Former academy head who gave contract to mother's firm banned from teaching

A former academy headteacher has been banned from the profession after awarding a contract to his mother’s consultancy firm without declaring it.

Thomas Marshall failed to tell trustees at the Baverstock Academy in Birmingham that he was related to the owner of Stone Educational Consultants.

The school spent £94,680 with the firm which was run solely by his mother, between February 2012 and May 2015. Their relationship was never disclosed.

Now the 50-year-old who starred in a BBC Panorama documentary, has been banned for improperly awarding contracts and not following proper recruitment procedures by a professional conduct panel.

It ruled that he had been “dishonest” as he had numerous opportunities to declare the personal link to his mother’s maths consultancy company to staff.

Mr Marshall also failed to follow the proper tendering process for his mother’s firm and there was no service level agreement or contract on file, the Teaching Regulation Agency found.

Mr Marshall also hired three employees without following proper recruitment processes – including the recruitment of his brother, which he had failed to declare, despite his family connection.

The panel found Mr Marshall’s personal involvement in the recruitment of his brother into a salaried role in 2014 was “sufficiently serious to amount to unacceptable professional conduct.”

Mr Marshall became head of Baverstock School in 2010 which converted to an academy in 2013.

In 2014, Panorama covered the academy’s work in keeping children in mainstream education.

The panel concluded that "the repeated failure" by Mr Marshall "and his overall lack of insight and remorse" was a significant factor in its decision to ban the headteacher from teaching.