A TEACHER at a special school drove at about 100 miles per hour in a high-powered car with three students on board.

Cheryl Smith, 44, was banned from teaching for at least three years after a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) misconduct hearing on March 5 this year.

The report, published last week, found Smith engaged in unprofessional behaviour on, or around, June 25, 2019 when she took three pupils from Denby Grange School, in Wakefield out in an Audi RS3 and drove recklessly at roughly 100mph.

Smith was deployed at the school by an agency.

A witness who was on the “trip” in the car with Smith and the students said she drove down long, winding country roads, that were wet, and “sped considerably”, recalling they travelled at “above 100mph”.

The witness said they told Smith to slow down and that it was not safe but claimed she “laughed” in response.

The pupils were not aware of the speed they were going but one of them said “she was going too fast” and concurred that the witness in the car asked Smith to slow down, according to the report.

Another filmed the trip from within the car.

This pupil showed the video to a witness during a lesson after the incident.

They said it showed the car “moving extremely fast” due to the passing trees from outside the window and when the video panned round it showed the speedometer at 102mph.

She also observed that the driver was speaking about how fast the car goes but cannot 100 per cent state what was said “as the video was very noisy”, according to the report.

Smith did not attend the hearing.

She admitted in statements that she took the pupils on a trip but denied speeding, saying she never went over 70mph.

She claimed she had business insurance to allow her to drive the car and drove it up and down the road three times, giving each pupil a turn in the front.

The panel found Smith’s actions exposed the pupils to the risk of harm and she also failed to obtain appropriate permission or complete the required risk assessments.

Smith claimed she had verbal approval the day before and on the day of the trip.

There were photos of pupils on trips to car dealerships, which showed them sitting in stationary cars.

A witness said they were aware of these trips, and the risks would have been assessed and they would have been approved if “deemed appropriate”.

The report said: “The panel noted none of the photographs showed pupils out on test drives.”

The witness said the school would never permit pupils to participate in a test drive of a high-performance car.

Smith had taken pupils out on a previous occasion in an Audi R6 but two of the witnesses the panel heard evidence from were not aware of this, according to the report.

The school said in the TRA referral form “has fantastic references and Denby Grange has always spoken very highly about her ability and professionalism.”

One witness also said Smith had “a really good conduct record and reputation as a teacher”.

Smith was handed a prohibition order for three years, meaning she will be able to apply for the it to be set aside from March 11, 2027.

The Telegraph & Argus approached Denby Grange School for comment but did not receive a response.