A teaching assistant described how she was so worried about a child shutting himself in a toilet at school for hours that she used a 20p coin to force open the door. Samantha Thomas told a professional standards committee that she had also asked the boy whether he wanted anything to drink or eat but he did not reply.

On the second day of a remote Education Workforce Council Wales hearing on April 8 Mrs Thomas agreed the boy was in the cubicle at Waldo Williams Primary in Haverfordwest from around 11am to after 3pm. She said that opening the door she had been able to glance inside the cubicle which was about 2m by 2m and he had taken nothing in with him but there was a chair and a basin inside.

Mrs Thomas, who worked in the child's class in the school's resource base for pupils with additional needs, said she did not witness the class teacher Sally Berry check on the boy after he shut himself into the toilet. Under questioning from the panel Mrs Thomas agreed that his personal plan stated he should not be over-stimulated. Read the biggest stories in Wales first by signing up to our daily newsletter here.

She said the toilet door was shut but she was concerned about the boy and knew a way to open it: "There is a slot mechanism so with a 20p you can open or close the door - the door opens inwards, " she told the panel.

"(The cubicle) is two metres by two metres inside with a toilet and basin. For some reason there was a chair in there. The chair did not block my entry because he was up against the wall and I was able to open the door, but not fully."

Mrs Thomas told the hearing that she had gone to ask the child every five to 10 minutes if he would come out and whether he wanted anything to eat or drink. She said she did this even though it went against class teacher Mrs Berry's instructions not to interact with him while he shut himself in the toilet.

The teaching assistant, who worked in the nearby classroom with Mrs Berry, claimed the teacher had not checked on the boy, although she had heard her saying to him: "Are you alright buddy?" at one point. Earlier the panel had heard how the boy used the cubicle as a "safe space" to go if he didn't want to do something and it was thought he hadn't wanted to attend school assembly that day.

Jonathan Storey, representing Mrs Berry, said the teacher had told classroom assistant Mrs Thomas to keep an eye on the boy but not to engage with him as this went against his behaviour strategy plan. The child was "meant to have space and time" to regulate himself.

Under questions from the panel Mrs Thomas said she did not regard it as a safeguarding issue that the child had shut himself in the toilet cubicle for such a long time. But she said she thought it important to ask him if he was hungry or thirsty.

Later in the hearing the panel heard from the school's former and now retired headteacher Cora O'Brien, who left the school before the incident took place. She gave Mrs Berry a glowing character reference and described the teacher as honest and dependable.

Mrs O'Brien, who told the panel she had worked closely with Mrs Berry during her time at the school, said that had a child been in a toilet for so long on their own during her headship she would have regarded it as a very serious matter.

She told the committee chair Sue Jones: "If such an incident had happened when I was headteacher it would have been considered a very serious situation and a member of the senior management team would have been called in."

Earlier in the hearing Debbie Williams, who was headteacher at the time of the incident, but who has now also left the school, told the panel that neither she nor other members of the senior leadership team had been made aware the boy had been in the cubicle until near the end of the school day.

Mrs Williams, who was known during her time at the school as Mrs Bond, said none of the staff appeared to have followed safeguarding procedures.

Mrs Berry faces the following allegations:

That on 22 May 22, 2023, with respect to the child, referred to as Child A, she allowed him to remain in a toilet cubicle for more than three hours; and/or did not provide sufficient instructions to learning support assistants on how to respond to him and/or recommend strategies they should use in accordance with his positive handling plan; and/or did not respond to him in accordance with his positive handling plan; and/or did not arrange for him to be supervised during the lunch period.

It is also alleged that on May 22, 2023 Miss Berry did not tell senior staff; and/or Child A’s parents about the incident "in a timely manner" and that she told Child A’s mother and/or father that she had been checking on Child A in the toilet cubicle every five to 10 minutes, when this was not the case.

Mrs Berry also faces an allegation that she created an antecedent, behaviour and consequence chart form in respect of the incident with Child A on May 22, 2023, which contained incorrect information in terms of how often she had checked him and/or the strategies used.

She also faces a further allegation that On January 26, 2023, when another child, Child X, made a comment threatening to harm a child, she did not inform a Designated Safeguarding Person (DSP) and/or the Headteacher; and/or b) The Child Care Assessment Team in a timely manner. The hearing continues.

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