A science teacher who passed a lit cigarette around a classroom and allowed two of his pupils to try it has been allowed to keep his job. Jim McIntee, a teacher at the independent Steiner School in Canterbury, Kent, passed the cigarette to pupils aged 12 during a lesson in February about the effects of nicotine on the lungs. Three parents have now taken their children out of the school, which claims to allow pupils “to find out by themselves”. Philip Carberry, from Canterbury, said: “Our son tried the cigarette because he thought he had our permission, which he most certainly did not. A teacher is the last person you expect to tempt one of your children with a cigarette.”

Rose Karemi, the chairman of the school, said: “The incident was fully investigated by the school and the teacher in question has been subject to disciplinary actions.”

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