Teacher is cleared of majority of allegations

A SCIENCE teacher at a school in Llanelli has been cleared of calling an Asian pupil Stan and telling another she would be a 40-year-old virgin.

Graham Pike, 54, from Hendy in Carmarthenshire, was cleared of 14 out of 15 allegations he faced at a fitness to practice hearing in April this year.

Only one of the allegations was found proven and Mr Pike was given a reprimand for unacceptable professional conduct.

Mr Pike, head of chemistry at Coedcae School, who has been a teacher at the school for nearly 20 years, faced the Education Workforce Council (EWC) tribunal in April after allegedly making comments of a “racial, homophobic or sexual nature” to pupils that he taught.

Several of the 15 alleged incidents were said to have been “inappropriate” – and nine were said to be “sexually motivated”.

They included allegedly calling an Asian pupil “Stan” as he couldn’t pronounce his name, calling a student who had a parent who was gay “an experiment” and saying a weight-conscious pupil would break a stool if she sat on it.

The EWC panel only found one allegation proven against Mr Pike – that made by Pupil A in December 2016.

Pupil A, a Year 10 pupil at the time, claimed that on December 1, 2016 Mr Pike said to her: “Why are you lunging towards me? There is no mistletoe here.”

She said it made her feel “uncomfortable and creeped out”.

The EWC found that the allegation of unacceptable professional conduct was proven against Mr Pike, adding the conduct was “inappropriate”.

A reprimand was imposed on Mr Pike for two years.