Wiccan witch 'offered to teach spells to school pupils' » Education » 24dash.com

A witch who worked in a school told pupils she could teach them spells, an employment tribunal heard today.

Sommer De La Rosa, 34, a practising white witch of the Wiccan faith, is claiming unfair dismissal after being sacked from the Dorothy Stringer School in Brighton, East Sussex.

The former teaching assistant, of Moyne Close, Hove, also claims she was asked not to wear a pentagram - a symbol of her faith - to work.

She worked in the religious studies and music department of the school for eight months until May last year.

Mick Hickman, the former head of religious studies at the school, told the tribunal in Hove that he had no problem with the Wiccan faith.

He said: "Saying 'I'm a white witch' isn't a problem. 'I can put spells' is not a problem, but 'I can train you to put spells' is a problem."

Ms De La Rosa claims she only ever told a pupil what faith she practised after being asked if her pentagram was the Star of David and if she was Jewish.

She previously told the tribunal: "I told him that it was a pentagram and that I am Wiccan. When the pupil asked me what this meant, I told him that I am a white witch.

"When the pupil continued to question me, I told him if he wanted more information he should look it up on the internet like anything else he wanted to find out about."

Ms De La Rosa believed Mr Hickman to be a "staunch Methodist" who had been "inflamed by my religious disclosure".

Mr Hickman said: "The pupil had said she said 'I can help you put a spell on people'. She had said 'If you want to find out further you can go on the internet'."

When asked if he believed this version of events, he replied: "I accept that somebody thought that was what had been said."

He said Ms De La Rosa denied using the "kind of wording" he had been told.

Mr Hickman denied banning her from wearing the pentagram or mentioning her faith but said it was better that religious symbols remained hidden from view in order not to distract pupils.

He said: "If someone is wearing a symbol that pupils can't see, there's no problem."

Ms De La Rosa claimed that a religious studies teacher had worn a silver cross as a symbol of her Christian faith. Mr Hickman refuted this.

Catherine Rayner, counsel for Ms De La Rosa, asked him: "Is it right that your main concern was really a concern about the particular faith that the claimant was practising, that is, being a Wiccan and a white witch?"

He replied: "No, if it had been then I might have thought about asking for Sommer to be transferred. Her being a Wiccan was neither here nor there.

"The difficulty arises if there are supplementary questions by pupils in order to avoid doing the work."

The school and Brighton and Hove City Council claim Ms De La Rosa was sacked because of poor attendance and inappropriate disclosures to students.

The tribunal will resume at 10am tomorrow.

Copyright Press Association 2007.

Don't miss the 24dash.com audio bulletins for the latest news and information - http://www.24dash.com/podcasts