Female teachers banned after one kissed pupil, 18, during night out
Two female teachers have been banned from the classroom after one of them kissed a pupil, 18, during a drunken night out
- Jennifer Arding, 29, kissed a pupil in Casino Rooms nightclub in Rochester, Kent
- Was on night out with history teacher Charlotte Bradley, 32, and a former pupil
- At end of night, Arding, Bradley and male pupil took cab back to Bradley’s home
- Arding sent later pupil text warning him not to say anything about ‘last night’
- Both women found guilty of ‘unacceptable professional conduct’
- Banned from profession ‘indefinitely’ but can apply to re-enter after two years
Two women teachers have been banned from the classroom after spending a drunken night with a sixth-form boy.
Jennifer Arding, 29, who was an RE teacher and deputy head of year, and history teacher Charlotte Bradley, 32, were both guilty of ‘unacceptable professional conduct’.
Miss Arding, who kissed the teenager in a nightclub, had also brought the profession ‘into dispute’, according to a professional misconduct hearing.
Jennifer Arding, 29, who was an RE teacher and deputy head of year, and history teacher Charlotte Bradley, 32, were both guilty of ‘unacceptable professional conduct’
Both women had been drinking wine and vodka before they set out for the evening.
Accompanied by a girl who used to attend their school, they went out clubbing in Rochester, Kent, in December 2017.
At the Casino Rooms club, they ran into a group of former pupils and started to party with them, the hearing was told.
But one of the teenagers dancing with the two teachers was an 18-year-old boy, referred to only as Pupil A, who was still studying at St John’s Catholic Comprehensive School in Gravesend – the school where the teachers worked.
The panel heard claims that Pupil A and Miss Arding were ‘in a firm embrace and kissing passionately’.
This lasted ‘for a few minutes’ and ‘their arms were wrapped around each other… and were full on kissing’.
Miss Arding, who kissed the teenager in a nightclub, had also brought the profession ‘into dispute’, according to a professional misconduct hearing sitting in Coventry at Cheylesmore House (pictured). She and Bradley then went back to Bradley’s home in a cab with the male pupil
But Miss Arding told the disciplinary panel in Coventry: ‘Although Pupil A and I shared a kiss, it was not my intention for this to happen.
‘It is clear from talking to others who were present on the night that Pupil A instigated the kiss and was attempting to kiss others present.
‘As I had consumed some alcohol on the night, I did not successfully stop this from happening and accept that this falls far below any professional standards expected from myself or indeed any teacher.’
She added: ‘The kiss that occurred… was a spontaneous moment of stupidity.
‘There was no build up to it. At no point had I contacted this student and given him any impression that I wanted this to happen.’
The panel accepted that there had been no flirting and Miss Arding was not interested ‘in a future sexual relationship’ with the teenager.
After the nightclub, the two teachers and Pupil A shared a cab back to Mrs Bradley’s house where all three spent the night there.
Nothing untoward happened, and early the next morning the boy took an Uber home, the hearing was told.
Miss Arding later texted him: ‘Make sure that you won’t say anything about last night, I could lose my job over it.’
But the school investigated after the mother of a girl pupil complained and a video surfaced of what happened in the club.
Both teachers believed their drinks had been spiked at the club but resigned over the incident.
They were both banned from the profession ‘indefinitely’ by the Teaching Regulation Agency but can apply to re-enter after two years.
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