We all make the odd mistake in work – but usually it is not serious enough to be sacked.
But this week a school teacher was banned from teaching altogether after her questionable lunch break act in a Morrisons car park was exposed.
Below, we take a look inside the troubling case, while also delving into other inappropriate moments that cost teachers their jobs.
Not the time for wine
A cheeky lunchtime tipple may be suitable in some workplaces – but certainly not when it comes to teaching.
And it was this that resulted in veteran educator Rhian Williams being punished.
The science teacher, who spent 24 years working at Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bro Myrddin in Carmarthenshire, Wales, went to Morrisons on May 9, 2023.
When Williams returned from lunch, teachers noticed her odd behaviour and reported it to the assistant head teacher
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There, she picked up flowers for a colleague, but she also bought a bottle of white wine too, before drinking half of it in her car before driving back to work.
Colleagues soon noticed her odd and “overly happy” behaviour before she confessed what she did after being confronted.
She has since been banned from teaching and in a statement to a hearing, she said: “I’m deeply ashamed about what happened on that day. I’m not proud of what I did but I take full responsibility for what I did.”
Prior to the incident, she had an impeccable record, and her former colleague noted: “She’s in a much better place now.”
Cheat, cheat, cheat
Adam Lowery was banned from teaching for good last year after helping a student cheat on three exams.
Adam Lowery said he was full of ‘regret’
This was after he gave the unnamed pupil the questions and marking scheme for their GCSE science test in 2021 – before they got a suspiciously high grade that prompted an investigation.
It happened during the pandemic when traditional exams were suspended in place of internal testing and teacher’s marks.
After being sanctioned by the Teacher Regulation Agency (TRA), Lowery said it was a “moment of madness and stupidity”.
He added: “Not a moment goes by where I don’t regret it but I can’t turn the clock back.”
‘I’m really sick’
Admit it, have you ever pulled a sickie? We promise we won’t tell.
Avoiding work for 20 our of 24 years is some going (stock image)
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Regardless, one person who knows all about that is Italian secondary school teacher Cinzia Paolina De Lio who lost her job for 20 years of absence during her 24 years employed at schools.
She somehow managed to do so by using sick leave, holidays and going to conferences to avoid the classroom.
Unsurprisingly, on the few occasions she did show up for work in Chioggia, near Venice, she was reportedly “unprepared” and “inattentive”.
She finally got sacked in 2017 after complaints from parents but she got it reversed a year later. However, the Supreme Court backed this being overturned, after it was revealed she only worked four years out of 24.
The philosophy and literature teacher was ruled by the top court to be “permanently and absolutely unsuitable” for the profession.
She did however hint that she would tell her side of a story one day, telling Repubblica newspaper: “Sorry, but right now I’m at the beach.
“I will reconstruct the truth of the facts of this absolutely unique and surreal story,” she said. “I don’t answer questions from journalists thrown around that wouldn’t do justice to the truth of my story.”
Adult website
Business and economics teacher David Chidlow was axed from his grammar school – after watching porn during lessons.
Chidlow said he switched between a live lesson on Microsoft Teams and an unauthorised site
He was working in Maidstone Grammar School when an investigation found he looked at profiles of women on an X-rated site 74 times between February and March of 2021.
Chidlow confessed at a virtual Teaching Regulation Agency misconduct hearing that he switched from a live lesson on Microsoft Teams to the pornographic site.
In a statement, he said “that his behaviour amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and/or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute”.
He also said he had been communicating with women on the unauthorised site who he would seek images from.
Chidlow was found guilty of unacceptable professional misconduct – and was eventually prohibited from teaching in any school in England.