Justine Drury: Teacher struck off over alcohol-fuelled school ski trip where one girl slept with three boys

A head teacher has been struck off after a school trip descended into sex, booze and knife chaos.

Justine Drury, 52, organised the ski holiday to Switzerland for a dozen pupils at a school which provides alternative education for teenagers with behaviour or social issues.

A Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) misconduct panel heard that during the trip a female pupil, referred to as Pupil A, had sex with two male pupils before a third “blackmailed” her into also having sex with him after he filmed her previous encounter.

A second female pupil was also said to have had sex with a male student in exchange for £30.

There were serious issues throughout the trip: one pupil was found with three knives in their room; others stole from local shops and a large group of the teenagers broke into the hotel’s kitchen and stole ten bottles of spirits.

Mrs Drury denied not taking sufficient steps to reduce the risk of inappropriate behaviour, such as pupils having sex – even though the school in Nottinghamshire knew that eight of the 12 young were sexually active.

The former headteacher admitted to the TRA investigation that Pupil A revealed to her on the first day of the trip – while drunk – “that she had had sex with a boy”.

The panel said that despite Pupil A’s claim of “potential non-consensual sexual activity”, Mrs Drury did nothing to prevent this from happening again.

The 2017 trip should have been abandoned after day one, the panel said, with police informed as well as parents, carers, school trustees and the council.

Yet the pupils were left unsupervised for several hours at a time, even after issues first emerged.

After hearing that one pupil had a knife, three blades were removed from their room but searches of the other rooms were not carried out.

During the investigation, Mrs Drury described the pupil who had the knives as “liking to draw attention to herself”.

The panel found her guilty of not disclosing the serious incidents that happened in Switzerland – only telling trustees that the school tour had “been eventful”.

The hearing concluded that she had not acted with integrity and had failed to adequately safeguard pupils.

Panel lead Sarah Buxcey said Mrs Drury, who is no longer employed as a teacher, would be banned from the profession for five years.

She can return to the classroom after this period of time, or if she successfully applies to have the ban overturned.