Teacher banned after sending former pupil £500

A teacher who messaged a former pupil on TikTok and sent her £500 has been banned from the profession.

Roger Towersey, who taught geography at Ditton Park Academy in Slough, Berkshire, also admitted to spending about £1,000 on fast food for "vulnerable" students.

Towersey accepted his actions amounted to "unacceptable professional conduct" that could bring the profession into "disrepute".

A Teaching Regulation Agency panel barred him from teaching indefinitely on 3 March.

Between October 2023 and April 2024, the 37-year-old sent multiple social media messages to the former pupil and sent payments totalling £500.

The pupil told the panel he had messaged shortly before her 18th birthday to wish her a happy Easter and talk about money, college and shopping.

In messages seen by the panel, Towersey responded to a request to borrow £4 by offering to send £20.

On another occasion, when she asked for money for a day out with family, he agreed but said it would be the "last time for this month".

In one TikTok message he warned her to be careful people did not wonder where the money had come from, joking they might think she was "dealing or doing only fans".

During an internal meeting with school staff in April 2024, Towersey said he knew messaging the pupil was "beyond [his] remit" but said he had forgotten she was a former student and wanted to check she had someone to talk to.

The panel also examined evidence he had allowed two other pupils to enter the school at weekends and bought them food via delivery apps.

It found he spent about £1,000 on fast food for the pupils, who he knew to be vulnerable, and failed to report that they had told him they were hungry and cold.

The panel concluded his conduct was "clearly unprofessional" and involved attempts to gain an inappropriate level of familiarity with pupils.

Towersey can apply for his eligibility to teach to be restored.

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