Joe Wilson

Joe Wilson was pictured in an airport with a pint in his hand

This is the teacher who 'pulled a sickie' from work to go on a stag do to Portugal.

Joe Wilson, who was a Year 6 teacher at Listerdale Junior Academy in Rotherham in South Yorkshire, went on the secret holiday on Thursday, May 18, and Friday, May 19, 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, according to the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA).

At around 5am on May 18, 2023, he messaged: “I’m not going to be in school today. I’ve been up all night being sick and have got a really bad headache.”

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But an anonymous member of staff flagged photos of Mr 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 5.23am on the morning of May 18, 2023, with the caption: “Early start for… stag do, few beers with the Portugal gaffer”.

Mr Wilson tried to cover his tracks by ripping pages from his passport. A panel of the TRA found it proved that he 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.

The panel also found he removed pages from his passport which would have contained stamps showing he was out of the country on the dates in question, Yorkshire Live reports. Mr Wilson accepted responsibility for his actions and for calling in a false sickness absence.

He said taking out a page from his passport was a 'huge mistake'. He said he was ashamed of his actions.

The TRA panel also found his conduct lacked integrity, was dishonest, and that his actions may bring the profession into disrepute. It was decided that a prohibition order, which would see Mr Wilson banned from teaching, was not proportionate but that publication of the findings would be enough.