A senior teacher sacked for restraining a violent schoolgirl was unfairly dismissed, a tribunal has ruled.

Clive Kitchener was assistant principal at Goodwin Academy in Deal when he was fired for the way he handled the “out of control” pupil, who hit him five times, kicked him in the leg and groin and broke his glasses.

The tribunal heard that in October 2021 he was was trying to ensure the girl - described as Student A - left the school grounds as she had been excluded for walking out of her lesson, swearing, throwing items at people and barging past visitors.

Mr Kitchener told the pupil she was to go home as she had “not made wise decisions that day”.

It was reported the pupil took offence to this and walked off.

Mr Kitchener followed her before handing the situation over to another member of staff.

The pupil then turned a corner and walked towards Mr Kitchener, with CCTV capturing her making a violent hand gesture and being verbally abusive.

Mr Kitchener was then trying to block her path by holding a door frame when the pupil walked into him and the two were pressed together.

The tribunal heard the girl hit Mr Kitchener five times around the head and grabbed and broke his glasses.

The pair then slid into a doorway, where the pupil, described as the same size as an adult, kicked at the teacher’s leg and groin before getting up and continuing down the corridor.

The following day the school, which is part of The Thinking Schools Academy Trust, launched an investigation and asked Mr Kitchener to work from home for three weeks, while referring the incident to the police and local authority.

Neither decided to take further action, but bosses at the school in Hamilton Road felt the teacher had used “unnecessary force” while dealing with the student.

Disciplinary proceedings began in December 2021, alleging that Mr Kitchener had “inappropriately managed” the student’s behaviour and behaved unprofessionally.

He was then sacked without notice for gross misconduct in April last year as Stuart Gardner, the chief executive of the academy trust, “did not feel the level of behaviour exhibited by Student A merited a physical intervention”.

Mr Kitchener then appealed the decision and won his claim.

In the tribunal report, it is explained that Mr Kitchener “felt Student A was out of control, the lunch break was approaching, and once the lunch break had started it would be impossible to contain her”.

Employment judge Michael Atkins concluded that he had been unfairly dismissed as the school had not provided him with the correct training on using force despite the fact he had been at the school for three years.

The judge said: “They exposed [him] to risk, as a result, he was physically assaulted.

“Student A was felt to be a sufficient health and safety risk that she could be excluded from school.

“[She] had been throwing objects at people and barging into them, de-escalation techniques had been tried and failed.

“[Mr Kitchener] then lost his job because he did not have the tools to handle the situation that [the trust] was supposed to give him.

“It does not form any part of a fair procedure for [the trust] to set him up to fail, and then fail to take proper account of their own failures.”

A spokesperson for the academy trust said: “The events on that day were difficult for a number of individuals and we hope that this judgement allows all parties to move forward.

“The school has introduced a number of improvements to support the recommendations and we look forward to working with staff and pupils to continue to celebrate the successes of the Academy.”