Joanna Clark was head at Blackhall Primary School, where young cancer victim Bradley Lowery attended, between 2009 and 2021, when she resigned amid an investigation.
She was previously part-time, but went back to working five days a week at the start of the Covid pandemic, saying she felt she needed to be in school to make decisions.
But, on the morning of October 16, 2020 she was spotted at the spa going for a 20-minute swim and wearing a membership band on the morning of October 16, 2020, during school hours.
Mrs Clark admitted going to the spa and said “she went to have a swim, clear her head and then go back to her work”, but “deeply regretted” it.
Joanna Clark pictured in 2018 at Blackhall Primary School. (Image: TOM BANKS)
A teaching misconduct panel found she went for two more spa sessions during working hours.
When school returned in September 2020 she was “rarely reachable”, the panel heard, and another staff member began logging when she was in school and found she was not in on any Friday for 10 weeks.
She claimed she worked at home on Fridays, including the time when she would have gone to the spa.
Clark was also found to have failed to have DBS checks carried out on new staff and governors, and didn’t keep records of checks.
Blackhall Primary School. (Image: GOOGLE)
She also failed to repair a broken fence despite staff raising concerns children could get out of the playground and potentially leave the school.
The teaching misconduct panel said her spa trips during school time amounted to “misconduct of a serious nature which fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession”.
It found her guilty of unacceptable professional conduct but decided against banning her from the classroom.
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Mrs Clark said she, “did not recognise myself” and she was “appalled I worked from home as much as I did”.
She said she “should have been present on-site during this time to check things myself and ensure staff felt fully supported”
The panel said she was genuinely remorseful and had been in charge of the school when its Ofsted rank had risen from Satisfactory to Good.
Blackhall Primary School has been contacted for comment.