L v Teaching Council (Approved)

                  The applicant is the principal of a primary school. In these proceedings he is challenging a decision of the disciplinary panel of the respondent (hereinafter 'the disciplinary panel') delivered on 27 March 2024, which found him guilty of poor professional performance in delaying for 19 weeks in informing the parents of a nine-year-old, pre-verbal child, with autism, that an allegation of inappropriate behaviour towards the child by his teacher, had been made by a special needs assistant.

                  The applicant also challenges the subsequent decision of the disciplinary panel that the appropriate sanction was one of admonishment.

                  The grounds of challenge to the decisions and the response of the respondent thereto, will be set out in greater detail later in the judgment

                  The term "poor professional performance" is defined in s.2 of the Teaching Council Act 2001 (hereinafter 'the 2001 Act') in the following way: poor professional performance means, in relation to a registered teacher, a failure by the registered teacher to meet the standards of competence (whether in knowledge, skill or the application of knowledge and skill or both) that can be reasonably expected of a registered teacher.

                  It was agreed that at the material time, the child at the centre of this controversy was nine years of age. He had autism. He was pre-verbal. He was allowed to wear ear defenders in class. He had the assistance of an SNA.