A FORMER Newport headteacher “terrified” other members of staff, a Teaching Council heard today.

Former Rogerstone Primary school head Sam Yeoman allegedly "manipulated" national reading and numeracy test to boost results in May 2013, a Teaching Council for Wales professional conduct committee was told.

Helen Hickinbottom, who has taught at the school since 2004 and served as one of the deputy head teachers under Ms Yeoman, felt that the administration was flawed for the compulsory tests.

In the run up to the tests, Mrs Hickinbottom said that several meetings were held to prepare for language features, vocabulary, and practice tests with a “great deal of pressure”.

Mrs Hickinbottom said that ahead of the tests, Ms Yeoman warned her pupils must achieve or "you will have failed them". She was then invited into a meeting room by the other deputy head, Mr Millard, where test papers were spread out and she was given a chance to “familiarise” herself with the content.

Mrs Higginbottom said that pupils could also take as long as they wanted with the tests, even though they were supposed to only have 30 minutes.

Mrs Hickinbottom said that she had to ensure the highest possible marks in the tests to make the school look better.

The panel heard that on one occasion when a pupil did not meet these standards, of achieving above 20 marks, the child was brought back and given a rubber to re-do the exam.

On a separate occasion, when an invigilator from the EAS (Education Achievement Service) was present, Ms Hickinbottom was told to move the desks apart – having been in a long line together on the day before.

Mrs Hickinbottom added that she experienced six to nine months of intimidation from Ms Yeoman, with an increasingly unmanageable workload meaning she would often work until 2am. She left her role as deputy head in 2011, feeling a “broken woman”.

Mrs Hickinbottom, who took a £13,000 wage drop in leaving the role, said that Ms Yeoman told her that she was “failing” and that “other teachers were snapping at her heels”.

She said the treatment left her “physically sick”, having previously been a “strong woman”.