Educating Manchester's Drew Povey has been blasted after being struck off as a teacher and described with three brutal words.
Povey, the former head of Harrop Fold, Salford headteacher and his brother, Ross, who served as assistant head at the school which has since been renamed The Lowry Academy were deemed have been "unacceptable" in the profession, leading them to losing their roles. The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) accused the siblings of 'unacceptable professional conduct' after allegations surfaced that pupils were being removed from the school register in a practice known as 'off-rolling'.
The TRA found he "failed" to ensure that students were being sent home and "recorded in the appropriate manner" during his time in charge of the Manchester academy. While the school had "no exclusions" policy but Povey later accepted that "pupils were sent home during the school day."
But despite Drew being praised in a string of character references, this was not enough to acquit him due to the severity of the allegations he faced. He was described as "kind", a "breath of fresh air", and an "exceptional charismatic leader", it emerged at an October hearing that his counsel conceded Drew was a 'poor school manager' and was also brutally said to have "very limited knowledge" of necessary administrative rigour, raising concerns about a potential repeat of his actions.
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MEN Media)The panel also concluded that there was "little evidence" that Drew had taken steps in order to address his "lack of knowledge." Due to this, the panel "could not discount the possibility of the conduct being repeated." Making a decision on behalf of the education secretary, Marc Carvey stated it was "necessary to impose a prohibition order in order to maintain public confidence in the profession."
The panel stated it was "recognised that it was dealing with a large volume of hearsay evidence," which was assessed as a "critical eye." But Povey's lawyer, Andrew Faux said: "The panel's decision was very disappointing and relied to a troubling extent on hearsay evidence. We are considering carefully the right of appeal to the High Court."
In a statement, Povey said: "My whole career in education was about supporting kids from tough backgrounds and helping them develop their self-belief and resilience – it was never about results or how data looked. Nor should it ever be and school leaders have a moral responsibility to guard against being drawn down that path.
"Every leader, every teacher, every single person who works in schools has a duty of care to every child, with all their brilliance and all their complexities – and whilst this has been a painful and drawn out process for me personally – they are the only ones who matter in all of this."
Drew and his brother have been indefinitely banned from teaching, meaning they're not allowed to work in any school, sixth form college, youth accommodation or children's home in England. They can apply to have this ban lifted, but not until October 30, 2026.
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