Joe Wilson

A primary school teacher "pulled a sickie" to join his friends on a stag weekend in Portugal and attempted to conceal his deception by removing pages from his passport, a tribunal has found.

Joe Wilson informed his boss at Listerdale Junior Academy in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, that he would be absent from school as he had been "up all night being sick" on May 18, 2023.

The following day, the Year 6 teacher claimed he was struggling to "keep any food or water down", taking a second day off while assuring staff he would provide updates on his condition, reports the Mirror.

Mr Wilson subsequently admitted that the two sick days were fabricated to enable him to attend a friend's stag party in Lisbon, and that he had torn pages from his passport showing his travel to the Portuguese capital in an attempt to hide the trip.

A Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel was told that Mr Wilson took the unauthorised holiday between Thursday, 18th May, and Friday, 19th May 2023.

He initiated the deception at approximately 5am on the Thursday, messaging: "I'm not going to be in school today. I've been up all night being sick and have got a really bad headache."

In a subsequent message the following day, he stated: "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."

The disciplinary panel was informed that Mr Wilson was exposed by an anonymous staff member, who reported photographs showing the teacher at an airport holding a pint of beer.

One image, shared by another individual at 5.23am on the morning of Mr Wilson's departure, appeared online with the caption: "Early start for... stag do, few beers with the Portugal gaffer".

Initially, the teacher maintained the photographs were from an earlier journey, but subsequently confessed to the TRA in October 2025 that he "agreed to attend a stag do in Lisbon".

He stated that he "made a huge error of judgement but (felt) the situation at the time influenced (him) to make this poor decision" and that he "accepted full responsibility" for his actions, including "falsifying a sickness".

In February, he emailed the agency admitting he "pulled a sickie to go on (his) mates stag do". Mr Wilson also tore pages from his passport in an attempt to conceal his absence.

He informed the TRA he "made a huge mistake of taking out a page of (his) passport" following "an informal chat with (his) headteacher" as she "encouraged (him) to show something 'to get them off my case'".

He also stated he was "ashamed" of his behaviour. An investigative report revealed Mr Wilson surrendered his passport to a school representative in June 2023, with photocopies showing pages 9, 10, 27 and 28 had been removed, according to the tribunal.

The panel determined it was proven that Mr Wilson was absent from school without valid justification, falsely claimed his absence was due to illness when it was not, and removed pages from his passport that would have contained stamps indicating he was abroad on the dates concerned.

In its judgement, the panel stated: "In falsely reporting his sickness absence and providing an altered document during an investigation, Mr Wilson was intentionally misleading the school and concealing the truth.

"The panel considered that Mr Wilson's behaviour fell below the ethical standards expected of a teacher and was contrary to the manner in which the profession professes to serve the public."

It further determined his conduct demonstrated a lack of integrity, was dishonest, and that his actions could bring the profession into disrepute.

However, it was concluded that a prohibition order, which would have resulted in Mr Wilson being barred from teaching, was not proportionate, and that publication of the findings would suffice.