A primary school teacher was high on cannabis when stopped by police whilst driving, a hearing has heard.
Sophie Ullah, of Cardiff, was convicted of driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of drugs while employed as a supply teacher in Welsh primary schools.
A Education Workforce Council (EWC) fitness to practice hearing in Cardiff on Monday heard that Ms Ullah, of Pentrebane, was approached by officers on May 10 last year when she was driving her car in the city.
When she opened her car window, the officers noted a strong smell of cannabis emanating from the vehicle and they could see her pupils were enlarged.
They conducted a roadside drug test on Ms Ullah which came back as positive and a breathalyser test for alcohol but this came back as negative.
A blood sample was taken and analysed and was found to contain 7.6mg of cannabis per litre of blood.
She appeared at Cardiff Magistrates' Court on August 9 last year where she pleaded guilty to the charge against her. She was fined £120 and disqualified from driving for 12 months.
The former teacher, who was employed as a school learning support worker for New Directions Education Recruitment Ltd, failed to turn up to the fitness to practice hearing, which went ahead in her absense.
Case presenter Sara Lewis, representing the EWC, said Ms Ullah's conduct amounted to a "serious lack of judgement" and put both herself and others at a potential risk of harm.
She added: "By driving a motor vehicle while clearly under the influence of cannabis, MS Ullah demonstrated a lack of critical thinking and a lack of the ability to think about the consequences of her actions and how they would effect other people.
"The commission of this offence are matters that do have a material relevance to a person's fitness to practice.
"She failed to uphold the public's trust in the education profession."
The EWC's fitness to practice panel came to the conclusion that the allegations against Ms Ullah were proven by way of her guilty plea and found that her actions did amount to unacceptable professional conduct.
Announcing the panel's decision, chairman Steve Powell said: "The community is satisfied the conviction is a relevant offence and the conduct leading to the conviction is a breach of the code.
"Ms Ullah failed to adhere to lawful standards of behaviour in keeping as a member of the education profession and she engaged in illegal activity.
"Registrants are supposed to be role models to learners and an acknowledgement of criminal behaviour may damage trust and confidence in them personally and the education profession as a whole."
The panel decided to issue Ms Ullah with a reprimand, citing her convictions as "unacceptable behaviour which must not happen again".
