Ban for Wickersley teacher who kissed and hugged female pupil

A TEACHER who hugged, kissed and gave a present to a vulnerable female pupil has been banned from the country’s classrooms indefinitely.

Robert Nixon (28) who taught history at Wickersley School, admitted what he had done to a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) disciplinary panel and that it amounted to sexual behaviour. 

However, he denied his conduct in relation to the 18-year-old student was “sexually motivated” and the panel accepted this denial.

Nixon taught at the school from September 2013, when he was also appointed head of year, until he resigned in January last year. 

The incidents leading to him resigning and facing the disciplinary proceedings happened during the 2018/2019 academic year, the panel in Coventry heard.

Nixon admitted to the panel that he had engaged in an inappropriate relationship with the girl, given her a book as a gift, that she had hugged him and he had hugged her back and that he had kissed her on the school premises around five times.

He also admitted that he had failed to obey management instructions relating to the girl, and that what he did was “conduct of a sexual nature”.

Wickersley head Elaine Renavent said in a statement to parents that the matter had been “dealt with as swiftly and decisively as possible”.

She said she had suspended Nixon and informed the TRA and Rotherham Council after “concerns were brought to me about his professional conduct” in December 2018.

The council and police had decided not to prosecute Nixon because the student was aged over 18 said the head, who added: “During the course of our investigation, Mr Nixon admitted to having hugged and kissed the student, and tendered his resignation in January 2019, which I accepted.”

The panel’s findings say: “There is no evidence that Nixon's conduct was primarily motivated by the intention to attain sexual gratification or engage in a sexual relationship.

“There is no evidence that the inappropriate relationship continued over a long period of time or escalated beyond kissing.”

However, they found that what he did amounted to “unacceptable professional conduct” which could bring the teaching profession into disrepute and that “the facts found proven, involved breaches of the Teachers’ Standards”.

The panel, who referred to the girl as Pupil A, said: “This was misconduct of a serious nature which fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession.

They added: “Mr Nixon’s conduct amounted to a serious safeguarding failure and presented a risk of harm to a pupil in his care.

“His conduct impacted upon Pupil A and the school — it also had the potential to impact on pupils and the school community more broadly in so far as his inappropriate contact with Pupil A had been witnessed and reported by staff and other pupils.

“For these reasons, the panel was satisfied that Mr Nixon’s actions amount to unacceptable professional conduct, which he admitted.”

TRA decision maker, Dawn Dandy, imposing the ban on behalf of the education secretary said she considered a ban was necessary in order to maintain public confidence in the profession, adding: “A prohibition order is proportionate and in the public interest.”

However, she left the way open for Nixon to return to teaching in the future. Although the ban is an indefinite one, he can apply to have it lifted after two years, though Ms Dandy made it clear that it would not be lifted automatically and that a new panel would have to consider whether he was fit to return to the classroom.

Alternatively, the disgraced ex-teacher can challenge the ban in the High Court.