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A teacher has been found guilty of unacceptable professional conduct after letting two teenage pupils go sledging in the snow.
Design and technology teacher Richard Tremelling was sacked by the Cefn Hengoed Community School in Swansea after he failed to follow the school's health and safety policy.
Mr Tremelling, 37, had taken the sledge into school after it snowed overnight in February 2009 to show his GCSE class its "classic design".
When two boys asked to try it out at the end of the lesson he took them sledging on the snow-covered grounds.
Despite no harm coming to the boys, the teacher was initially suspended.
Mr Tremelling was accused of failing to consult the head teacher, or writing to the school governors before setting off.
And while he maintained he risk-assessed the activity before it began, he was told he should have done it in writing.
Within 11 months he was dismissed from duty for allegedly failing to follow the school's health and safety policy.
In all, he was accused of nine separate breaches, amounting to an alleged failure in his duty of care to pupils.
The sledge in question was a Scandinavian "snow racer" which was an "exceedingly stable sledge", Mr Tremelling told the hearing in Cardiff.
He said: "I did not go sledding on a cheap Asda £10 sledge, I went on a Scandinavian classic design sledge which has built-in safety features, and also a brake."
He agreed that neither of the pupils involved had worn protective masks, but said he did not believe they were necessary.
School policy stated that written permission was needed for any outside activity or visit.
But Mr Tremelling said that because the sledging took place during the morning break directly after the lesson, it was simply a continuation of classroom teaching.
As such he did not regard it as either an official activity because it was within school, or a visit out of school.
An independent assessment had later been made of the sledging which concluded "no significant risk" was presented by Mr Tremelling's actions.
The General Teaching Council's professional conduct committee found him guilty of four out of nine charges: that he allowed pupils to go sledging; did not have head teacher's permission; ignored cautionary words of warning from colleagues; and denied the allegation when questioned by the head.
He was cleared of five charges, including that there was no risk assement, there was no parental consent and health and safety guidelines were not followed.
The committee ruled that he can remain a teacher and his charge will be removed after two years.
SKYNEWS
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