An English teacher who got so drunk on the first night of a school trip she had to be sent home in shame has been allowed to continue working.
Laura Colledge led the annual week-long residential trip of 140 pupils from Cirencester Kingshill School in Gloucestershire to Whitemoor Lakes Centre, Staffordshire.
On the first day of the trip, the head of Year Seven was unable to go to dinner with the pupils after she was found to have passed out in her room at 6pm.
Witnesses said they later found two bottles of red wine, one empty and one half full, in Ms Colledge’s on a shelf above her bathroom sink, as well as two cans of beer in her room.
The teacher had apparently been ‘running on empty’ and had not eaten all day. There was evidence she had taken prescribed medication.
After finally waking up ‘drowsy and disorientated’, Ms Colledge was described as ‘tearful, upset and apologetic’.
A mug was later found with traces of red wine as well as several ring marks of red wine on the furniture.
By around 8:30pm it was agreed that the English teacher should be collected from the activity centre and taken home.
Laura Colledge was leading a residential one week trip to Whitemoor Lakes Centre (pictured) when she was found passed out in her room
A Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) hearing heard there was a zero-alcohol policy in the centre.
Ms Colledge said the trip had been running annually for seven years and on previous years staff had traditionally enjoyed a small glass of wine with cheese and biscuits in the evenings.
She later said that she had no recollection of the events which took place on June 27, 2022.
While admitting to bringing the bottles of wine with her, she insisted she had bought them as thank you gifts for her colleagues, while blaming her partner for packing the beer cans in her bag without her knowledge.
Denying that she had consumed any alcohol while staying at the centre, Ms Colledge claimed her condition was due to side-effects from the medication she was taking.
The panel agreed Ms Colledge had breached professional standards but that it was a one-off incident and she did not deserve to be indefinitely banned from teaching.
Its report said: ‘It was more likely than not that Ms Colledge’s condition was as a result of the consumption of alcohol mixed with the medication she was taking, which she ought to have known could have had an adverse effect when coupled with alcohol.
‘The panel did not consider that the mere act of bringing alcohol to the residential trip was sufficiently serious so as to amount to unacceptable professional conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute.
Ms Colledge was head of Year Seven at Cirencester Kingshill School in Gloucestershire. She was taken home on the first night of the trip and witnesses found two bottles of alcohol, one empty in her bathroom
‘However, the panel was satisfied that the conduct of Ms Colledge amounted to misconduct of a serious nature which fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession.’
A colleague stated that Ms Colledge got excellent results with her GSCE English pupils.
A character reference from a charity that she volunteered for said: ‘Laura’s personality shines through, she is extremely hard working and diligent, very trustworthy and has great communication skills.
‘Laura shows considerable kindness to the customers and has always been very professional showing great customer service. Laura is a great asset to my volunteering team.’
Ms Colledge left the Cirencester Kingshill School in May 2023.
The panel concluded: ‘The publication of the findings made would be sufficient to send an appropriate message to the teacher as to the standards of behaviour that were not acceptable and that the publication would meet the public interest requirement of declaring proper standards of the profession.’
