Deputy head who gave ‘porn’ names to pupils faces class ban

A DEPUTY headteacher faces being struck off after he gave lewd ‘porn star’ names to sixth years at a leaving assembly which left colleagues ‘physically sick’.

Graeme Cowie branded dozens of pupils, including one who had suffered a traumatic brain injury, with names such as ‘Peachybutt’.

Mr Cowie, 38, who was an acting deputy head, also made a sexual joke about golfer Tiger Woods in his speech.

His meltdown, in April last year, was watched in silence by stunned teachers, one of whom said she felt physically sick.

The popular teacher of maths and physics, who is thought to earn in excess of £60,000, was reported to the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS).

At a GTCS hearing in Edinburgh this week he admitted all the charges against him, saying his ‘ego’ took over. But Mr Cowie denies being unfit to teach.

The hearing was told that Mr Cowie, whose previously unblemished career spanned 17 years, put the names of 62 pupils into a ‘porn star name generator’ the night before the event on April 29, 2016.

In a written statement, Angela Wotherspoon, deputy rector at Mearns Academy, Laurencekirk, Aberdeenshire, explained that Mr Cowie was at the time acting head at another school but was invited back because he had spent much of his career at Mearns.

She said: ‘He went on to say how Pupil B had wet himself in drama class. I could see him cringing.’

Mrs Wotherspoon said Mr Cowie then started going through the leavers individually.

She said the ‘F-word’ was used amongst others. She said one student, named ‘Pupil F’, had suffered a traumatic brain injury and was not present but still given a crude moniker.

Mrs Wotherspoon said: ‘I thought I was going to be sick.’

Headteacher of Mearns Acadabout

‘I was looking for cheap laughs’

emy, David Martindale, said: ‘Graeme started semi-formally but then went on to say “s***e” and “b ****** s”, then said he was not going to keep it formal because they were leaving school. He spoke scandals, one about Tiger Woods struggling to keep his number one wood in his pants.

‘Then he started saying what porn star names they’d be. The pupils were lapping it up. Pupils were referred to as Dirk Peachybutt, Buster F***salot. I was anxious but I didn’t want to cause resentment by stopping it.’

Mr Cowie broke down several times during the hearing, saying the speech was ‘the worst 15 minutes of his career’. He said: ‘Emotion, ego and arrogance took over that evening.

‘I lost control of the situation. At the back of my head I was no longer addressing pupils but leavers who were now adults. I was looking for cheap laughs.’

Mr Cowie, acting headteacher at Inverurie Academy at the time, was suspended after the speech, pending an investigation by Aberdeenshire Council.

He is currently depute rector at The Gordon Schools in Huntly, after the council decided no further action would be taken.

Gordon Schools rector Phil Gaiter stood by his decision to hire Mr Cowie. He said: ‘Without doubt I would trust Graeme.’

Mr Cowie admits his fitness to teach was impaired at the time of the speech but not at present.

The hearing continues.