Latest news with #student safety
The Independent
10 hours ago
- The Independent
Science teacher banned from classroom after telling pupil ‘I'm good at guessing bra sizes'
A teacher who told a pupil he was 'good at guessing sizes' of female bras has been banned from the classroom. Antony Jones, 59, who taught science at Humphry Davy School in Penzance, Cornwall, also created a Facebook Messenger group chat with a former Year 11 physics class to discuss the 'best looking' students at the school. A Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) tribunal heard that Mr Jones set up the group chat with pupils who had left the school in 2019. In this group chat, he sent a message asking the former students, "So who was the best looking girl in your year?". He then voted in a poll created by one of the students, picking a former pupil with whom he had exchanged several messages in a 'sexually motivated' manner, the panel found. He had asked the student, known as pupil B, to send photographs of herself and sent several inappropriate messages, including: 'You are so photogenic! That translates to being beautiful! Hehe', and 'I thought you looked amazing last night x'. The 59-year-old also offered to take the 16-year-old student out for lunch and coffee. Within this group chat, Mr Jones also joined in on a joke about a former pupil measuring the size of his penis, according to the panel. The panel also found that the science teacher told a student he was 'good at guessing sizes' of female breasts, as well as asking her about her personal life and 'classroom romances'. The panel also found he hugged another student, known as pupil C. He also asked one student, referred to as pupil A, to "Spend some time with your least favourite teacher in a pub doing Maths?… drinks on me". The panel concluded from all of the evidence that Mr Jones has a 'fondness' for pupil B had led to him becoming attracted to her. The TRA said he was pursuing the 'remote prospect of a future sexual relationship' and, therefore, concluded his actions towards pupil B were sexually motivated. About voting in the poll, Mr Jones suggested that asking who was best looking was not necessarily the same thing as asking who was the most sexually attractive. However, the panel concluded the poll was not purely about aesthetics, but involved an element of sexual attractiveness. The TRA also found that in the group chat, Mr Jones 'indulged in sexual jokes and comments about another pupil from their year, as well as another teacher'. In mitigation, the panel found: 'Mr Jones had made admissions to a number of the allegations against him, and expressed a sincere apology and remorse for any pain that he had caused to anyone else by his conduct. 'He had shown some insight into the poor decision making that led to the allegations against him. 'However, the panel remained of the view that when giving evidence, Mr Jones had not shown full insight into his conduct or provided sufficient assurance that it would not be repeated should he find himself in a similar situation in future.' Mr Jones was been banned indefinitely from teaching in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children's home in England.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
Teacher who sent student 35,000 messages before pursuing sexual relationship learns her fate
A female teacher who sent 35,000 messages to one of her students before having a sexual relationship with them after they graduated, has been banned from her job. Former Carey Baptist Grammar teacher Eleanor Louise Yorke was 26 in 2020 when she began dating an 18-year-old former student of hers, who cannot be named for legal reasons. Yorke had started working at the illustrious co-ed private school in 2017, teaching biology and chemistry to Year 12 students. During the Covid-19 lockdowns, Yorke and the Year 12 student talked online over Microsoft Teams. In 2020, the then-17-year-old student sought additional help with schoolwork, as they struggled with lockdowns, which turned into the pair speaking daily. The Victorian Institute of Teaching found Yorke sent the student 35,000 messages. 'It was also alleged that Ms Yorke then began a sexual relationship with the student after they had graduated and turned 18 and this relationship continued for a year,' a VIT statement read. On Thursday, the institute cancelled the now 31-year-old's registration and banned her from education for three years, starting from March, The Age reported. The disciplinary panel highlighted in its decision that there were several incidents. '[It] occurred over a period of years, changing in nature from professional interactions into personal, intimate discussions and culminating in a sexual relationship. 'This deliberate rejection of professional standards by a teacher whose skills and talents had led to rapid promotion was one for which the panel could find no justification, nor was there any satisfactory explanation.' 'The emails show an increased emotional bonding developing through the extensive number of messages,' the panel also said. 'There were also increasingly frequent references to taking the teacher's relationship with the student to a new level once the student had completed year 12.' In March, VIT had heard there was no sexual or intimate relationship between the pair while the student was studying at the school. On one occasion, Yorke asked the student if they should end their communications and told the hearing she tried to 'reset' boundaries. Yorke said their relationship was, however, entirely consensual, but she was worried about the circumstances. 'Even though we spoke about our concerns with [the power imbalance], it still exists,' she told the regulator. In the decision this week, the disciplinary panel noted the relationship had happened anyway. 'This relationship occurred despite [Yorke] being aware of the clear warnings against violating professional relationships with students,' the panel said. Yorke also told the March hearing she had been 'deeply lonely' at the time and had not yet 'come out'. Carey Baptist Grammar became aware of the relationship in 2023 and stood Yorke down over concerns for professional standards. Yorke, who described losing her job as 'horrible', has previously said she is now pursuing a career in psychology and claimed she had no desire to return to teaching.
The Independent
a day ago
- The Independent
Disgraced science teacher, 59, set up group chat with pupils to discuss students' bodies
A teacher has been banned from the classroom after setting up a group chat with former pupils to discuss the 'best looking' students at the school. Antony Jones, 59, taught science at Humphry Davy School in Penzance Cornwall, when he created a Facebook Messenger group chat with a former Year 11 physics class. A Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) tribunal heard that Mr Jones set up the group chat with pupils who had left the school in 2019. In this group chat, he sent a message asking the former students, "So who was the best looking girl in your year?". He then voted in a poll created by one of the students, picking a former pupil with whom he had exchanged several messages in a 'sexually motivated' manner, the panel found. He had asked the student, known as pupil B, to send photographs of herself and sent several inappropriate messages, including: 'You are so photogenic! That translates to being beautiful! Hehe', and 'I thought you looked amazing last night x'. The 59-year-old also offered to take the 16-year-old student out for lunch and coffee. Within this group chat, Mr Jones also joined in on a joke about a former pupil measuring the size of his penis, according to the panel. The panel also found that the science teacher told a student he was 'good at guessing sizes' of female breasts, as well as asking her about her personal life and 'classroom romances'. The panel also found he hugged another student, known as pupil C. He also asked one student, referred to as pupil A, to "Spend some time with your least favourite teacher in a pub doing Maths?… drinks on me". The panel concluded from all of the evidence that Mr Jones has a 'fondness' for pupil B had led to him becoming attracted to her. The TRA said he was pursuing the 'remote prospect of a future sexual relationship' and, therefore, concluded his actions towards pupil B were sexually motivated. About voting in the poll, Mr Jones suggested that asking who was best looking was not necessarily the same thing as asking who was the most sexually attractive. However, the panel concluded the poll was not purely about aesthetics, but involved an element of sexual attractiveness. The TRA also found that in the group chat, Mr Jones 'indulged in sexual jokes and comments about another pupil from their year, as well as another teacher'. In mitigation, the panel found: 'Mr Jones had made admissions to a number of the allegations against him, and expressed a sincere apology and remorse for any pain that he had caused to anyone else by his conduct. 'He had shown some insight into the poor decision making that led to the allegations against him. 'However, the panel remained of the view that when giving evidence, Mr Jones had not shown full insight into his conduct or provided sufficient assurance that it would not be repeated should he find himself in a similar situation in future.' Mr Jones was been banned indefinitely from teaching in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children's home in England.
CTV News
11-06-2025
- CTV News
‘Girls like older men': B.C. teacher banned 1 year for behaviour around students
A teacher from B.C.'s Lower Mainland has been disciplined for a series of incidents that included putting his hand around one student's waist, comparing another to a model, and telling others that 'girls like older men.' John Peter Rocca was teaching math in the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows School District when the incidents took place between the 2018-19 and 2020-21 school years, according to a consent agreement he signed with the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation. The incidents mostly involved three students, who are only identified in the document as Student A, Student B and Student C to protect their privacy. Rocca began putting his hand on Student A's waist or shoulder while Student A was in Grade 7, according to the agreement. He would visit Student A's locker the following school year, sometimes leaning against Student A's shoulder and asking questions about Student A's personal life. At one point, Rocca joked to one of his classes that if he won the lottery, he would start a school in Hawaii for his favourite students – who included Student A and no one else present. Student A reported feeling uncomfortable because of Rocca's behaviour. The consent agreement notes that Rocca had previously been suspended over allegations of unnecessary physical contact with students in the same district back in 2003. 'Rocca agreed to conditions upon his return to work, including that he would not touch female students,' the consent agreement says. The teacher was also accused of 'improper touching of students' while working for the Langley School District in 1988, according to the document, but resigned before an investigation into the allegations could be completed. Incidents with other students Rocca's interactions with Student B included approaching Student B from behind and placing his hand on Student B's shoulder multiple times. He once said to Student B, 'Can you smile? You should smile more, you have such a nice smile,' according to the document. Rocca would 'get very close' when speaking to Student C, and once told Student C, 'Oh, you're like a model' while balancing papers on Student C's head. The consent agreement also details one incident in which Rocca was reprimanding two boys for immature behaviour, and made comments about how 'older men are better,' and that's why 'girls like older men.' During the same interaction, he referred to female students as 'adorable,' 'sweet,' and 'cute.' Rocca retired from the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows School District in July 2021. The Commissioner for Teacher Regulation ordered an investigation into his interactions with students that fall, finding his behaviour constituted professional misconduct. Rocca agreed to a one-year ban on teaching in either public or private schools in the province. In deciding on the appropriate consequences, the commissioner considered a number of factors, including that Rocca 'failed to create a positive learning environment,' 'engaged in a repeated pattern of similar conduct,' and 'caused physical and emotional harm to students,' according to the agreement.
CTV News
10-06-2025
- CTV News
‘Get to work or I will kill you': B.C. teacher disciplined over comment to student
A empty hallway is seen at a school in this Sept. 5, 2014 file photo. (Jonathan Hayward / THE CANADIAN PRESS) A high-school teacher in northern B.C. has been handed a one-day suspension for misconduct for making a remark that made a student feel 'uncomfortable and awkward,' according to the professional regulator. Ingrid Anne Stengler was teaching Grade 9 in the Prince Geoge school district in 2023 when the incident occurred, a consent resolution agreement posted online Tuesday by the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation said. 'Stengler told Student A, in front of Student A's classmates, to 'get to work or I will kill you.' Student A reported feeling uncomfortable and awkward as a result of this. One of Student A's classmates reported feeling 'weird' after Stengler said this,' according to the agreement. Stengler had been issued a 'letter of expectation' over similar conduct the previous year, telling her to 'use words with students that are not hurtful in their meaning and/or that cannot be perceived as threats, even when said in a joking manner,' the agreement noted. Imposing a one-day suspension was deemed appropriate in light of the previous warning and because Stengler 'failed to create a positive learning environment,' the agreement said. The teacher was also required to complete a course on creating a positive environment.
