What can lead to a temporary restriction order for a teacher?

[BlumBleeBlo]

One of my DCs’ teachers is subject to a “temporary restriction order” on the GTCS Register.

Does anyone know what kind of situations give rise to this kind of restriction? The local chat is that if it was really serious then the teacher would be suspended rather than just have such an order, but I’m not so sure.

I can find a lot online about the purpose of such an order but not examples of the kind of behaviour that might trigger it.

One of my DC is quite vulnerable / easily led with a bit of praise - which is a worry if it could be more than “they aren’t a good teacher”. (If that makes sense)

A temporary restriction order (TRO) or interim prohibition order is only issued for serious allegations of misconduct that pose an immediate risk to pupils, public safety, or the reputation of the teaching profession. [1, 2]
Regulatory bodies like GTC Scotland and the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) in England reserve these orders for incidents where allowing the teacher to continue working unrestricted during a full investigation is deemed too risky. [2, 3, 4]
The main categories of incidents that trigger these orders include:

1. Safeguarding and Sexual Misconduct

Inappropriate relationships: Forming, or attempting to form, sexually motivated or highly inappropriate relationships with pupils.
Sexualised behaviour: Sending inappropriate messages, grooming, or displaying overtly sexual behaviour toward students or colleagues.
Abusive materials: Any activity involving the viewing, possession, or distribution of indecent images of children. [1, 5, 6]

1. Violence and Physical Harm

Assault: Allegations of physical violence or sexual assault against students, colleagues, or members of the public.
Inappropriate restraint: Using excessive, harmful, or unauthorised physical force or restraint on a child.
Weapons and terrorism: Incidents involving the possession of illegal weapons, firearms, or links to violent extremism. [1, 5, 6, 7, 8]

1. Serious Dishonesty and Fraud

Persistent dishonesty: Repeatedly lying to employers, falsifying student exam results, or manipulating official school data.
Financial fraud: Theft of school funds, defrauding vulnerable individuals, or major financial crimes. [1, 5, 6, 9, 10]

1. Criminal Activity and Substance Abuse

Pending criminal charges: Being actively investigated or charged by the police for severe crimes (e.g., Class A drug supply, arson, or serious driving offences involving alcohol or drugs). [5, 6]
Working under the influence: Attending school while severely intoxicated or under the influence of illegal drugs, directly risking pupil safety. [9, 10]

1. Severe Breaches of Trust

Bullying and harassment: Severe, targeted verbal abuse or discriminatory harassment toward pupils or coworkers.
Bringing the profession into disrepute: Actions outside of school that are so severe they would fundamentally destroy public trust in the individual's fitness to teach. [7, 9, 11]

If you are trying to understand how a specific situation fits into these categories, please share:

Is there an ongoing police investigation or school disciplinary process?
Did the incident happen inside or outside the school environment?

I can provide more specific details on how thresholds are determined.

[1] https://www.gtcs.org.uk
[2] https://www.cj-law.co.uk
[3] https://www.gtcs.org.uk
[4] https://www.gov.uk
[5] https://www.edapt.org.uk
[6] https://cdn.prod.website-files.com
[7] https://www.highspeedtraining.co.uk
[8] https://regulatorydefence.co.uk
[9] https://neu.org.uk
[10] https://www.cj-law.co.uk
[11] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk

It means they are under investigation for something that may lead to them being struck off. It does not mean they are guilty of anything. A teacher can stilll continue to work while the investigation is underway.

We have no idea if it’s inside or outside school @OriginalSkang - the restriction has been there for the whole school year but my DC have the same teacher again next year so I’m getting worried. It does sound potentially very serious from that summary.

If the order has been in place for over a year I can only think the teacher is awaiting trial for something criminal. I would have thought any other form of investigation would have been completed within the year but I know it can take years for criminal cases to get to court nowadays.

A teacher I worked spend over 18 months under an order while the (at times criminally slow) investigation into her husband’s very horrific crimes investigated if she had any knowledge or had covered at any point. She was completely exonerated at the end of it all.

God, how awful for her! I hadn’t even considered this kind of scenario.

OP, I think asking the school is the best bet.

How did you find out?

@FrippEnos one of the parents dislikes this teacher and looked them up on the Register online - mainly as our HT position is vacant and the register also notes if a teacher is HT qualified. The register notes the restriction. Now we all know.

School teachers have been asked - they say they can’t and won’t discuss it at all - even the very gossipy ones.

Unfortunately regulatory investigations can take a very long time even where there’s no criminality.

Has the teacher been teaching in the school during this time ? If not then surely there’s no reason to be concerned about your DC? Have school said teacher is returning at start of new term next week ?

Yes, has definitely still been teaching and their name is on both my DC’s timetables for 26/27.

Thank you.
I was wondering if it was something like this.
With reguards to the teachers, I doubt that they would know what the issue is and the school can't tell you due to GDPR etc.

I didn’t know this could still teach, this is useful information thanks for sharing

It’s an allegation not a conviction. Anyone can accuse anyone else of anything. I would trust the system that they will take action if/when something is proven.

This could be an incredibly wide range of things - the one thing it’s not because of is “they aren’t a good teacher” (that could separately be true but wouldn’t be handled like this) and if they believed there was any danger to children the LA would not have them in class. GTCS will be awaiting the outcome of an investigation, could be related to school or not - eg something financial or domestic (of them or even possibly their partner) and true or false but until the outcome is clear they should be allowed to do their job. There will be no teacher under closer scrutiny in that school. Now that there is a witch hunt of course they may end up forced on leave so DC may be without a teacher next term.

Unusually (as I understand it) there’s an abundance of teachers in the school. Plus lots are part time and want to increase their hours so this teacher leaving wouldn’t be a bad thing for me. But largely clouded by their teaching style not being a good fit for my DC.

We’ll just have to see what happens. Parents have known about the restriction since last Christmas - it’s just bigger in my mind now with the new timetables out. So a hounding-out feels unlikely.

You can look up Upcoming Hearings and Recent Decisions on GTCS website under Fitness to Teach. Teachers have a login name and password but the part mentioned is open to the public.

Thanks @dancehysterical22 - we’ve been keeping an eye on those but it’s (understandably) so heavily redacted that the upcoming hearings bit is a bit useless- Teacher A at a school in [redacted] …

We need to just trust the process I suppose.

Many people who have been part of SLT are choosing to return to the classroom or leave altogether. It’s very often a stressful, thankless task. This teacher having a HT qualification but not filling the vacancy means nothing. In teaching you don’t just get to increase your hours because you want to. You also don’t get to be HT without an interview process that you have chosen to be part of.

If there was reason to believe your child was at a potential risk, the teacher would not be in class during this process. I’m glad that no one will tell you what’s going on, even the ‘gossipy’ staff. As many people have stated, it could be an investigation which does not involve the teacher themselves and like everyone, they are entitled to some privacy while this remains an investigation and not a conviction.

Not teaching but childcare. I worked with a young woman who lived at home with her parents and brother. Her brother got in a fight with somebody in his year group but a couple of months younger, meaning it was technically an adult punching a child. Because she lived with somebody under investigation for assaulting a child she lost her clearance for her childcare job for a while.
There might be a good reason for this teacher getting suspended, or there might not. You just have to wait and like you said, trust the process.

I know a story exactly the same as this. Young man got into a fight outside a bar so nowhere near the home where childcare was being provided and the childcare provider wasn't even with the young man (who it turned out had acted in self defence).

OP in my own experience (doctor practicing without a licence) they usually retire as soon as it's found out if guilty. They can then retire on full pay which is irritating as hell but it does safeguard people from them.

I am aware of a teacher a few years ago who got a TRO for faking their maths test certificate. Yes it is serious in that it’s a breach of trust and submitting falsified records, but not in the sense that they would pose a danger to the children. The range of offences that can cause a TRO is quite broad. And the restriction is often placed before any finding of guilt has been made. The panel hearings are generally public information though so have you checked to see if there is an outcome published or a future hearing scheduled?

I would imagine if your child was in anyway at risk from this teacher, they wouldn’t be in the classroom whilst the investigation is ongoing. So, I would assume it is something else …… in which case, perhaps gossiping about the teacher is not nice as sounds like they have enough to deal with, outside of gossiping parents.

You seem to know a great deal about the teachers in this school. How do you know they’re part time and looking to increase their hours? How do you know what any of the teachers’ ‘teaching styles’ are?

Given the apparent abundance of teachers if there was anything to actually be worried about they wouldn’t have allocated this teacher a class next year.

That they have suggests the fully expect them to remain full time staff on a long term basis