Unions say teachers are losing their livelihoods because of a backlog of relatively minor misconduct cases
It was enrichment day at a Cheshire secondary school, and on the playing fields an assistant headteacher joked with a student. He chased her, squirted her with water and touched her on the back. He thought he was being playful but another teacher found his behaviour inappropriate. He was accused of failing to maintain professional boundaries and felt forced to resign in September 2019.
In March this year the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA), an agency of the Department for Education that holds misconduct hearings in England, heard the case and decided not to ban the teacher, who had been a head of department at the school for six years. While it said his behaviour had been “over-familiar, playful and inappropriate”, it did not consider there was any evidence of sexual intent. Witnesses praised his “excellent teaching abilities” and the panel noted that despite his high workload he had taken on significant pastoral responsibilities over the years.
