Primary school teacher who slapped child across face claimed she ‘lost her balance’
A primary school teacher who was found guilty of slapping one of her students in the face was banned from teaching indefinitely.
Helena Eckles, 53, who has been a teacher at Hall Cliffe Primary School in Wakefield since November 2023, was convicted of “assault by beating” at Leeds Magistrates’ Court in March last year and was banned from teaching.
Despite his conviction, Eckles maintained his innocence regarding the incident on May 21, 2024, claiming that he accidentally slipped and hit the child.
Accordingly evidence The incident, which was judged by a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel, occurred in the classroom after Eckles allowed children to play computer games on laptops after completing their work.
According to TRA evidence, the boy, referred to in the documents as “Student A”, refused to stop playing the game despite being asked repeatedly; At this point, Eckles unplugged the laptop and began packing it up himself.
The panel heard that “Student A flailed her arms, trying to push it away and grab the laptop” as the computer was lifted, and that, in Eckles’s own words, she “lost her balance slightly backwards on her left foot and stepped forward with her right foot to steady herself.”
The panel said that “in doing so, his right arm involuntarily came forward and his open palm made light contact with Student A’s face as he moved in his chair.”
This left him with “visible injury” of a “red handprint type mark on his left cheek”. The boy then reportedly ran out of the classroom, saying he had been slapped.
Documents show Eckles gave the same account to police.
The board stated that “it took into account Ms. Eckles’s position that she did not appeal the conviction because she was unable to do so, but that she maintained her innocence of any crime and had repeatedly stated a miscarriage of justice.”
The panel said Eckles said he experienced staffing shortages during his time at the school, frequently worked with special education assistants who were “not trained in restraint techniques,” and was left without adequate support in the classroom.
Eckles also noted that “students frequently encounter challenging behavior and requests for support are not always responded to.”
However, the TRA report said: “Although the panel noted that the child’s behavior was clearly disturbing, there was no evidence to suggest that Ms. Eckles had acted under undue duress.”
The court added that “the subject matter of the conviction is likely to have an impact on the safety or security of students or the public and is likely to affect public confidence in the teaching profession.”
Having considered the panel’s recommendations, Stuart Blomfield, acting on behalf of the Education Secretary, said: “I have concluded that the decision to ban is proportionate and in the public interest.
“This means that Miss Helena Eckles is banned from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England.”
