(Image: NQ)
A former teacher at a school in the Borders has been removed from the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) register after being found unfit to teach following a series of inappropriate comments and classroom incidents.
John Kerr, a secondary school History and Modern Studies teacher, was removed from the teaching register for one year following a ruling by the GTCS that found his behaviour fell "significantly short" of the standards expected of the profession.
The decision follows a professional conduct hearing earlier this year between March 9 and 12 and August 25 and 28. Mr Kerr denied the allegations and made no admissions.
The panel considered two incidents at Berwickshire High School in December 2018 and February 2019, where Mr Kerr made inappropriate remarks to a female pupil about her clothing and a school production, and used aggressive language toward another pupil.
On the first occasion, Mr Kerr told a pupil, named as Pupil B, he would attend the school production of Grease "if you are going to be wearing the low-cut crop top and tight trousers, but I might not have a job the next day," or words to that effect.
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He also said he would be "less inclined" to attend after Pupil B said that she would not be appearing in a particular role.
In a separate incident, the panel found that Mr Kerr shouted at Pupil A, spat on his own hand, wiped it on the pupil’s arm, and pushed him.
He also directed a series of threatening and demeaning statements at another student, identified as Pupil C, including "I am going to kick your teeth in," "I don’t give a **** what you think," and "You are thick and stupid... you will never make anything of your life," "I am going to burn you," "You’ll never be as smart as me…I have written over 50 books," "I will wipe the floor with you," "You think you are big and tough," "I will be the end of you," "I will be the last thing you see," and "You’re taking the **** out of me."
The panel said: "The panel determined that the actions of the Teacher in speaking to Pupil B about the type of clothes she might be wearing, a crop top and tight trousers, in this context; the teacher wiping his spit on a Pupil A’s sleeve and pushing him, and using aggressive language to Pupil C and shouting, taken individually and cumulatively, undermined the teacher’s duty to act as a role model and show a good example and uphold standards of professional conduct.
"Hence, the panel determined that the facts found proved amounted individually and cumulatively to behaviour falling short of the standards expected of a registered teacher."
Mr Kerr worked at Berwickshire High School at the time of the incidents (Image: Newsquest)
The panel concluded that Mr Kerr’s behaviour was not remediated, noting: "There was no evidence before the panel of any insight from the teacher, no apology, no mitigation and no evidence of remediation."
They also found that he attempted to blame the pupils for his actions.
The panel added: "The panel concluded that the teacher failed to act professionally and had demonstrated a total disregard for the impact of his actions on others.
"The panel noted that a pupil had stated that they did not want to attend the teacher’s class in future, following his behaviour, and Pupil B was upset.
"The panel was mindful that throughout the hearing the teacher had tried to deflect responsibility for what had occurred, blaming the behaviour of the children/young people and alleging a 'malicious and false' reporting regarding speaking to Pupil B about her wearing a 'crop top and tight trousers.'"
In deciding the sanction, the panel determined that a reprimand or conditional registration order would not be appropriate or sufficient to protect the public or maintain confidence in the profession.
They concluded that removal from the register for a period of one year was proportionate and necessary.
The panel said: "The panel was satisfied that a Conditional Registration Order and/or reprimand is inappropriate or impractical in the circumstances of the case and with reference to the guidance.
"The panel considered the misconduct to be serious in nature, repeated and in the absence of developed insight and reflection, the risk of repetition remains high.
"Accordingly, it did not consider conditions of practice to be an appropriate or proportionate sanction in this case."
Mr Kerr has the right to appeal to the Court of Session against the decision within 28 days of service of the Decision Notice.