Ban for teacher who criticised colleague to parent

A teacher has been struck off after a panel found she suggested to a parent that colleagues were targeting their child.

Erin Dempsey taught the pupil history at Furze Platt Senior School in Maidenhead, Berkshire, when she was found to have also inappropriately contacted the pupil on WhatsApp using her personal mobile phone.

She was also found to have amended their register and detention records.

A school spokesperson said it places "huge importance on the health, welfare and safeguarding of all our community, particularly our children."

A Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel removed her registration for two years, after which she will need to apply to have it restored if she wants to teach again.

Dempsey, 27, told the parent in an email that their child was "not the only one to have issues" with a colleague, which the panel said was "inappropriate and unprofessional".

The panel found Dempsey's contact with the child on WhatsApp and by email was "extensive" and "inappropriate", in that it rarely related to what Dempsey was teaching them.

It said Dempsey appeared to have been "motivated by a desire" to help the pupil but that her behaviour was a fundamental breach of standards.

Dempsey worked at the school from September 2023 until April 2024, when she resigned. She had been suspended in March 2024.

She qualified as a teacher in Canada but was an unqualified teacher in England, the TRA said.

The school's spokesperson added: "We note that the judgement recognised the safeguarding training and measures implemented by Furze Platt Senior School.

"It was our school community who raised the concerns and it was our own prompt action, including investigation and liaison with outside agencies, which led to the TRA referral.

"We continue to ensure that our staff meet the highest possible safeguarding standards. Our priority remains supporting and educating our students to become fantastic, successful young adults."