A SECONDARY school teacher and leading anti-academy campaigner has been suspended over allegations she encouraged pupils to join mass demonstrations over tuition fee hikes.

Sue Caldwell, the head of maths and National Union of Teachers representative at Friern Barnet School, has been suspended following a complaint by a parent on November 24.

The teacher is accused of urging pupils to join mass protests in central London against Government plans to increase tuition fees and scrap the education maintenance allowance during school hours.

According to a petition started by the local NUT and Unison representatives, Ms Caldwell was suspended on January 17, and denies the accusations.

The petition says: “This is the only school in the country that we know to be taking this attitude in the aftermath of student protests.

“We regard this suspension as an act of victimisation - not due process.

“Sue is well-known locally as an anti-academies and Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transexual (LGBT) rights activist, and a frequent speaker at the NUT annual conference.”

A statement from Barnet Council said: “We can confirm a teacher has been suspended at Friern Barnet School.

“We would stress the school has a duty of care and a suspension should be seen as a commitment to fulfilling this duty, rather than a comment in any way on the individual.

“We cannot comment further on any HR issue at this stage."