A former headteacher has been banned from the classroom after an investigation revealed she kept a hidden store of alcohol in an office regularly used by vulnerable pupils.
Leanne Grove, 44, was suspended from Hazeldene School in Bedford in March 2023 when a teaching assistant spotted an empty gin and tonic can in her handbag. The discovery triggered a wider inquiry by school leaders, who uncovered multiple opened and unopened bottles stored in cupboards and containers inside her office. The room was used by pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, raising immediate safeguarding concerns.
Grove admitted keeping alcohol on the premises in open containers and unlocked cupboards. She also acknowledged consuming alcohol before a governors meeting and after a parents evening, although she did not disclose how much she had drunk. In written submissions to the Teaching Regulation Agency misconduct panel she accepted that she had let down the school community and said she had moved on professionally with no wish to return to teaching.
The panel found her conduct amounted to serious misconduct and fell well below the standards expected of a school leader. It noted that a headteacher holds a position of trust and is expected to provide an example to staff and pupils. The presence of alcohol in a school environment was described as unacceptable, particularly when there was a risk that pupils could access it.
Evidence showed the office was sometimes left unlocked and was often used by distressed pupils. The panel said the possibility of children encountering alcohol was not remote and described Grove’s behaviour as a significant lapse in judgement.
On behalf of the education secretary, civil servant David Oatley imposed an indefinite ban. He said there remained some risk that similar behaviour could be repeated, which placed the wellbeing of future pupils at risk. Grove is now prohibited from teaching in any school, sixth form college or children’s home in England.
