A PRIMARY school teacher has been struck off for slapping a pupil’s bare bottom after he urinated in a sandpit – after teaching watchdogs said parents would be “appalled” by her behaviour.

Tsvetelina Kaliszan, 43, snapped after seeing the pupil urinate on the soft play area at Elm Tree Primary Academy, Wednesbury, West Midlands.

Primary school teacher Tsvetelina Kaliszan was been banned from teaching for 2 years Credit: Ben Lack

She lifted Child A from the ball pit, placed him lying on her lap face down and then smacked his bare bottom Credit: Google

The teacher, who had taught at the school since September 2023, was supervising pupils in the soft play area alongside two colleagues during the afternoon of May 2 2024 between 1:30pm and 2:00pm,

Ms Kaliszan was seated on the floor behind the door with another child, the panel was told.

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A colleagues said she was looking towards he ball pit and observed that the pupil, referred to only as Child A, had removed his trousers.

Child A had one leg over the edge of the ball pool, which was a floor level movable pool.

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She stated “Lina got up and lifted him from the ball pit and realised he had wee himself.

“She slapped him on him butt, and said what have you done”. 

The colleague burst out: “Lina, what are you doing?

The fellow staff member explained that Ms Kaliszan lifted Child A from the ball pit, placed him lying on her lap face down and then smacked his bare bottom twice with one hand with an open palm.

She described this as “not a light tap” and stated that “it was a clear smack”, the panel heard.

Ms Kaliszan’s facial expression showed she was upset and disappointed that Child A had urinated in the ball pit.

Ms Kaliszan also knew that she had done something wrong as she had a “remorseful look on her face”.

Two days later, Ms Kaliszan acknowledged that she had done “something bad”.

She attended a meeting with her bosses during which she admitted making physical contact with Child A and a safeguarding referral was made.

On 29 July 2024, accepted a police caution for “placing a hand on” Child A.

Ms Kaliszan stated that the children were sitting in the ball pit and, all of a sudden, all of the children stood up and began to come out of the ball pit.

She stated that they all noted wet footprints from the children as they came out of the ball pit and realised that someone had urinated in the ball pit.

She claimed that she pulled up Child A’s trousers and “tapped him to encourage him to move”, and that this action was “misinterpreted by staff as a smack or punishment”.

Bernie Whittle, who chaired the Teaching Regulation Agency panel, found the teacher had delivered “specifically two smacks in short succession with an open hand.

“Noting the absence of any plausible alternative given the facts which had been found proven, the panel was satisfied that the TRA had demonstrated, on the balance of probabilities, that Ms Kaliszan’s intention in hitting Child A had been to physically chastise him.

“The panel considered that any parent or third party, properly informed about the facts of the matter, would rightly be appalled that a teacher would physically chastise a pupil including in the manner which it found proven.

“The panel did not consider that a member of the public would find such behaviour excusable and considered that, if revealed, the facts could significantly damage the reputation of the teaching profession and the Academy as well as the teacher herself.

“The findings of misconduct are serious, and the conduct displayed would be likely to have a negative impact on the individual’s status as a teacher.

For these reasons, the panel found that Ms Kaliszan’s actions constituted conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute.

Whittle added: “In light of the panel’s findings against Ms Kaliszan, which involved her hitting Child A on the bare bottom as a chastisement, there was clearly a strong public interest consideration in respect of the safeguarding and wellbeing of pupils, given the serious findings of inappropriate contact with a child.”

She also failed to report her actions to the Academy on the day of the incident.

Banning her from the profession for at least two years, David Oatley, for the Education Secretary, underlined: “The panel did not consider then that it had before it sufficient evidence that Ms Kaliszan was not at risk of repeating her behaviours faced with a similar situation.”