Lancaster teacher banned after 'inappropriately restraining’ pupil
A teacher at a specialist school in Lancaster has been banned indefinitely after he inappropriately restrained a pupil whilst singing a nursery rhyme.
Benjamin Guilfoyle, formerly employed at The Loyne School, Lancaster, was found to have engaged in unacceptable professional conduct following a five-day virtual hearing held between November 3 and 7.
The case involved a single incident on July 13, 2022, concerning “Pupil A,” a young pupil with special educational needs.
A witness told the hearing that when the song ‘Row, row, row your boat’ came on, she noticed that Guilfoyle was sitting facing the pupil, telling him to keep sitting.
Her testimony added that Guilfoyle was becoming more agitated and was shouting while holding the student's hand and moving it in a forward and backwards motion.
However, while he was holding the student's hand, it looked as though the child began to resist and pull his hands away.
A report by the Teaching Regulation Agency said: “Mr Guilfoyle followed Pupil A to the corner and said out loud to the teaching assistants in the room, 'has anyone seen what Pupil A has done to his hand', and called her over to look.
“She (the witness) stated Pupil A slowly gave her his hand, and she saw a red and purple mark around 2cm long under the skin between Pupil A’s thumb and fingers on the back of his hand.
“Witness A stated they are often in close proximity to the pupils, and believed that someone would have noticed if he had a mark on his hand earlier in the day.
"Witness A stated that to her, the mark looked like friction from where Mr Guilfoyle held his hands.”
A panel also considered the written and oral evidence of Guilfoyle, which said he had used strategies such as ‘kind hands’ and ‘hands on knees’ to try and calm the pupil.
The report added: “Mr Guilfoyle said he regretted not calling for help from the teaching assistants during the incident.”
Guilfoyle was found to have breached several teaching standards during the incident and was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct.
He has been banned from teaching indefinitely, but may apply for the order to be reviewed in 2027.