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A primary school teacher who was convicted of slapping one of her pupils across the face has been banned from teaching indefinitely.
Helena Eckles, 53, who had taught at Hall Cliffe Primary School, Wakefield, since November 2023, was convicted at Leeds Magistrates Court for "assault by beating" in March last year, and has now been prohibited from teaching.
Despite her conviction, Eckles has maintained her innocence regarding the 21 May 2024 incident, claiming she had slipped and struck the boy accidentally.
According to evidence assessed by a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel, the incident occurred in the classroom when Eckles allowed children to play computer games on laptops after completing their work.
The child, referred to in documents as "Pupil A", refused to stop playing the game, despite being repeatedly asked, at which point, Eckles began to unplug and pack away the laptop herself, the TRA evidence states.
The panel heard that as the computer was removed, "Pupil A flailed his arms, tried to push her away and grab the laptop", and that, in Eckles' own words, she "overbalanced slightly backwards on her left foot and stepped forward with her right foot to steady herself."
She said that "as she did so, her right arm came forward involuntarily and that her open palm came into contact with Pupil A’s face lightly as he moved on his chair," the panel heard.
This left the "visible injury" of "a red handprint type mark on his left cheek". The boy then reportedly ran out of the classroom shouting that he had been slapped.
Eckles had also given the same account to police, the documents show.
The panel said it "noted Ms Eckles’ position that she did not appeal against the conviction as, she stated, she could not afford to do so, but that she maintained her innocence of any wrongdoing and repeatedly stated that there had been a miscarriage of justice."
During her employment at the school Eckles claimed to have experienced staffing shortages, to have worked frequently with agency teaching assistants "who were not trained in restraint techniques" and stated that she was often left without sufficient support in the classroom, the panel heard.
Eckles also described "frequent incidents of challenging behaviour by pupils and stated that support requests were not always responded to".
Nonetheless, the TRA report said: "Whilst the panel noted that the child’s behaviour was clearly disruptive there was no evidence to suggest that Ms Eckles was acting under extreme duress."
It added that "the subject matter of the conviction would be likely to have an impact on safety or security of pupils or members of the public and would be likely to affect public confidence in the teaching profession."
Assessing the panel's recommendations, Stuart Blomfield, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education, said: "I have concluded that a prohibition order is proportionate and in the public interest.
"This means that Ms Helena Eckles is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England."