Teacher banned after calling pupil 'Premier League'

A PE teacher who told a female student she was "Premier League" and one of his "favourite people on the planet" has been banned from the profession.

Stuart Smith, 48, was a teacher at Mayville High School in Portsmouth, Hampshire, where he had also been appointed to the roles of assistant head of Year 11 and head of house.

He has been excluded from teaching indefinitely after a disciplinary panel found he had been "overfamiliar" and developed an "emotional personal relationship" with a pupil.

A misconduct hearing was told Smith had become "increasingly close" to a pupil on a school trip and had engaged in regular one-to-one conversations with her.

It heard that he exchanged several WhatsApp messages with her, following their return from the trip.

In one message, seen by the Teaching Regulation Agency's professional conduct panel, Smith said to the girl: "So, today I've seen a lot of my favourite people and done some fun things but I would have swapped it all for a cup of milo, a game of spoons and just being silly with you."

In another, he told the student she was "Premier League and one of my favourite people on the planet".

Smith also told the girl that he was "really proud" of her before referring to her as the best "hoody stealer", "bracelet addict", and "Mona Lisa friend", among other names.

In his evidence to the panel, the PE teacher acknowledged that his messages at times were "too friendly and overfamiliar but said he thought it was due to spending 16/17 hours a day with someone".

It was said that in his written statement, Smith said he had gone through the messages and agreed they were unprofessional and "blurred the lines between what is acceptable and not".

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, also told the misconduct hearing that on the journey home from the school trip, she told Smith she was going to sleep and he said she could put her legs over him.

It was said that the teacher then "rubbed" and "touched" the pupil's thigh with his hands, an allegation which Smith "categorically" denied but the panel found proven.

The panel also found that Smith had photographs of the student, bought her a fabric bracelet, and exchanged personal mobile telephone numbers with one or more pupils.

In October 2023, Smith was arrested by the police on suspicion of sexual assault and suspended from the school.

However, in December of that year, the police investigation was closed with no further action.

That month, the teacher resigned from the school, which costs around £18,000 a year for senior students in Year 7 to Year 11.

The panel found the teacher's conduct "involved serious and repeated failures to maintain proper professional boundaries with a pupil and a failure to act in accordance with safeguarding expectations, requirements and responsibilities".

The report added: "The panel considered that these matters seriously undermined the standards expected of a teacher and he sought to exploit his position of trust."

Some of the other allegations made against the teacher were found not proven.

Smith has now been prohibited from teaching indefinitely.

He can apply for the prohibition order to be set aside but not until 2029 and he has a right of appeal at the High Court.

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