- Home Fitness to Teach Hearings Schedule and Decisions
Hearings Schedule and Decisions
Here you can find details of upcoming Fitness to Teach hearings and Fitness to Teach Panel decisions.
Our Fitness to Teach Publication Policy sets out how we communicate information about our cases to the public.
Fitness to Teach Hearings
Hearing notices will be added here up to 7 days in advance. Hearings are held at our offices or using Microsoft Teams. They are usually open to the public and media.
The name of the teacher and any witnesses will be kept anonymous in hearing notices and will not be shared with the public or press.
Upcoming Hearings
Full Hearing (Conduct)
Date of hearing: 23 & 25 August 2022
Location: Virtual (via Microsoft Teams)
Type of hearing: Full Fitness to Teach Conduct Hearing (conduct)
Allegations
- Whilst employed as a class teacher by South Lanarkshire Council at Carstairs Junction Primary School, you did:
- On 1 December 2017 drag Pupil A across the floor by the arm;
- On 13 December 2017 drag Pupil A by the arm and push the child back onto a chair;
- In or around September or October 2017 pull Pupil A by the leg/ankle toward yourself in a classroom;
- On 14 December 2017 grab Pupil B by the shoulders and cause the child distress;
- In or around November 2017 leave the pupils in your additional support needs class unattended; and
- In or around November 2017 make Pupil A sit in a seat where she had urinated.
And in light of the above, it is alleged that your fitness to teach is impaired and you are unfit to teach as a result of breaching Parts 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.6 and 2.4 of the General Teaching Council for Scotland’s Code of Professionalism and Conduct.
This hearing will take place virtually, by way of Microsoft Teams.
Should any members of the public or press wish to attend the hearing (virtually), they must contact GTC Scotland no less than 48 (working) hours prior to the start time of the hearing (i.e. by 10.00 am on 19 August 2022) in order to request the link to the public hearing. Any requests to attend the hearing beyond this time cannot be facilitated. Attendees will require to have the Microsoft Teams application downloaded to their device. You can download Microsoft Teams from the Microsoft website, or from the Apple Store on Apple devices, or the Google Play Store on Android devices.
When requesting a link to the public hearing, the following information will require to be provided to regulation@gtcs.org.uk:
- Your full name
- Date of hearing
- Email address to which we can send the Microsoft Teams link
- Contact number we can reach you on if there are any technical issues during the hearing
- Reason for wishing to observe (for example: press)
Please send your request to attend to regulation@gtcs.org.uk
As with hearings held in our office, members of the public and press in attendance are reminded not to interrupt proceedings and it is strictly prohibited for an observer to audio or video record, screenshot, photograph, copy or share our hearing proceedings. Under Rule 1.7.10, a Panel may decide to exclude any person where the Panel is of the opinion that their presence is disruptive or otherwise detrimental to proceedings being conducted in line with the general objectives. Furthermore, members of the public and press will not be permitted access to the private discussions of the Panel.
How to attend a hearing
Members of the public and media are expected to give at least 2 working days’ notice to GTC Scotland if they wish to attend a hearing.
Recent decisions
Recent decisions remain in this table for 1 month following the date of publication. They are then moved to the Decisions Archive below for 3 months following the date of publication.
Date | Teacher | Case Type | Outcome | Date of Publication |
---|---|---|---|---|
7, 8, 20-24 June 2022 | Ashley McConnell | Full Hearing (Conduct) | – Decision – Full Hearing – Decision – Postponement Application – Decision – Panel Meeting | 10 August 2022 |
Hearing Date | Teacher | Type of Hearing | Outcome | Date of Publication |
---|---|---|---|---|
31 January, 1 February and 19 May 2022 | Jade Moore | Full Hearing (Competence) | – Decision – Full Hearing – Decision – Panel Meeting | 11 July 2022 |
23 & 24 May 2022 | Anna Irfan | Full Hearing (Conduct) | – Decision – Full Hearing – Decision – Panel Meeting | 24 June 2022 |
4-6 May 2022 | Charles Tighe | Full Hearing (Conduct) | – Decision – Full Hearing – Decision – Panel Meeting – Signed Conditional Registration Order | 21 June 2022 |
20 May 2022 | Muriel Craig | Full Hearing (Conduct) | – Decision – Anonymity Application – Decision – Full Hearing – Decision – Panel Meeting | 15 June 2022 |
27 April 2022 | Eileen Kirkpatrick | Full Hearing (Competence) | – Unchallenged Recommendation | 30 May 2022 |
5, 7, 8, 12 April 2022 | Edward Sutherland | Full Hearing (Conduct) | – Decision – Full Hearing – Decision – Panel Meeting – Decision – Panel Meeting | 25 May 2022 |
17 May 2022 | Natasha Sturrock | Consent Order | This case was referred for Full Hearing proceedings in 2021. However, the Teacher has since admitted the allegations in full and requested removal from the Register. This request was granted by a Fitness to Teach Panel Convener and the Teacher signed and returned the order. | 23 May 2022 |
20 October 2021 | Lee Watt | Panel Meeting | – Decision – Panel Meeting – Signed Consent Order (PDF 263 KB) | 20 May 2022 |