‘I was called curry lover and humiliated by other teachers’: The toxic truth about staffroom bullying
Warning: This story contains references to suicide along with racist and sexist language readers may find distressing.
When Maya* started a new teaching job, she did not expect to be called the n-word as she walked down the corridor.
The bullying from her fellow teachers proved relentless. She was called a “curry lover” and believes she was hidden from meeting parents at one point due to her skin colour.
It was not just racism she faced there but also sexism. Male colleagues told her she would have to “bend over a desk to get a promotion” and had “blowjob lips”. Incidents like these happened “almost every day”, she says.
Eventually forced to leave her job, Maya signed a Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) making her unable to speak about the abuse she suffered. As part of the conditions of her exit, she also received a significant payout, which she describes as “money to keep quiet”.
Sky News has spoken to over 320 current and former teachers from state, private and special schools across the UK, who allege having been bullied at work. Among those, 119 say they signed NDAs and received payouts ranging from the low thousands to tens of thousands of pounds in compensation.
Sky News has calculated that the total amount of money paid to these teachers is more than £1.73m.
This is taxpayers’ money meant for school budgets, which is instead being used to pay teachers to leave. We cannot verify when the earliest of these payments was made, but most were completed within the last decade.
The National Education Union, the UK’s largest education union, confirmed that the “vast majority” of financial settlements included NDAs.
NDAs used to ‘cover up’ bullying
The use of these NDAs was “not appropriate,” said Phil Clarke, the NEU National president. He added that the use of them was “covering up” or preventing further investigation into whether “it was appropriate for the individual, and an appropriate use of public money, for them to be paid to exit a school”.
Maya says she felt there was no other option but to accept the payment and NDA to escape the bullying, which left her feeling “worthless, sad and suicidal”.
Over a third of the teachers we spoke to have experienced similar thoughts and made plans to harm themselves to escape the bullying. A handful have gone as far as trying to end their lives.
It’s a familiar story for Tracy*, who says she “drove into school each morning willing myself to have an accident so I didn’t have to go in”.
Suicidal after management bullying
A teacher for 25 years, she loved her job and rose to a senior leadership position. Tracy says that during a move to change the school to an academy, she was “targeted” and bullied by the new management because she “questioned the direction” they were taking.
In her role, Tracy says she was privy to the “tactics” used on other members of staff and so when she was put on a performance plan, she knew it was “code for you don’t fit, we want you out”.
She told Sky News the “impact [of bullying] was such that I was suicidal and fundamentally unable to function at even the simplest level for a period of time”.
Tracy was also paid out and signed an NDA.
Among the teachers we spoke to, the academisation of schools came up repeatedly as a catalyst for bullying.
A school might become an academy by choice or if they are rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted. Teachers say they are run as businesses, with CEOs and a board, without the due care for teachers.
‘Power imbalance’ between teachers and heads
Speaking to Sky News, the National Education Union confirmed that the growth of multi-academy trusts has contributed to a “significant” power imbalance between management and teaching staff.
Phil Clarke, the NEU National President said academies are run as a “corporate system”, but “without the safeguards and professional respect that corporate environments would provide”.
Responding to the findings of this investigation, he confirmed that schools are becoming “more authoritarian places to work”.
How this culture of bullying is fixed is a complex question with no easy answer.
Attitudes need to change
Teachers throughout this investigation say that attitudes from senior leaders and managers need to change. The National Education Union says headteachers are under immense pressure from Ofsted, which can lead to this approach towards getting rid of staff.
Ofsted declined to comment on the findings of our investigation. Instead, a spokesperson said they always seek to minimise “undue pressure on those we work with” and that they were “ready to hear feedback, accept criticism and reform”.
Appealing directly to the government, Maya asked for the abolition of NDAs within schools, so teachers could speak out without “legal repercussions”.
Responding to this investigation Education Minister, Catherine McKinnell, said: “All school staff should feel safe and supported at work, and confident in being able to report concerns – and we expect school leaders as employers to take appropriate action to tackle any issues that are raised.
“For our part, we are determined to reset the relationship with education workforces so together we can drive high and rising standards across our schools.
“We have also worked in partnership with the education sector and mental health experts to create the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter – and encourage schools to sign up as a shared commitment to promote staff wellbeing.”
*Names have been changed
If you are a teacher and have had experiences similar to those discussed above and are willing to share them please email us at Sky.Today@sky.uk
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
The Russian ambassador to the UK has been summoned by the Foreign Office following attacks on Kyiv overnight.
It comes after the British Council building in the Ukrainian capital suffered major damage in Russian strikes.
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Foreign Secretary David Lammy confirmed the government had summoned Andrey Kelin in response.
Mr Kelin was seen arriving at the Foreign Office building in Whitehall today.
Russian ambassador to the UK Andrey Kelin arrives at the Foreign Office building in Whitehall
Mr Lammy posted on X: “Putin’s strikes last night killed civilians, destroyed homes and damaged buildings, including the British Council and EU Delegation in Kyiv.
“We have summoned the Russian Ambassador. The killing and destruction must stop.”
The British Council’s chief executive, Scott McDonald, said their guard for the building was injured but “stable”.
“At the insistence of my amazing colleagues, we will continue operations in Ukraine today wherever possible,” he said.
“Their resilience is awe-inspiring, and I am deeply thankful they are all safe.”
Earlier, Sir Keir Starmer said: “My thoughts are with all those affected by the senseless Russian strikes on Kyiv, which have damaged the British Council building.
“Putin is killing children and civilians, and sabotaging hopes of peace. This bloodshed must end.”
The British Council is an arms-length body from the government, and says its mission is to “support peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide”.
It facilitates schemes like working, living and learning abroad for British people.
Most of its funding comes from the fees it charges people for its services, but it does also get funding from the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
As well as the attack on the British Council building, Russia also targeted the EU delegation building in the Ukrainian capital overnight.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, told reporters two missiles hit within 50 metres of the site in 20 seconds.
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Devastation in Kyiv after deadly Russian attack
And Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said the bloc was also summoning Russia’s ambassador following the strike.
“No diplomatic mission should ever be a target,” she said.
The attacks came as part of wider strikes on Kyiv, which destroyed homes and buildings and killed at least 15 people and injured 38, according to Ukrainian officials.
Russia has said it targeted military sites and air bases in its large overnight strike on Ukraine – and that it is still interested in negotiations to meet its aims.
“The special military operation continues,” he said, referring to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which it launched in February 2022.
“You see that strikes on Russian infrastructure facilities are also continuing, and often Russian civilian infrastructure is targeted by the Kyiv regime.”
He added: “At the same time, Russia will maintain its interest in continuing the negotiation process in order to achieve the goals we face through political and diplomatic means.”
Russia’s latest attack on Ukraine has been widely condemned, with Germany’s foreign minister Johann Wadephul saying there must be “consequences”.
“Last night we once again experienced in a terrible way how Russia attacked and bombed Kyiv, civilians died, children died, and the European Union delegation was also attacked,” he told reporters.
“And that cannot remain without consequences.”
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Mr Wadephul added that Germany wanted to show it was considering a further response and that any action would be taken jointly by the EU.
A Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office Spokesperson said: “The UK condemns in the strongest terms these outrageous attacks on Ukrainians and the damage done to the British Council and EU Delegation.
“Russia’s increasing attacks on Ukrainian civilians and cities, including Kyiv, are an escalation of the war and deeply irresponsible and are further sabotaging international peace efforts.
“We have made clear to the Russians that such actions will only harden UK and Western resolve to support Ukraine and bring an end to this unjustified war.
“Russia must stop this senseless killing and destruction immediately.”
A former Metropolitan Police volunteer has been found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting a child.
James Bubb, who now identifies as a woman named Gwyn Samuels, assaulted the victim multiple times when she was between the ages of 12 and 18.
Jurors were told Bubb, who identified as male at the time of the offences, would be referred to by their biological sex when allegations were being discussed throughout the trial.
Bubb met the victim on a video chat site in 2018, when he was around 21 and she was 12 years old. They then met in person for the first time at a Christian festival a few months later, the court was told.
The trial heard Bubb sexually assaulted the girl in public shortly before her 13th birthday, and that he was violent towards the girl when he raped her in her early teens.
Pic: Thames Valley Police
In relation to the complainant, Bubb was on Thursday found guilty of one count of raping a child under 13, one count of sexual activity with a child, one count of assault of a child under 13 by penetration, and one count of assault by penetration.
He was found not guilty of one count of rape and one count of sexual activity with a child in relation to that complainant, and found guilty of one count of rape against a second person.
The defendant made no expression as the verdicts were read out, but sobbed with their head in their hands after the foreman finished speaking.
Bubb, who is now 27, started training with the Met in 2020.
The first victim said the defendant spoke “a lot about the powers he had” in his role as a special constable.
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The second complainant was a woman Bubb met online while posing as a 16-year-old girl.
They met when the woman had just turned 18, and were in an on-off relationship between January 2018 and February 2023.
She said Bubb used “BDSM and kink as a way of creating control” over her, and that he would “use police training techniques” on her.
“The control, the power he got, it sure as hell wasn’t consensual,” she told police.
Bubb, of Chesham, Buckinghamshire, will be sentenced at a later date.
Prince Harry will return to the UK on the third anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s death next month for a charity awards ceremony.
The Duke of Sussex, 40, will support the WellChild children’s charity on September 8.
Prince Harry, who lives in California with his wife, Meghan Markle, 44, is a long-standing patron of the charity.
The 2025 awards mark three years to the day that Queen Elizabeth II, the duke’s grandmother, died at her home in Balmoral, Aberdeenshire.
‘Their stories remind us of the power of compassion’
Harry said in a statement: “I am always privileged to attend the WellChild Awards and meet the incredible children, families and professionals who inspire us all with their strength and spirit.
“For 20 years, these awards have highlighted the courage of young people living with complex health needs and shone a light on the devoted caregivers – family and professionals – who support them every step of the way.
“Their stories remind us of the power of compassion, connection and community.”
Prince Harry lives in California with wife Meghan Markle. Pic: Yui Mok/Pool via REUTERS
Harry is set to make a speech, present an award to an “inspirational child” aged between four and six and meet and talk with seriously ill children and their families.
He has held the role of the charity’s patron for 17 years and has attended the awards 14 times before.
The charity describes itself as the national children’s charity “making it possible for children and young people with complex medical needs to thrive at home instead of hospital, wherever possible”.
Harry was last seen in the UK in May after losing a long-running battle with the Home Office over changes to his security arrangements.
The visit is likely to fuel speculation that he will meet with his father, the King, and estranged brother, Prince William.
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