagambrun should have supported her colleague and that it was unreasonable to expect Ms Sawdon to resolve the situation alone. On another occasion, Ms Sawdon was told to leave an indoor sports facility despite having been sent there by an acting headteacher. The committee accepted her account that Ms Yagambrun had told her she should not be there and needed to leave. While it did not categorise that incident on its own as bullying or intimidating, it found Ms Yagambrun's manner unnecessary, rude and abrupt.
The panel also considered evidence of the treatment of other members of staff. New teacher Daisy Walsh told the committee earlier in the proceedings that Ms Yagambrun had interrupted her lesson 11 times during one day in February 2022. Ms Walsh kept a tally of the interruptions in the corner of her notebook. She said it made her feel as though she was being "watched." The committee found that the interruptions were unreasonable and intimidating, although it did not find that this particular incident amounted to bullying.
A separate allegation involved a member of the school's PTA. The committee found that Ms Yagambrun had behaved in an intimidating and unreasonable manner towards the volunteer, Harriet Valentino, during preparations for a school event. This included telling her she would have to cancel a school fate hours before the event was due to start due to a misunderstanding about a risk assessment, as well as telling her she should not have purchased a bouncy castle for the school after she had already bought it. The panel concluded that her conduct represented an abuse of power.
They also found that Ms Yagambrun had acted dishonestly and without integrity in separate matters. One involved a statement to the school's headteacher at the time, Katy Williams, that she was under police protection. The committee found that she had deliberately misled Ms Williams about the circumstances and concluded that the conduct was dishonest and lacked integrity.
Impact on headteacher
The fitness to practice panel heard on Monday that Yagambrun made Ms Williams feel on edge due to constant threats, like mentioning involving a barrister whenever there was a grievance or disagreement between staff. Ms Williams told the panel that it got so bad that she started taking a record of every conversation to use in the future for self-protection and became hypervigilant. Ms Williams said due to the amount of grievances being raised daily by the deputy head teacher she would spend all day dealing with those and then the strategic elements of her role as head teacher would have to be completed at home.
Ms Williams told the panel on Monday: "In six months I spent from 8.30am, or eight o'clock in the morning, purely focused on incidents that were happening concerning Miss Yagambrun and dealing with those and then the strategic element of my job I had to do in the evenings. I had to do it when everyone had gone home. Even then I might get a five o'clock email from [Yagambrun] to deal with. In terms of what I needed to do as a head teacher it was quite paralysing."
Prohibition order
The panel did not uphold every allegation brought against Yagambrun. It stressed that it had reached its own independent conclusions based on the evidence presented at the hearing and had not relied on findings or opinions from the earlier school investigation. It also took into account that Yagambrun had previously had an unblemished professional record and no other disciplinary or regulatory proceedings recorded against her.
The committee nevertheless concluded that the overall conduct was too serious for a reprimand, conditional registration or suspension. It said there was no clear evidence that she had developed sufficient insight into her behaviour or demonstrated that she was willing or able to address the concerns identified. The panel said the proven conduct had affected several colleagues and included behaviour it described as bullying, intimidating, dishonest and lacking integrity. It concluded that the failings went to the core of her practice as an educator.
The EWC therefore imposed a Prohibition Order, meaning Yagambrun is unable to practise as a registered education professional. The order will remain in force indefinitely unless she successfully applies to be restored to the register. She will have the right to apply for restoration after two years. Any application would have to satisfy a Restoration Committee that she meets the standards expected of a registered education professional. The EWC said the prohibition was necessary to protect the public, maintain confidence in the education profession and uphold proper standards of professional conduct. The order took effect immediately. Ms Yagambrun also has a right of appeal to the High Court within 28 days.
