A TEACHER at a Wolverhampton pupil referral unit has been banned from teaching after he was found to have inappropriately restrained a pupil.

Mr Olaf Stepnowski, who was a maths teacher at the Braybrook Centre, Lawnswood Campus, carried out an “inappropriate physical restraint” on a pupil, most likely by sweeping “the legs from underneath a pupil to move them to the floor”, a misconduct panel found.

A Teaching Regulatory Agency (TRA) panel found the pupil, who has not been identified, was acting aggressively towards Stepnowski during the incident which took place on April 20, 2021 but deemed that the former teacher had “other options available” to de-escalate the incident other than restraining the pupil.

The panel heard Stepnowski asked the pupil to "stop it" after they shouted at him and attempted to push him over on a football field, but ruled this was not an "effective attempt" to verbally de-escalate the situation.

It was also found that Stepnowski could have asked for support from other members of staff who were a “very short distance away” or removed himself from the incident, as it occurred outdoors.

Stepnowski was suspended from the Braybrook Centre two days after the incident and later ceased working at the pupil referral unit after a disciplinary hearing took place following the incident in February 2022.

He unsuccessfully appealed the decision of the hearing as the case was then referred to the TRA.

Stepnowski refused to appear at the TRA hearing claiming the system was “morally corrupt”.

In a statement sent to the TRA after he was notified of the hearing, Stepnowski said: “TRA investigation is out of my interest… I have no trust in any proceedings offered me by institutions which are school-related.”

The former teacher had been working at the pupil referral unit since 2018 and had received management advice regarding physical intervention with pupils on at least two other separate occasions.

The hearing report stated Stepnowski repeatedly and deliberately disregarded The Braybrook Centre’s safeguarding standards and showed a “lack of insight or remorse” for his actions.

The panel found Stepnowski guilty of “unacceptable professional misconduct", saying his actions fell “significantly short of the standards expected of the profession”.

Deeming the misconduct “serious” due to the element of unnecessary physical restraint, Stepnowski was banned from teaching with immediate effect.

He will be able to appeal this decision if he chooses after two years.

The Braybrook Centre was unavailable to comment on the findings of the hearing.