Sacked Christian teacher who prayed for sick pupil gets job back

A CHRISTIAN teacher who was sacked after she offered to pray for a sick child has won her job back, The Mail on Sunday has reported.

The case of Olive Jones, who lives in Weston-super-Mare, and worked for a Nailsea-based supply teacher service, was highlighted in the local and national press just before Christmas.

After a case review council bosses now say she can return as supply maths teacher.

At the time Mrs Jones, aged 54, said she had been a victim of religious persecution, having been told her behaviour was akin to bullying.

She said she was ‘delighted’, adding: “I am hugely relieved. I feel I’ve been vindicated.”

And she praised the campaigning stance of The Mail on Sunday for her being reinstated.

Mrs Jones was dismissed within hours of discussing her religious beliefs and offering to pray for the sick girl during a home visit.

The family lodged a formal complaint, saying they were nonbelievers and the girl had been ‘traumatised’ by Mrs Jones’s attempts to impose her beliefs.

As she worked only about 12 hours a week without a formal contract, Mrs Jones’s job with North Somerset Tuition Service in Nailsea, could be ended with immediate effect.

However, Mrs Jones said she had been unaware that the family were unhappy with her attempt to comfort them.

It emerged during the case review that the mother had made a previous complaint when Mrs Jones had spoken of her belief in miracles.

However, Mrs Jones was not told about the criticism.

On a later visit, she talked about Heaven and asked if she could pray for the child, but did not do so after she learned the family were not believers.

She thought she had left the family on good terms.

‘"My bosses assumed I knew about the complaint," she said.

"But had I known I would never have offered to pray."

North Somerset Council agreed it could be appropriate for a teacher to share his or her faith, but a spokesman added: ‘A careful judgment has to be made. We have now offered Olive further work."

Andrea Williams, director of the Christian Legal Centre, which advised Mrs Jones, said she was ‘delighted’.