Head teacher before conduct panel

The school governors backed Catherine Maltbaek

A hearing is under way into the conduct of a Plymouth head teacher and her behaviour towards her deputy.

Catherine Maltbaek, of the Cathedral School of St Mary in Stonehouse, is facing a conduct hearing at the General Teaching Council (GTC) in Birmingham.

The panel will consider if the head teacher is guilty of unacceptable professional misconduct.

In 2006 her deputy Sue Preston won an employment tribunal case claiming she had made her life "a total misery".

Mrs Preston complained of being bullied out of her job as deputy head by Mrs Maltbaek and was awarded a maximum payout of £56,800 by an employment tribunal.

The school governors said after the tribunal that they still had "full confidence" in Mrs Maltbaek as head teacher.

The GTC is expected to hear the case over the next eight days.

The school is run by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth with support from Plymouth City Council.