Teacher gave pupils ‘porn star’ names in assembly speech

In the astonishing end-of-term address, Graeme Cowie abandoned formality and instead launched into a mocking diatribe in which he gave porn star namesat the leaving assembly for dozens of sixth-year pupils. The 38-year-old’s bizarre performance was met with stony silence by teachers, one of whom said she felt physically sick.

But the pupils, who were branded “Buster F***salot” and “Peachybutt”, were “lapping it up”, said Mearns Academy headteacher David Martindale, who was reluctant to stop the speech because he feared that would give Mr Cowie “legend status”.

Giving evidence to the General Teaching Council for Scotland, Mr Cowie, a maths and physics teacher, broke down several times admitting he “lost control of the situation” after preparing for the speech by inserting the names of 62 pupils into a porn star name generator the night before the assembly on April 29, 2016.

But Mr Cowie, whose previously unblemished career spanned 17 years, denies being unfit to teach. He said: “Emotion, ego and arrogance took over that evening. I’m so disappointed my maverick speech came to this.

“After struggling to get my words out, the mechanism of humour, my ego, got in the way. I lost control of the situation. The showmanship was totally inappropriate. I failed to uphold professional boundaries. They were now adults in my eyes.

“I take responsibility for my actions. It’s very difficult for me to relive the words I said. I struggle to identify with that person and that professional. I do not justify any of my actions on that leavers day.

“My intention was never to be disrespectful to anyone. I love teaching and want to be able to inspire young people.“When I talked about names, the generator was totally random. I didn’t plan to match someone up with something he/she had done.“I lost control of the situation.

“At the back of my head I was no longer addressing pupils but leavers who were now adults. I was looking for cheap laughs.”

In a written statement,Angela Wotherspoon, deputy rector of the school in Laurencekirk, Aberdeenshire, said Mr Cowie was at the time acting head at another school but had been invited back because he had spent much of his career at Mearns. She said: “He went on to say how Pupil B had wet himself in S1 drama class. I could see him cringeing.

“He then started going through the leavers individually after feeding their names into a porn star naming generator.The names j***ing, F-word and w*** were mentioned.”

She said a pupil who had suffered a traumatic brain injury was not present but given a dero- gatory name.

Mrs Wotherspoon said: “I thought I was going to be sick. I was struggling to get my head round what Graeme had done.”

Headteacher of Mearns Academy, DavidMr Martindale told the hearing: “Graeme started semi-formally but then went on to say ... he was not going to keep it formal because they were leaving school. He told a number of stories... and spoke about scandals, one about Tiger Woods struggling to keep his number one wood in his pants.“Then he started saying what pornstar names they’d be. The pupils were lapping it up. I was anxious but I didn’t want to cause resentment by stopping it.

“I thought if I did stop it, pupils might get their phones out and I didn’t want to highlight it and give him legend status.”

“He had time to formulate pornstar names but not to put together a formal speech. Some pupils were vulnerable and he normalised pornography.

At the time, Mr Cowie was acting headteacher at Inverurie Academy, Aberdeenshire. He had left Mearns Academy five months earlier.

After the speech, he was suspended pending an investigation by Aberdeenshire Council.

He is now a depute rector at the Gordon Schools (corr) in Huntly, after the council decided no further action would be taken by them.

Phil Gaiter, Rector at The Gordon Schools, attended the hearing and stood by his decision to hire Mr Cowie in Aug 2016 as deputy rector.

He said: “Since his arrival, in my experience, Graeme has proved invaluable. He’s passionate, he cares and young people respond to him. Without doubt I would trust Graeme.”

A thank you card, given to Mr Cowie by a pupil on the day of the speech was also read out during the hearing.

It stated: “The moment you called me Foghorn I knew you were funny. I wouldn’t have achieved anything I had if it wasn’t for you. You are worth more than Mearns and you deserve to be appreciated.”

Mr Cowie admits his fitness to teach was impaired at the time of the speech but not at present.

The hearing continues.