Trial of Borders teacher accused of assaulting primary pupils hears of colleague's shock over restraint of youngster

The woman explained how the teacher had restrained a child who was resisting getting his hair brushed by putting her arm over him while he was on the ground so he could not move while his hair was brushed.

The witness said the vulnerable child was already distressed at getting his hair brushed and the way his teacher had restrained him had added to that ordeal.

“I was shocked. It is not a practice we would encourage,” she said.

The witness also referred to other incidents when she heard the teacher shouting loudly at a vulnerable pupil and pushing him into a chair despite the fact that, in her opinion, a calm word would have sufficed and also dragging a very small pupil forcibly out of a gym hall while he was turning off a light switch.

That evidence came on day three of the trial at Jedburgh Sheriff Court of a female teacher accused of assaulting five primary school pupils.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is also charged with threatening or abusive behaviour and stealing food from children in her care.

Those offences are alleged to have been committed on various occasions between August 16, 2016, and October 31, 2017, at a school in the Borders.

Her trial, before sheriff Roderick Flinn, continues.