A deputy headteacher at a London school has been indefinitely banned from the classroom after she bought and drank half a bottle of wine during a single morning at work.
A deputy headteacher at a London school has been indefinitely banned from the classroom after she bought and drank half a bottle of wine during a single morning at work.
Catherine Stephenson, who served as an Assistant Headteacher and Deputy Safeguarding Lead at Snowflake School in Kensington, committed the serious misconduct on April 16, 2024. Snowflake School is an independent special school in London that provides highly personalised education for children with autism aged 5 to 17.
While she was supposed to be on site, Stephenson messaged a staff WhatsApp group to say she was running late. At 8:45 AM, another staff member spotted her at a local off-license purchasing a bottle of wine.
Stephenson then brought the alcohol onto the school premises, hiding it inside her blue backpack. Throughout the morning, she sparked the suspicion of her colleagues by acting out of character, appearing more repetitive than usual, and smelling of alcohol. Staff also noted that she was frequently leaving her shared office to go to the toilet, taking her backpack with her on more than five occasions.
When a colleague later phoned her to address the off-license sighting, Stephenson admitted to purchasing the wine but claimed it was for her and her partner to have with dinner. She insisted that if her bag were checked, the bottle would be completely full. However, when a staff member was instructed to search her bag at 11:52 AM, they found the screw-top bottle of white wine stashed underneath clothing and noted that it was more than half empty.
A Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel concluded that Stephenson had consumed half the bottle of wine in roughly three hours and was under the influence of alcohol while on the job. The panel emphasized that her behaviour posed a significant safeguarding risk, particularly because of her senior role and the high level of care required for the school’s vulnerable pupils.
The panel acknowledged that the events of April 16 represented a “one-time incident that occurred during the course of a morning,” and noted that there was no evidence that any pupils or teachers were actually harmed as a result of her conduct
While the panel noted that Ms Stephenson’s actions on April 16 were not entirely out of character due to earlier concerns raised prior to the incident, she failed to demonstrate any remorse or insight into her behaviour
Stephenson was suspended on the day of the incident and was dismissed by the school in May 2024 after she failed to attend a disciplinary hearing.
Following the TRA panel’s review in June 2026 – which Stephenson also failed to attend or engage with – she was found guilty of unacceptable professional conduct. The Secretary of State ordered that she be prohibited from teaching indefinitely, with the earliest opportunity to apply for a review of the ban set for June 2028.
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