Teacher banned after commiting dodgy act on lunch break earlier than returning to class
Rhian Williams, a former head of chemistry at Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bro Myrddin in Carmarthenshire, Wales, was banned from teaching after she drank half a bottle of wine on a lunch break
A science teacher has been hit with a lifetime ban from the classroom after downing half a bottle of wine during her lunch break before going back to class.
Rhian Williams, who was the head of chemistry at Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bro Myrddin in Carmarthenshire, Wales, spent her break in the car park of a nearby Morrisons on May 9, 2023.
She had gone there to get some flowers but ended up buying a bottle of white wine too, an Education Workforce Council (EWC) fitness to practise hearing heard.
She downed half the bottle in her car before going back to school to teach her year eight class who needed extra help learning. Her odd behaviour was spotted by colleagues who told assistant head teacher, Rhian Carruthers, who found Williams “overly happy” and got a surprise cuddle when she told her to leave the classroom.
Williams admitted what she had done, and the half-drunk wine bottle was found in her car.
Mrs. Carruthers, who’s been the assistant head at Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bro Myrddin since 2017, told the hearing Williams was “a wonderful person” and a top-notch teacher with a cracking rapport with the rest of the crew, reports the Mirror.
It emerged that Williams struggled with the impact of the pandemic on teaching and disheartened, she took two leaves of absence, the second stretching six months, only clocking back in at the end of March 2023.
Not showing up for the hearing, Williams’ wrote in a statement: “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.”
She vowed to leave teaching for good. Williams had been at the school since September 1999, steering the chemistry department until the COVID pandemic in 2020. Since hanging up her teacher’s hat, she’s channelled her energy into volunteering, with Mrs. Carruthers cheering: “She’s in a much better place now.”
The EWC committee ruled that Williams’ actions, which involved her turning up to school and teaching a class while under the influence of alcohol, amounted to unacceptable professional conduct.
As a result, they slapped her with a prohibition order of no less than two years, effectively banning her from teaching indefinitely.
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