Teacher 'pulled sickie' to go on stag do abroad

A teacher "pulled a sickie" to go to Portugal for a friend's stag do and later ripped out pages of his passport to cover his tracks, a tribunal has found.

Joe Wilson, who was a Year 6 teacher at Listerdale Junior Academy in Rotherham, went on the secret holiday on 18 and 19 May 2023.

He told the school on the morning of his flight that he had been "up all night being sick", continuing the ruse the next day, before returning to work on the Monday.

A Teaching Regulation Authority (TRA) panel ruled in April that a prohibition order, which would see Wilson banned from teaching, was not proportionate, but made its findings into his conduct public earlier.

The panel hearing was told Wilson sent a message on 05:00 BST on 18 May 2023, saying: "I'm not going to be in school today.

"I've been up all night being sick and have got a really bad headache."

The following day he told the same person: "I'm still no better so won't be in school today. Can't keep any food or water down. I'll keep you updated."

But an anonymous member of staff flagged photos of Wilson in an airport with a pint of beer in his hand, the panel heard.

One of the photographs which featured him was posted by another person at 05:23 BST on 18 May 2023 with the caption: "Early start for… stag do, few beers with the Portugal gaffer".

Wilson originally claimed the photographs were taken from a previous trip, but later admitted to the TRA that he "agreed to attend a stag do in Lisbon" and he "made a huge error of judgement but (felt) the situation at the time influenced (him) to make this poor decision".

He also told the TRA in October 2025 he "accepted full responsibility" for his actions, including "falsifying a sickness".

In February, he emailed the agency stating he "pulled a sickie to go on (his) mate's stag do".

Wilson also removed pages from his passport to hide that he had been away, which he said had been "a huge mistake" and that he was "ashamed" of his actions.

The panel found it proved that Wilson was absent from school without a proper reason, reported to the school that he was absent because of sickness when that was not the case and removed pages from his passport which would have contained stamps showing he was out of the country on the dates in question.

In its judgement, the panel said Wilson had been "intentionally misleading the school and concealing the truth" and that his behaviour had fallen below the ethical standards expected of a teacher.

It also found his conduct lacked integrity, was dishonest, and that his actions may bring the profession into disrepute.

Additional reporting by PA Media.

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