Natalie Arcos-Diaz

Introduction

Natalie Arcos-Diaz is a former deputy headteacher and acting headteacher at Eastfield Primary School in Leicester who was banned from teaching indefinitely in December 2024 after a panel found she had concealed a drink-drive conviction on her headteacher application form, repeatedly attended the school unfit for work through alcohol or medication, and later leaked material from the trust’s confidential investigation report to a former colleague. Arcos-Diaz denied the allegations and did not attend her hearing, but the panel found the core allegations proved on contemporaneous witness logs and her own PNC record. Decision maker Marc Cavey imposed a three-year review period.

Background Information

Arcos-Diaz joined Eastfield Primary School as deputy headteacher on 23 August 2018 and became acting headteacher on 1 January 2020. On 10 February 2020 she applied for the substantive headteacher role. Her conviction, which she did not disclose on that application, was for driving with excess alcohol on 10 November 2018, convicted on 30 November 2018: the PNC record showed a fine of £1,765, £170 costs, an £85 victim surcharge and a 28-month driving disqualification, later reduced by 30 weeks after she completed a course. On 24 February 2020 she was suspended pending an internal investigation; a disciplinary hearing on 13 May 2020 ended her employment, and she appealed.

The school was referred to the TRA on 1 July 2020. Her appeal was determined on 24 July 2020. Four years passed before the hearing, convened over 9 to 13 December 2024 by virtual means. Her representative’s response to the notice of proceedings admitted the conviction itself but denied every other allegation, and Arcos-Diaz did not attend.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Concealed conviction, fitness-to-work failures and a leak of confidential investigation material — found proved against a serving acting headteacher.

The concealment finding was straightforward: on the headteacher application form received by the trust on 10 February 2020, Arcos-Diaz highlighted “no” to indicate she had no convictions — when the director of schools asked her directly if she had a conviction in relation to drink driving, she confirmed that she had, and the panel found the non-declaration proven. She also confirmed the conviction during the school’s investigation.

The fitness-to-work findings rested on a colleague’s contemporaneous log, typed at the end of each day. For 2 September 2019 it recorded that Arcos-Diaz arrived “very loud, slurring her words and her eyes began to roll”, noticed also by the other acting deputy headteacher; the log recorded this was not the first occasion the colleague suspected intoxication, and that she kept the log in case she needed to evidence what she had reported. On that date the headteacher was away on a residential trip and Arcos-Diaz was in charge of the school. The panel found her unfit for work through alcohol or medication on 2 September 2019 and on four further proven dates in September 2019 and February 2020. Allegations 3(d) — one specific date — and the hug-related particular fell away for want of proof, as no witness saw her fall or observed indisputable unfitness on the day alleged.

The third proven strand followed her dismissal: in or around May 2020, she made contact with staff members by text or social media, and the panel found she had shared the trust’s confidential investigation report or information from it with former Colleague A — staff reported that he had contacted them directly for comment on their witness statements, telling them he had seen the report, and an email exchange from 15 May 2020 recorded the exchange. The panel found the application-form deception dishonest and lacking integrity.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The published decision records no press or social-media coverage. The panel recommended a prohibition order with a three-year review period, finding strong public interest in the safeguarding and wellbeing of pupils — the school had been led by someone unfit for duty — and in public confidence and proper standards. It noted the dishonesty finding on the application form struck at the integrity the headteacher role demands. In mitigation’s absence — she attended nothing and provided no testimony — the panel could weigh only her admissions on the conviction itself.

Cavey agreed prohibition was required. On the review period, he accepted the panel’s view that the three years would give Arcos-Diaz “the requisite time to develop the necessary insight in order to minimise the risk of repetition if she decides that she wishes to return to teaching in the future”, while noting she had shown little insight so far. His decision is dated 18 December 2024, four days after the 13 December determination.

Current Status

Arcos-Diaz is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. She may apply for the prohibition order to be set aside, but not until 23 December 2027 — three years from the date of the order — and an application is not an automatic right to have the ban removed. Her appeal right is to the King’s Bench Division of the High Court within 28 days of notice. No criminal proceedings arose from the school-related allegations; the 2018 drink-driving conviction, with its fine and 28-month disqualification, was the criminal component, reduced by her completion of a rehabilitation course. Her employment ended in May 2020, so the December 2024 ban formalises a four-year absence from teaching.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The ban forecloses the headship she was applying for when the concealment was discovered, and any teaching role in England until at least the end of 2027. The case’s significance is double: it shows a leadership appointment process defeated by an untruth on a form — she was applying to run the school where staff were already logging concerns about her fitness — and it shows the durability of contemporaneous records, with a colleague’s end-of-day notes from 2019 carrying the fitness findings five years later. The leak finding also documents how the dismissal’s aftermath spread the trust’s confidential material to witnesses. For Arcos-Diaz, the published findings of dishonesty, repeated unfitness and a concealed conviction make any future application to return an uphill case that the decision maker has already flagged depends on insight she has yet to show.

Sources

• source — “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Ms Natalie Arcos-Diaz”, GOV.UK, Teaching Regulation Agency, published 13 December 2024.