Supply teacher ignored order not to work with kids

A supply teacher under investigation who continued to work with children despite being instructed not to has been banned from teaching.

Ceyhan Unluer said she was acting to protect her "family's basic survival" when she chose to ignore an instruction to stop teaching while being investigated by council education officials.

The 45-year-old, who had been contracted to work as a supply teacher in St Helens via an agency, failed to notify a second company she was facing a probe into her conduct.

As a result, she carried out work at five schools across Merseyside and Cheshire. A misconduct hearing held by the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) has banned her from the classroom for at least four years.

Unluer was contracted to work at Willow Bank School in St Helens through Tradewind Recruitment from June 2023.

She was also a supply teacher at St Margaret Church of England, Warrington, Holy Cross Primary School, St Helens, Redbridge High School in Fazakerley, Penketh Primary School and Woolston Brook, Warrington, through Connex Education agency from October the same year.

A report into the hearing, held in private, said an individual referred to as Witness B said there had been a referral regarding "concerns" about Unluer in November 2023, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The teacher was being investigated for a category of conduct known as a "transferable risk" when it is alleged their behaviour outside of the workplace could have an impact on their suitability to work with children.

In a subsequent meeting, the supply teacher was advised by Tradewind Recruitment that she was not to work with children during the investigation.

However, in February 2024 Unluer revealed to Witness C that she had been working with another agency from November 2023 to January 2024.

In an email to a TRA officer last August, Unluer admitted she had been instructed by the local authority designated officer (LADO) to stop working during the investigation.

She said: "I accept responsibility for continuing to work during that time, but I did so out of necessity.

"I made a difficult decision to prioritise my family's basic survival."

As a professional and a teacher, the panel considered Unluer was expected to make her agency aware of these circumstances as they were relevant to her ongoing suitability to teach and safeguard children.

In an email to the TRA officer in August 2025, Unluer said she accepted responsibility for working while suspended.

She claimed to have had "no financial support" and had "made a difficult decision to prioritise my family's basic survival".

Panel members said Unluer's conduct had been "serious and deliberate" and recommended a four-year review period be put in place to reflect this.

This means she is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children's home in England.

She may appeal in 2030.

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