English teacher, 40, is struck off after swearing at school pupils

English teacher, 40, is struck off after swearing at secondary school pupils, ‘shouting in their faces’ and bragging about her sex life in class

• Teacher Julia Wheeler, 40, swore at teenage pupils in Bridgend, south Wales
• They say she branded them ‘d***heads’, ‘b******s’ and bragged about her sex life
• Ms Wheeler claimed she was victim of a ‘witch hunt’ ahead of her teaching ban

A potty-mouthed teacher who swore at pupils and bragged about her sex life has been banned from the classroom for two years. 

English teacher Julia Wheeler, 40, hurled swear words at schoolchildren and gloated to them about her ‘friends with benefits’ relationships.

A fitness to practise hearing was told Ms Wheeler shocked senior staff at Pencoed Comprehensive School in Bridgend, South Wales after she wrote ‘b***h’ next to a pupil’s name on a mark sheet – and even put a circle around it.

The panel heard Ms Wheeler insisted the mark sheet was ‘never intended’ to go any further and even claimed she was the victim of a ‘witch hunt’.

Assistant headteacher Catherine Tobin said the concerns were raised at the high school when ten schoolchildren made statements against her.

English teacher Julia Wheeler, 40, hurled swear words at pupils at Pencoed Comprehensive School in Bridgend, South Wales, and gloated to them about her ‘friends with benefits’ relationships

The youngsters claimed Ms Wheeler called them ‘d***heads’, ‘b******s’ and ‘f*****g b******s’.

They also said she ‘shouted in their faces’ and ‘pushed chairs onto the floor’ in the classroom.

One pupil said Ms Wheeler reduced them to tears, saying: ‘She once shouted at me so much I cried.’

The Education Workforce Council panel heard Ms Wheeler started teaching at the school in September 2020 and complaints were made just eight months later.

Ms Tobin said pupils claimed Ms Wheeler told them about a personal relationship which she described as ‘friends with benefits’.

They said the inappropriate comments made between January and May 2021 also included referring to another member of staff as a ‘d***head’.

Ms Tobin told the hearing she had interviewed most of the pupils and that the allegations were ‘the first time she had heard anything like it’ during her 30 years in education.

Ms Tobin was also made aware of a mark sheet used by the school’s management to track pupils’ progress which included Wheeler’s writing.

Assistant headteacher Catherine Tobin of Pencoed Comprehensive School (pictured) in Bridgend, south Wales, said she had never ‘heard anything like’ Ms Wheeler’s behaviour in 30 years of education

She said that written next to one pupil’s name was the word ‘b***h’ with a circle around it.

Ms Tobin said: ‘In no way would I anticipate anybody to refer to a learner by that term. It was wholly inappropriate.’

Ms Wheeler was sent a letter that a disciplinary meeting was to take place in July 2021 – but an agreement was made to end her employment in February the following year.

Presenting officer Sara Lewis said Ms Wheeler’s conduct had negatively affected pupils and there had been ‘no expression of genuine regret’.

Ms Wheeler denied all allegations of unacceptable professional conduct by using inappropriate or derogatory behaviour towards pupils.

Steve Powell, panel chairman of the fitness to practise committee, said Ms Wheeler’s belief was that the allegations were a ‘witch hunt’ to ‘get her out’.

He said Wheeler’s behaviour amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and fell below the standards expected of a registered person. He said evidence supplied by pupils in the form of statements and interviews with staff at the school was ‘consistent and corroborative’ .

Mr Powell said Ms Wheeler had not expressed any regret or apology or demonstrated she could comply with safeguarding guidelines. He said her behaviour had shown a ‘deliberate and reckless disregard’ for pupils and colleagues and had had a ‘direct impact on some pupils’.

Wheeler has been banned from teaching for two years following the Cardiff hearing.

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