Struck off ... teacher who 'urged pupils to dance the Macarena in rave-like lesson'

A TEACHER who it was claimed went to work under the influence of alcohol, conducted a “rave” like lesson with singing and dancing and then swore at pupils has been banned from the classroom.

- By ABBIE WIGHTWICK

Alice Ashton, who taught Welsh second language and personal and social education at Ysgol Bro Caereinion in Welshpool, “swigged” alcohol during a lesson and told the class they were “little sh***” among other profanities, a panel heard.

Finding all but one of a string of allegations about Ashton’s drinking and inappropriate behaviour at work proved, an Education Workforce Council (EWC) Wales committee struck her off the teaching register indefinitely.

Giving evidence in person, one pupil described how Ashton urged the class to get up and dance the Macarena as she drank from an Evian water bottle containing orange squash and what smelled like alcohol.

Other evidence from pupils, read out at the hearing, included descriptions of Ashton playing music through the lesson from her laptop until it “spiralled out of control” and “felt like a mini rave with loud music, shouting and dancing”. Another pupil said the teacher was “acting crazy” and her walking was wobbly.

The committee heard how the teacher, who was 29 at the time of the incident at a lesson on January 17 2024, had used the words “sh**” and “f***” and told one boy to “sit the f*** down”. At one point she had exclaimed: “At 29, I don’t need to be dealing with this sh**”

An allegation that she had stuck her middle finger up at a pupil was found not proved.

An allegation that she had stopped two boys from leaving the unruly classroom was also found not proved. Committee chair Steve Powell explained that although she could be seen on CCTV preventing the boys leaving, it was not clear what her reasons for that were.