A MATHS teacher has been reprimanded for making inappropriate comments to a pupil with additional special needs.

Robert Walker made the comments while working at the undisclosed West Fife school on September 11, 2015.

The student, who has been described as Pupil C, had been involved in an argument with another pupil in the registration class. The child had left the classroom following an intervention from the teacher and had then been disciplined.

Walker returned to the class and the hearing heard that other classmates had then told him about pupil C’s condition.

They said he responded by telling the whole class that the condition “did not exist in my day” and told them it was “an excuse for children that behave badly”.

At a hearing of the General Teaching Council for Scotland, a panel concluded that comments made by Walker were inappropriate.

At the time of the incident, the school was identifying strategies and working towards implementing them to assist Pupil C at the school. This included awareness-raising, keeping records in relation to pupils with additional support needs, retaining information on databases, sharing information amongst staff by email and departmental and school meetings highlighting professional responsibilities towards pupils.

Walker had said that he had not been aware of Pupil C’s condition until other pupils told him, however, the panel rejected this.

Its decision report stated: “The panel accepted their evidence that information about Pupil C’s condition was available to staff within the school and had been circulated to the school.

“In particular, the panel accepted that the teacher would have received emails regarding Pupil C.”

The panel concluded that Walker’s conduct was not deliberate.

“He had reacted to a situation in an unprofessional manner,” they stated. “His words were unsympathetic and in the particular circumstances were inflammatory.

“The panel concluded that the comments were made at a time when the teacher was angry and embarrassed at Pupil C having left his class and that they were made to seek to justify why the teacher had lost control. As a trained professional, the teacher should have refrained from passing any comment in the circumstances.

“In all of the circumstances, the panel concluded that the teacher’s conduct had fallen short of the standards expected of a registered teacher, but not significantly so.”

Walker, who left the school involved in 2017, received a warning which will remain on his registration for two years.