Miss Donna Haslam

Introduction

Miss Donna Haslam was a SEN teacher at Compass Community School Boleyn Park, part of Compass Community Schools in Essex. In March 2025 a professional conduct panel of the Teaching Regulation Agency found that she had been convicted twice of driving a motor vehicle with excess alcohol, on 6 November 2017 and again on 22 February 2023, and that she had deliberately concealed her January 2023 arrest from her employer. All four allegations were found proven, amounting to unacceptable professional conduct, conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute and convictions of relevant offences. On 24 March 2025, deciding on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education, Marc Cavey prohibited her from teaching indefinitely.

Background Information

The panel decision records that Miss Haslam was employed at the School as SEN Teacher on 3 March 2020, under an employment agreement dated 1 November 2021. That agreement required her to ‘report your own wrongdoing and any wrongdoing or prospective wrongdoing by any other employee or director of the Employer immediately on becoming aware of it’. She had disclosed her 2017 conviction to the School before her employment began in 2020. The panel convened on 20 to 21 March 2025 by way of a virtual hearing; Miss Haslam was not present and was not represented.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

The first conviction came on 6 November 2017, when Miss Haslam was convicted of driving a motor vehicle with excess alcohol, contrary to Section 5(1)(a) of the Road Traffic Act 1988. She was sentenced to 12 weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and the memorandum of conviction noted that she had a very high breath alcohol reading and was seriously impaired.

The decisive events began on 18 January 2023, when she was arrested at 5:27pm for dangerous driving and failing a breathalyser. She was released at 9:06am on 19 January 2023 and interviewed by the police at 11am on 20 January 2023, when she was charged. She did not tell the School; the police did, in a letter dated 20 January 2023 notifying Witness A that she had been arrested and charged after driving on the wrong side of the road and failing a breathalyser test. When Witness A asked her by WhatsApp whether the police were involved, she replied ‘probably, because I was blue lighted to hospital’. The panel considered that response intended to deflect, noting that the police report makes no mention of her being taken to hospital.

On 23 January 2023 the LADO contacted the School to make enquiries. On 22 February 2023 Miss Haslam was convicted of the same offence and sentenced to 16 weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for 12 months; the certificate of conviction recorded a high breath alcohol reading and a previous conviction of a similar nature. The School terminated her employment on 23 May 2023 and referred the matter to the TRA on 5 June 2023.

The panel found the non-disclosure breached her employment agreement and was dishonest. It held that she had sufficient time to notify the School, including when Witness A contacted her on 20 January 2023, and that her silence was deliberate — likely driven by concern about her previous conviction, a possible breach of her employment agreement and embarrassment, factors that ‘resulted in her trying to conceal or otherwise deliberately avoiding telling her employer about her recent arrest’. As the panel put it, ‘It is reasonable to expect that an ordinary person would disclose the arrest to their employer of their own volition, or at least when Witness A asked about the Police involvement via WhatsApp on 20 January 2023.’ All four allegations were found proven.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The panel found her conduct fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession, amounting to unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute; the convictions were held to be relevant offences. It observed that ‘Miss Haslam has two convictions for the same offence, demonstrating a failure to appreciate the severity of her actions’, that the offences ‘could have had potentially fatal consequences’, and that her conduct was ‘indicative of Miss Haslam’s lack of regard for the law and safety of others’. It was equally concerned that, despite pleading guilty on both occasions, she described the allegations to the TRA as ‘malicious’ and ‘an abuse of power’, and had told the School her actions outside work were irrelevant to ‘her ability to perform her job function’. The panel recommended a prohibition order with immediate effect, with no review period.

Current Status

The decision maker, Marc Cavey, decided on 24 March 2025 that Miss Donna Haslam is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. He departed from the panel’s recommendation of no review period, judging that ‘a five-year review period would instead be a proportionate period to allow Miss Haslam to attain full insight into and remorse for her actions’. She may apply for the prohibition order to be set aside, but not until 27 March 2030 at the earliest — five years from the date of the order. That is not an automatic right; without a successful application she remains prohibited indefinitely. The order takes effect from the date it is served, and she may appeal to the High Court within 28 days.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The prohibition order ends Miss Haslam’s ability to teach in England unless a future panel sets it aside after March 2030. Her employment had already been terminated by the School on 23 May 2023. Both convictions drew suspended prison sentences and driving disqualifications. Because she neither attended the hearing nor gave evidence, the panel had no evidence of her ability as an educator and could not weigh mitigation, finding instead a real risk that she might repeat her behaviour. Any future application would require demonstrated insight, remorse and sustained practical steps to limit the risk of repetition.

Sources

• Teaching Regulation Agency, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Miss Donna Haslam” — source