A FORMER headteacher of two local local primary schools has been banned from teaching indefinitely after his relationship with a parent at the school led to "blurred boundaries" with students.

Gareth John Hughes was headteacher at Llansantffraid Church in Wales Primary School from 2001, and Llanfechain Primary Schools from 2011, but was dismissed from his position before Christmas 2018.

In December 2021 his unfair dismissal claim against the schools, was thrown out by a Cardiff court after it agreed with the school that Hughes’s actions amounted to gross misconduct.

And the former headteacher’s long-term future was decided in mid-September after a Fitness to Practise Committee of Wales' Education Workforce Council (EWC) ruled he would be barred from teaching.

In its report from the hearing on September 13 and 14, the committee found that between 2014 and 2015 he formed an "inappropriate relationship" with Pupil A, Pupil B and Person A, which he did not share with colleagues and the governors of Llansantffraid School.

It said: “By doing so, he made himself appear as a family member towards the children, when this was not the case, taking them on day and overnight trips unaccompanied by another adult, buying them gifts and communicating with Pupil A via FaceTime and text messages on a nearly daily basis.”

The committee also found that between approximately 2011 and 2012, he took four pupils from Llanfechain School on day trips, without another adult present, and gave or risked giving the impression of special treatment to these children.

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Mr Hughes also formed an inappropriate relationship with another pupil, Pupil D, between the summer term of 2012 and approximately autumn 2014, where he exchanged text messages and met with them alone to assist in a business venture while they were no longer a pupil at Llanfechain School.

The report added: "Having made these findings, the committee also determined that Mr Hughes conduct lacked integrity, breached and blurred professional boundaries in his role as headteacher and created a risk of emotional abuse and emotional harm to the pupils."

A Prohibition Order, indefinitely removing Mr Hughes from the Register of Education Practitioners in the category of schoolteacher, was imposed and cannot be contested for a minimum of two years.

If Mr Hughes does not make a successful application for eligibility for restoration to the Register after September 14, 2024, he will remain prohibited indefinitely.

Mr Hughes has the right of appeal to the High Court within 28 days.