Massey Primary deputy principal Mali Allen guilty of serious misconduct after restraining student

In her decision, tribunal chairwoman Jo Hughson said Allen, who has been the deputy principal of the school for 12 years, demonstrated a lack of regard for the student’s wellbeing.

“Mrs Allen exhibited a lack of patience and an inability to regulate her own emotions in response to [the student’s] challenging behaviour. She appeared to have been triggered by his behaviour and acted out of frustration.”

The decision said that on May 28, 2024, Allen was helping provide cover for a classroom while the classroom teacher was meeting with a parent.

While covering the class, an incident occurred between Allen and a student, who was struggling with school.

A teacher aide, the classroom co-teacher and a student teacher were also in the classroom at the time.

On the morning of May 28, 2024, the teacher aide asked the student to come and do his folder work while the other children were going to their maths group, but he refused.

The teacher aide left him for five to 10 minutes to settle when Allen told the student to join his maths group.

The student resisted and tried to walk away, but Allen grabbed the bottom of his T-shirt to stop him from moving. She held his T-shirt for two to three minutes while continuing to talk with him, during which the student shouted at her that he wanted to do his folder work.

Allen let go of the student’s T-shirt and he ran to speak to the teacher aide in a heightened and distressed state, before sitting at his table.

Allen followed the student to his table and asked him about his folder work. While at the table, the student started smacking the folder on his desk and pushing his food and other items off the table.

Allen came into proximity with the student’s face and said in a firm voice that he needed to pick the food up off the ground before they continued working.

At one point, Allen grabbed the student by the wrist or hand and attempted to pull him out of the classroom. The student was upset and resisted and held on to the table with his ankles and hands.

Allen pulled him with force to get him to let go of the table and continued to pull him towards the door. The student then used his hands to hold on to the door frame while Allen opened the door with one hand, holding the student by the wrist with the other.

Once outside, Allen attempted to seclude the student by blocking exit areas with her body and moving to prevent him from leaving the area or re-entering the classroom.

The student continued to cry and call for his mum while trying to move around Allen. At one point, Allen used her knee to hold him in place for around five seconds to prevent him from running off or back into the classroom.

At times, the student used his fists and his foot to hit the window, trying to get the attention of the other teachers inside, while calling for his mum.

Allen kept the student on the deck for between 30 and 45 minutes, after which he calmed down and they returned to the classroom.

The other teachers and students in the classroom witnessed parts of the incident through the glass windows. The decision said teachers found it extremely distressing. Some students were upset by the incident.

At one point, the teacher aide went outside and asked Allen if she needed assistance. She declined.

The student was left distressed by the incident and did not join other students on a trip to the school library, and instead read books in the classroom with the teacher aide.

The school had a Physical Restraint Policy. The policy recorded that physical restraint can only be used by teachers in situations where the teacher reasonably believes that the safety of the student or any other person is at serious risk of imminent harm, and the restraint used is reasonable and proportionate in the circumstances.

Hughson said in her decision that Allen’s use of physical force on the student was inappropriate, unreasonable and contrary to the policy.

“There was no risk to [the student] or other students that warranted the use of restraint over the period. The way Mrs Allen used physical force on [the student] was also inappropriate.”

As well as being censured and required to attend monthly supervision, Allen was ordered to pay more than $6000 in costs.

Brianna McIlraith is a Queenstown-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the lower South Island. She has been a journalist since 2018 and has had a strong interest in business and financial journalism.

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