A former art and technology teacher at Furze Platt Senior School in Maidenhead is banned from teaching for life, with no right to apply for a review.
A former art and technology teacher at Furze Platt Senior School in Maidenhead has been banned from teaching for life. He can never apply to have the ban lifted.
The Teaching Regulation Agency published the decision on GOV.UK on Monday 12 October (Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr William Goswell). It names the teacher as William Goswell and his former employer as Furze Platt Senior School.
The order was made on 29 September on behalf of the Education Secretary. It means he:
- cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England
- is prohibited indefinitely, with no review period
- is not entitled to apply for his eligibility to teach to be restored
- has a right of appeal to the High Court within 28 days of being given notice of the order
A prohibition order normally applies for life. Panels can let a teacher apply for a review after at least two years. This one carries no such provision, which is the strictest form the sanction takes.
What the decision records
The case rested on a single allegation: that he had been convicted of a relevant offence. He admitted it in full.
According to the decision, he pleaded guilty at Reading Magistrates’ Court on 1 May 2025 to possessing an indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph of a child. The offence was dated 8 December 2022. The panel was given a certificate of conviction and his Police National Computer record.
The decision records that the conviction concerned a single Category A image.
He was sentenced at the same court on 27 June 2025. The decision lists:
- 9 months’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months
- a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years
- notification requirements
- 200 hours of unpaid work
- a rehabilitation activity requirement
How it unfolded at the school
The decision sets out the dates. He was employed by the school as an art and technology teacher on 6 February 2023. The offence date recorded in the decision, December 2022, is before he joined.
He was arrested on 29 August 2023. The school opened an investigation on 26 September 2023, which ended with a disciplinary meeting on 19 October. The school referred him to the Teaching Regulation Agency on 22 November 2023.
The ban came almost three years after that referral.
Why there is no review period
A three-member panel heard the case in public on 28 September 2026, by video. He attended and was not represented. Parts of the hearing were held in private.
He told the panel he had been dealing with significant personal difficulties and health problems at the time. He also said he had downloaded the material inadvertently. The panel noted it had received no medical or other evidence for either point. It found he had shown some remorse and had a previous good record, with no earlier regulatory findings.
It still recommended a ban with no review. It said the category of the image, “even in circumstances where it was a one-off event, was a significant factor”. The Education Secretary’s published advice to panels says cases involving indecent images of children weigh against offering a review.
The decision maker for the Education Secretary, David Oatley, agreed. He wrote that a review period would not maintain public confidence, given “the serious nature of the offence” and “the lack of evidence of full insight and remorse”.
The school
Furze Platt Senior School is an 11 to 18 academy on Furze Platt Road in north Maidenhead, about six miles west of Windsor. It has been a single-academy trust since December 2011.
The government’s schools register lists 1,556 pupils against a capacity of 1,450 (Get Information about Schools). The decision raises no concern about how the school handled the case.
What it means for you
If you are a parent at the school. The decision records no allegation involving any pupil. The conviction concerns an image dated before he started at the school.
If you employ teachers or run a club. A prohibition order shows up when an employer checks a teacher’s record (check a teacher’s record). It is separate from the Disclosure and Barring Service barred lists, and does not replace a DBS check.
If you are worried about a child in the Royal Borough. Children’s social care in Windsor and Maidenhead is run by Achieving for Children. Referrals go through the Single Point of Access form, or by email to mash@achievingforchildren.org.uk if you cannot use the form (RBWM Safeguarding Partnership, concerned about a child). If a child is in immediate danger, call 999.
If your concern is about an adult who works with children. Tell the organisation’s designated safeguarding lead. Allegations against staff and volunteers are overseen by the borough’s Local Authority Designated Officer, based within Achieving for Children (RBWM Safeguarding Partnership, allegations against staff and volunteers).
If you want to read the decision. The full 15-page document is free on GOV.UK. Every fact in this article comes from it, from the schools register, or from the safeguarding partnership pages linked above.
For term dates across the borough’s schools, see our Windsor and Maidenhead school term dates.
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