Five-year-old pupils left alone by lake on Welsh school trip, hearing told

Five year-old pupils were left alone by a lake and a car park on a school trip, a professional standards hearing has been told. Llandough Primary teacher Caroline Joyce said she was “shocked” when she realised the three girls in her class had been left standing alone on the trip to Cosmeston Lakes in Penarth.

She said she had told teaching assistant Chloe Munn to take three girls and three boys from her reception class to the toilet during the trip. Instead of taking all six infants to the female toilets, as was usual practice, Miss Munn had told the girls to wait alone outside while she went with the boys into the outside gents toilet block.

The alleged incident, during a school trip to Comeston on April 18 2023, followed concerns that Miss Munn failed on three separate occasions to follow procedure when reception class children bumped their heads at school, the Education Workforce Council Wales hearing was told. The teaching assistant had not rung the pupils’ parents to tell them they had injured their heads and had not filled in the accident log records, as she was meant to, the hearing, held remotely on November 5 heard.

Miss Munn, who did not attend the hearing and was not represented, faces a number of allegations amounting to unacceptable professional conduct/Serious professional incompetence.

It is alleged Miss Munn:

• did not follow the correct procedures following an accident involving pupils
• told work colleagues inconsistent information relating to their partner
• left pupils unaccompanied outside a toilet on a school trip

Recalling the incident at Cosmeston Lake, Mrs Joyce told the hearing: "The children were five years-old. We were standing by a lake and car park, anything could have happened - I need to be able to trust my learning support assistant to keep them safe."

The hearing was told that before this incident there had been concerns after Miss Munn told colleagues conflicting stories about how her partner had died. The teaching assistant told one colleague he had taken too many heart pills the previous evening and that she had carried his body to his mother’s car while she told another colleague an ambulance had done so, Mrs Joyce said.

The reception class teacher said she was so concerned to hear this news when Miss Munn was in work that she approached her to ask if she was all right and to suggest she take time off. But when she expressed sympathy for her partner’s death she said she was shocked to hear Miss Munn reply: "Oh well, these things happen."

Describing Miss Munn as "difficult to work with" and uncommunicative, Mrs Joyce said the learning support assistant was unable to complete basic tasks, did not follow instructions and had taught children the wrong way to write cursive script.

Mrs Joyce and headteacher Mark Ellis told the hearing it was essential rules were followed when children bumped their heads so that parents knew in case symptoms worsened or they had concussion when they went home. The hearing was told that on one occasion Miss Munn told a four-year-old in her care that she was fine after the child told her she had banged her head - Miss Munn did not phone the girl’s parents or log the accident.

Later the girl burst into tears to Mrs Joyce saying she’d banged her head but been told by Miss Munn that she was not hurt and to go and play. Mrs Joyce told the hearing that Miss Munn’s failure to follow accident procedures when children banged their heads was a potential health and safeguarding risk and had happened on three occasions..

Confronted about her failure to ring parents and log accidents when pupils bumped their heads headteacher Mark Ellis told the hearing that Miss Munn "admitted she lied" when she falsely claimed she had messaged parents. Mr Ellis said he felt she was scared of getting into trouble and had unwisely lied.

Mr Ellis said not following procedure if a pupil bumped their head was “a huge safeguarding issue". He said Miss Munn had received on the job training and knew what she needed to do.

Miss Munn, who came to work at Llandough Primary as nursery helper during the pandemic, had done well in that role, the committee was told. But when she moved up to work in the reception class, directly employed by the school directly from September 2022, things had not gone so well.

Describing Miss Munn as a “lovely, lovely girl” Mr Ellis told the hearing that she was “always lovely to the children” and on one occasion brought in Christmas presents for all the staff. But she had not been able to manage in her new job in the reception class.

The headteacher said Miss Munn was “unable to complete tasks or did them to a poor standard”. He said this continued despite progress reports and meetings.

“As an agency worker she worked her socks off in the nursery and we saw something in her and wanted to give her a chance,” he told the hearing. When Miss Munn was suspended in summer 2023 after the incident at Cosmeston Lakes she appealed but lost that appeal and lost her job at the school.

“As lovely as she was people did not always trust her,” Mr Ellis told the committee. For her part Mrs Joyce said Miss Munn would get upset if challenged about any problems.

Mrs Joyce said she had explained to the teaching assistant what her job entailed. She said she “started to feel I could not trust Miss Munn being around the children” after she failed to follow safety procedures.

“I was concerned she could not do her job,” Mrs Joyce told the hearing, “She (Miss Munn) never said good morning and never said if she did not understand an explanation as to how tasks are done.”

The allegations in full:

That Miss Munn was guilty of "unacceptable professional conduct" and/or "serious professional incompetence" whilst employed as a School Learning Support Assistant at Llandough Primary in that:

1. She did not take appropriate action and/or follow the required process in respect of pupil(s) that had hit their head, in that:

(a) On or around 24 October 2022, in respect of Pupil A,she did not:

(i) telephone Pupil A’s parent to notify them of the accident; and/or

(ii) complete an accident slip.

(b) On or around 9 November 2022, in respect of Pupil B, she did not:

(i) telephone Pupil B’s parent to notify them of the accident; and/or

(ii) complete an accident slip.

(c) On or around 23 March 2023, in respect of Pupil C, she did not:

(i) notify Pupil C’s parent of the accident; and/or

(ii) complete an accident slip.

2. On or around 25 October 2022, she told Colleague A that she had notified Pupil A’s parent(s) on Seesaw (a school messaging service) of the accident on 24 October 2022, when she had not.

3. In or around March 2023, she told one or more work colleagues inconsistent information relating to her partner.

4. During a school trip on or around 18 April 2023, she left three pupils unaccompanied outside a toilet, and/or did not make other staff aware that you would be going into the male toilets.

5. As a result of her conduct at paragraphs 1(a) and/or 1(b) and/or 1(c) and/or 4, she failed to safeguard pupils.

6. Her conduct at paragraphs 2 and/or 3 above:

(a) demonstrated a lack of integrity; and/or

(b) was dishonest.

7. The facts of paragraphs 1 to 6 above constitute ‘unacceptable professional conduct’.

8. The facts of paragraphs 1(a) and/or 1(b) and/or 1(c) and/or 4 and/or 5 above constitute ‘serious professional incompetence’ meaning “conduct when considered:

(a) individually; and/or

(b) together.

The hearing continues.

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