Dame Mary Beaton Macdonald (born 29 July 1950; née Skinner) is a British schoolteacher and former headmistress who was made a
Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
in 2005 for her work turning around the failing Riverside Community Primary School in
North Shields, Tyneside, where she spent thirteen years.
False Allegations
In 2005, the same year she was knighted, Dame Mary was falsely accused of assaulting a pupil at an assembly rehearsal.
Two mothers turned up, obviously very angry, and one of them accused me of slapping her child… Obviously I quickly denied it; it was too ridiculous for words. I hardly knew the child or the parent. It was a child in our early years section. I didn't know anything about the incident - I hadn't been anywhere near the early years area during the practice assembly, which is when the parent said something had happened. It appeared that the child had behaved badly and lashed out at other pupils and staff. A nursery nurse had held her on her knee throughout the rehearsal to keep her under control. "I think this mother was annoyed that someone had seen fit to discipline her daughter and she was determined to make trouble for the school", according to Dame Mary.
The two mothers refused to leave until they learned the police were on their way. The police and the
Local Education Authority
Local education authorities (LEAs) were local councils in England that are responsible for education within their jurisdiction. The term was used to identify which council (district or county) is locally responsible for education in a system wit ...
(LEA) completely exonerated Dame Mary. Outlandish rumours and innuendo began circulating that Dame Mary had kicked the child all around the school hall. Some of these were overheard by a bureaucrat who reported the hearsay to another division of the police. Soon, calls for her resignation were being made. Ultimately, dame Mary was found to be totally innocent.{{{POV statement, date=March 2023
Dame Mary holds that schools should have the right to sue parents who make false allegations against staff and to exclude pupils who do the same. She has worked with the local authority to improve protection for teachers.
Coverage of Dame Mary's damehood
bbc.co.uk; accessed 8 April 2016.
References
External links
"Putting fun back into the curriculum", MP3 audio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Mary
1950 births
Women school principals and headteachers
Schoolteachers from Tyne and Wear
British people of Scottish descent
Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Living people
Place of birth missing (living people)
Heads of schools in England
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