The teacher was sacked from Newberries Primary School in Radlett, Hertfordshire (Google)

A teacher at a primary school in Hertfordshire has been sacked after telling Jewish pupils that she would “ship them off to the gas chambers” if they failed to do their homework.

The unidentified teacher told pupils at the Newberries Primary School in Radlett that she was “joking” when challenged over her anti-Semitic comments and she asked them not to tell anyone.

However, children told their parents about the incident and after the news spread on school WhatsApp groups, according to the Daily Mail.

After the head teacher was informed of what happened by parents who threatened to withdraw their children from the school, the board of governors met and decided to sack the teacher - on Friday.

The sacked teacher joked that she would "send children to the gas chambers" if they did not do their homework (Getty/posed by model)

It is believed her dismissal was immediate because she was an agency worker with no permanent contract with the school, which has 203 pupils aged four to 11.

One parent is quoted as saying: “To the credit of the school they made it clear they wanted to deal with the situation without delay.

“They did not seek to dispute the suggestion that the teacher had made the reference to ‘gas chambers’. The fact that the woman was sacked the following day says everything you need to know.”

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A spokesman for the school added: “We can confirm that last week we were made aware that an alleged racist comment had been made by an agency teacher working within the school.

“We acted on this immediately and our governors and leadership team are undertaking a full investigation. The agency teacher will not be returning.”

The school has written to parents telling them that religious leaders from different faith groups had been invited to speak to pupils in light of “recent events”.

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