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Ashburton teacher Wendy Hopwood’s registration cancelled after making fun of students
A primary teacher who made fun of pupils with learning disabilities, pulled a finger at other children and told some to “p*** off” will no longer be allowed to teach.
Wendy Maree Hopwood also ripped up pupils’ artwork and tore pages from their workbooks, throwing them in the bin if she believed they had made a mistake.
She called one a “crybaby” and told another that he did not “have the balls” to look at her after losing his pencil.
On several occasions, the Ashburton teacher was seen calling pupils “dummies” or referring to them as “thick”.
Hopwood’s conduct between 2019 and 2021 has been scrutinised by the Teachers’ Disciplinary Tribunal, which released its decision on Thursday to cancel her teaching registration.
According to the decision, Hopwood had worked at Tinwald School since 2013, initially in job-share situations and then fulltime since 2015.
She resigned in December 2021 and then worked as a relief teacher.
The Teaching Council charged her with serious misconduct after complaints about her behaviour were made in 2022 by teacher aides and pupils at Tinwald School, which takes children up to Year 6. The charges were then heard by the tribunal.
The subsequent decision reported that a pupil with learning difficulties was left crying when Hopwood made fun of his reading ability and called him names.
Another pupil who struggled with reading and writing was mocked in front of the class. The boy later said he hated Hopwood and hated going to school.
Wendy Hopwood taught at Tinwald School in Ashburton from 2013 to 2021. Photo: Google Maps
The decision also detailed how Hopwood would swear at, or around, pupils and would often raise a middle finger at them.
Pupils reported how she ripped up their artwork, with one saying they went home and cried afterwards.
Teacher aides assigned to those who needed extra help complained that, on occasions, Hopwood refused to let them assist.
“You’re not working with them today, because they just sit there and wait for you to do it for them, so you can go and work with someone else,” one aide reported her as saying.
At a hearing held by the tribunal in March, Hopwood admitted the charges but said that, when she swore in the classroom, it was never directed at the children.
She also said that ripping up work was usual classroom practice and was not malicious.
According to the decision, Hopwood was assessed as having created an environment where children were afraid to share their work and make mistakes.
“Her conduct in ripping up or destroying students’ work in front of them or their peers demonstrated a total lack of regard for the students’ emotional well-being,” submissions made by the Complaints Assessment Committee (CAC), which investigated the conduct on behalf of the council, stated.
“Further, Mrs Hopwood’s refusal to help students with learning difficulties demonstrates a clear disregard for the wellbeing of students and for specific learning needs.”
The CAC’s submissions said that, given the pupils’ young age and vulnerability, Hopwood had unrealistic expectations of them and reprimanded them for not meeting those expectations.
She provided medical evidence by way of an explanation for her behaviour, but the details of that evidence have been suppressed.
The tribunal found that Hopwood’s conduct consisted of a highly inappropriate pattern of behaviour over a long time and targeted at multiple pupils.
It said there was no evidence that she had apologised to any of her pupils, colleagues or children’s whānau.
“The tribunal concluded that cancellation of Mrs Hopwood’s registration is appropriate and would be a proportionate penalty response, primarily because of the nature and gravity of her course of behaviour in a Year 3 and 4 primary school class setting,” the decision stated.
“There is a need to protect the health and wellbeing interests of students and a need to maintain professional standards and, in this case, cancellation of registration is required to achieve these penalty objectives, in the tribunal’s view.”
In addition to her registration being cancelled, Hopwood was ordered to pay $4000 in legal costs.
Hopwood’s most recent annual practising certificate expired in September 2024 and, according to the register, it has not been renewed.
A spokesperson for Tinwald School said they were supportive of the tribunal’s ruling following a report it had made in 2021.
“We have contacted those families affected by the misconduct of this teacher, as well as the wider Tinwald School community, to provide transparency to the situation as well as offering support as needed,” the spokesperson said.
“We would like it to be known that this teacher was no longer employed by Tinwald School at the time of these reports…We will continue to provide our faculty with the means in which to feel supported, so our students and their families feel safe and respected. ”
Hopwood has been approached for comment through her union representative.
* This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald.
RNZ
The chief executive of the Parliamentary Service is confident there will be enough room to accommodate the increased number of MPs and their staff coming into Parliament.
On current numbers, up to 131 MPs could be sitting in the Chamber following the election, brought on by a record overhang result.
Clerk of the House of Representatives Dr David Wilson told the Spinoff that currently the debating chamber had enough chairs to seat 124 MPs – including the Speaker of the House – and work was being done to accommodate more by altering the seating arrangement.
In a statement, Parliamentary Service chief executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero said planning for a larger Parliament had been going for “some time”.
“Now that the election results have confirmed an increase to the number of members we are looking at several options.
“We are confident we will be able to accommodate all members within the Chamber.”
VNP / Phil Smith
Gonzalez-Montero said office accommodation for members and their staff would be “stretched” for a short time, but the new Members’ Building was only a few months away from “practical completion”.
That building – located behind Parliament – was due to be ready to occupy in April next year and had capacity to accommodate around 30 backbench MPs.
“All members should be in fit-for-purpose accommodation from that point,” Gonzalez-Montero said.
Following the 2023 election, 123 MPs sat in the Chamber – a record number at the time. That decreased to 122 following the resignation of National MP Judith Collins.
Collins held the seat of Papakura and stepped down in May and Parliament voted against holding a by-election because it was too close to the election.
The election result also meant high-ranking National Party MPs like Chris Bishop, Paul Goldsmith, Nicola Willis and Gerry Brownlee – Speaker of the House and an MP for 30 years – would likely not make it back into Parliament.
Only resigning or retiring MPs were permitted to give a valedictory speech meaning none of them would get the chance to give a valedictory statement.
Asked if their would be special allowances for valedictories, Wilson said in a statement that normally only MPs were allowed to speak in the House but the House could suspend its own rules or temporarily alter them.
“It could do so to allow former members to address the House.”
Wilson said no such arrangements could be made until the next Parliament opened and members sworn in.
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