Miss Quick is now under the care of her doctor

Miss Quick's union - the National Association of Head Teachers - put her "error of judgement" down to stress, after an inspection by the education watchdog, Ofsted, three years ago said the school had "serious weaknesses".

Prior to the incident, her integrity had been "impeccable", the NAHT said.

Regional officer John Heels said: "Modern headship increasingly involves head teachers in more stress than in the past".

"This can lead to errors of judgement such as this one," he said.

'Regrettable'

The director of education at Newcastle City Council, Phil Turner, said the current situation was regrettable.

"Their education has always been of paramount importance to Miss Quick and she had an unblemished record until this incident," Mr Turner said.

Standards of attainment are too low... It is not yet an effective school

Ofsted report, March 2001

"She immediately regretted her actions and brought them to our attention.

"She has fully co-operated with our investigation and promptly offered her resignation," he said.

The chair of governors at the school, Claire Brennan-Airey, said Miss Quick had been under pressure to get good results.

"In all aspects of her work as head teacher in the school over a period of almost seven years, Miss Quick had shown integrity and total professionalism.

"The pressure on head teachers to see that their schools succeed is inevitably a factor to consider in this case," Ms Brennan-Airey said.

Parent Mandy Irkis was angered at the head teacher's actions

A spokeswoman for the Department for Education said the department could not condone malpractice.

"It is crucial that tests are fair to all pupils and that the public has confidence in the test results," the spokeswoman said.

"We are sensitive to concerns about overburdening teachers and that is why we have commissioned an independent study of teachers' workload," she added.

The Year 6 pupils who took the SATs - national curriculum tests - in May will have their marks annulled and will be given grades based on teachers' assessments.

'Devastating'

Parents are aware of the situation and have been told their children's education will not suffer as a result.

But one mother, Mandy Irkis, expressed her concern about the situation.

"It's devastating, absolutely devastating, after all the hard work Dean's put in," she said.

"I said 'Go ahead, do your best, they can't ask anyone more than that - even if you don't do well, we'll still be proud of you.'

"He was absolutely appalled," she said.

'Little progress'

An Ofsted inspection of the school in March said pupils' achievement had not improved since the last inspection in 1998, especially the results of more able children.

"Standards of attainment are too low, although beginning to improve," inspectors reported.

"It is not yet an effective school."

The performance of pupils in maths and science last year was rated as below average.

"Test results show standards overall are below the national average," the inspectors' report said.

Earlier this month, two other primary school heads - in Salford and in Bury in Greater Manchester - were suspended over allegations that SATs had been mis-managed.