Unions say teachers are afraid to comfort pupils who fall while playing

Dyfed-Powys chief constable Terence Grange is concerned that malicious allegations against teachers mean many school activities are being stopped.

The BBC Wales programme Taro Naw, shown on Tuesday, will reveal the concerns of teachers and their unions.

One union said pupils would miss school trips as teachers feared accusations.

Mr Grange, who speaks on child protection for the Association of Chief Police Officers, said: "I think people get far too worried about what are essentially trivial things.

I felt like dirty laundry, everybody was talking about me Wrongly-accused teacher Beryl Lewis

"Education departments should look very seriously at their processes and, where necessary, speed them up where allegations are made.

"And an awful lot of parents should sometimes question what their children are telling them."

Geraint Davies, of teaching union NASUWT Cymru, said trivial allegations were on the increase and also called for common sense.

"So many allegations are petty - touching a pupil's arm or splitting up a fight between pupils," he said.

"It's upsetting that children and parents use these examples to make malicious allegations against teachers, and these allegations leave their mark."

Teacher Beryl Lewis also told Taro Naw that minor allegations made against her caused her to suffer depression and led her to suicidal thoughts.

Terence Grange says stopping school trips would be a 'tragedy'

Ms Lewis, from north Pembrokeshire, was suspended for eight months before being cleared of accusations of shouting in a classroom and grabbing a child's coat.

"I was named in the paper and that almost finished me off," she said.

"I felt like dirty laundry, everybody was talking about me. Sometimes I felt like driving off a cliff, I just couldn't face it any more.

"My friends told me not to be so silly but that's how it makes you feel, and I'm sure other teachers who have been through the same experience can understand my feelings."

Mr Davies warned that children were "losing out" because teachers were fearful of organising school trips and extra-curricular activities.

Others also felt reluctant to comfort small children who fell over in the school playground, he said.

Mr Grange added: "I think common sense went out of the window a long time ago.

"I think properly organised trips are delightful things for kids to go on. It's a tragedy they don't occur."