Shôn Rowcliffe

Introduction

Shôn Rowcliffe, 33, a supply teacher at Ysgol Bro Preseli in Crymych, Pembrokeshire, was banned from teaching for two years after an Education Workforce Council (EWC) panel found that on a school trip to France he was under the influence of alcohol while responsible for pupils, struck one pupil across the chest, used obscene language and raised his middle finger at another teacher. The panel concluded four of five allegations against him were proven on the third day of the hearing; Rowcliffe admitted some of the allegations but denied being drunk and denied striking the pupil. The BBC reported the two-year suspension on 24 September 2026.

Background Information

Rowcliffe worked as a supply teacher at Ysgol Bro Preseli, a Welsh-medium secondary school in Crymych. He was suspended from the school while an investigation was conducted into the trip — a 2024 visit to France on which a group of Year 7 and 8 football students, aged 12 and 13, played in a competition with a school twinned with Ysgol Bro Preseli. School trips place teachers in loco parentis for the duration, with the staff’s own conduct held to correspondingly high standards; the EWC, Wales’s education regulator, hears cases against registered school staff in Wales.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Contested findings. The panel found four allegations proven and one not proven. Rowcliffe’s denials on the two most serious findings — drink and the strike — were rejected on the evidence, but they remain disputes on the record, and the outcome was suspension rather than removal.

The panel found that Rowcliffe had been under the influence of alcohol while responsible for pupils during the trip — a finding he disputed, telling the hearing he had not been drunk. It also found he struck one pupil across the chest, another allegation he rejected. He admitted the remaining allegations: using obscene language and raising his middle finger at another teacher. On the third day of the hearing the panel concluded four of the five allegations were proven. The fifth — that he asked a pupil to keep the incident a secret — was not proven.

The panel found Rowcliffe’s conduct fell short of the standards expected of his role. In mitigation, it received “positive comments” about him from the school’s headteacher and another teacher on the trip, and was “satisfied” the incident was “an isolated incident” — findings that shaped the choice of sanction. Against that, panel chairman Robert Newsome said there had been “no genuine expression of regret or apology during these proceedings”, and that a period of suspension would allow Rowcliffe “to reflect on his conduct”.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The EWC suspended Rowcliffe’s registration for two years, removing him from the classroom in Wales for that period. The BBC’s report of 24 September 2026 was the main press coverage; the case drew attention for the setting — a school football trip abroad — and for the combination of findings: drunkenness in charge of 12- and 13-year-olds, a physical strike on a pupil, and abusive gestures at a colleague. The headteacher’s positive reference and the isolated-incident finding were reported alongside the ban, part of the panel’s published reasoning for stopping short of erasure.

Current Status

Rowcliffe is suspended from the EWC register for two years from the panel’s decision. A suspended teacher may reapply for registration at the end of the period, subject to the regulator’s satisfaction; the record does not state whether Rowcliffe has appealed or sought reconsideration. His denials of the drink and strike findings stand rejected but on the record.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The two-year suspension removes Rowcliffe from teaching supply work in Wales until at least late 2028, and any return requires the regulator to be satisfied he can practise again — with the findings, including the rejected denials, forming the starting point of that assessment. Because he was a supply teacher, the suspension interrupts a career already operating without a permanent post; the panel’s reference to his isolation of the incident and the headteacher’s support preserve a path back that an erasure order would have closed. The published decision keeps the episode — drunkenness, the strike on a pupil, the gesture at a colleague — attached to his registration record.

Sources

• *BBC News, “Crymych teacher banned for two years after striking pupil on trip,” Sep 24, 2026 — source