A former teacher has been banned from the classroom after being found to have had sex with a student between 2001 and 2003. Matthew Whale, 50, taught PE at the then named Easthamstead Park Community School in Bracknell, and was banned 17 years after a sex referral was made in 2007, a misconduct panel heard.
On 29 April 2022, a meeting was held in which the school was informed that a referral had been made to the police. The school then noticed that it did not appear to have any outcome from the referral it had previously made, and that a search of Mr Whale’s teaching record showed no active alerts, nor that he was barred from teaching. The school therefore referred Mr Whale to the Teaching Regulation Agency on 8 August 2022.
After initial denial, Mr Whale admitted to having a sexual relationship with one of his students, spending time alone with her in his office, picking her up from school to spend time alone with her at his home where he admitted to having sex with her. He said he also exchanged personal phone numbers with her, took her to the cinema, restaurants and theme parks and during this time, he told her "he loved her".
Mr Whale was in his 20s during the relationship. He did not inform the school, now called King's Academy Easthampstead Park, that he was having a sexual relationship with the student because "he was aware that it was inappropriate and would lead to disciplinary proceedings," the Teach Regulation Authority (TRA) said.
The age of the student was not reported, but it was found that "no criminal offences were committed" by Mr Whale, but he was still guilty of serious professional misconduct. He admitted that his actions were sexually motivated.
Allegations of sexual misconduct were made against Mr Whale, and he was suspended from work in November 2007. He then resigned in January 2008.
The student provided a witness statement to the panel and while it was deemed to be hearsay, Mr Whale accepted that she suffered the “detriment, injury and upset” described in her statement. The panel heard he gave her more attention than other students and asked her to come to his office alone where they would speak and he would often kiss her.
Mr Whale acted in a controlling manner as he did not want to be caught, the student reported, adding that there was an unspoken agreement between them that she would not tell her friends. Because of this they ended up spending time at his house and with his friends leaving her feeling isolated.
Great lengths were taken to hide the relationship from others like when they went to the cinema they had to run and hide in the toilets when another teacher from the school sat behind them, the student told the panel. They also went to his home when no one else was there and went for restaurant dinners out of the area.
She reported that he influenced the choice of university she went to and that when she went there he would try to contact her. When she ignored him he said he had crashed his car to illicit a response which she said made her panic and feel like he was controlling her. She then ended the relationship.
She reported the relationship to the police and said it had impacted negatively on her mental health and her adult relationships.
Mr Whale told the panel that “the level of maturity I possessed as an individual at this time was clearly not one capable of managing the responsibility of the situation I had been placed in. This was by far and away the greatest driving factor in me leaving the profession nearly 20 years ago… I am also a very different person from the immature individual that encouraged, facilitated and allowed this situation to occur."
He added that he felt "genuine remorse" and "will be forever be sorry" for his actions
The TRA misconduct panel said he should be banned from teaching indefinitely and issued a prohibition order against Mr Whale. His relationship was described as "wholly unacceptable"
A spokesperson for King's Group Academies, of which King's Academy Easthampstead Park is now a part, told the BBC: "This follows a historical matter which pre-dates the school joining the trust. The health, safety and wellbeing of our students is paramount, and we condemn any misconduct and inappropriate behaviour.
"We follow strict and robust safeguarding measures and are supportive of the outcomes which reflect the seriousness of the allegations found proved."
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