Teacher who had sexual relationship with pupil 'deliberately' misled Grammar School at Leeds

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A Leeds teacher who “deliberately” misled a school over a sexual relationship he had with a pupil at a previous school has been banned by the regulator.

Martin Gibson, 44, a former teacher at The Grammar School at Leeds (GSAL), had a prior “inappropriate relationship” with a pupil while working in London, a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) misconduct panel found.

The TRA professional teacher misconduct panel hearing found that Mr Gibson “failed to maintain appropriate professional boundaries” and engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a pupil while working at Bancroft’s School, London, according to a report published following the hearing.

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The official report said that Mr Gibson went on to work at GSAL in Leeds in 2010 and was the school’s Head of Classics when he admitted to the previous relationship October 2022.

He was dismissed by GSAL in November 2022 after he admitted having a relationship with a pupil at a former school in 2003-2004, while employed as a teacher.

Mr Gibson had meetings with the pupil outside of school and went on holiday with them in 2005 during which the two “kissed and engaged in intimate touching”, the report said.

A bird's eve view of Leeds Grammar School.A bird's eve view of Leeds Grammar School.
A bird's eve view of Leeds Grammar School. | James Hardisty

The TRA report said: “The panel’s opinion was that by the very nature of Mr Gibson’s conduct, it was of a sexual nature.

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“Even in respect of those incidents which did not include overtly sexual behaviour (such as kissing and/or touching each other’s genital areas), Mr Gibson’s conduct with Pupil A could be described as a pre-cursor to a sexual relationship.”

The panel noted that Mr Gibson willingly and without being prompted disclosed information to the school in 2022 which led to these allegations being made against him.

Despite admitting he left Bancroft’s School as a way to end his relationship with ‘Pupil A’, when applying for subsequent teaching roles the panel found that Mr Gibson had misled two further employers about his reasoning.

The report said that at Worksop College in 2004, he stated he wished to leave Bancroft’s to move closer to family and further his professional development undertaking a role with greater responsibilities.

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And he later told the Grammar school at Leeds in 2010 that he left Bancroft’s for greater management responsibilities.

The report said: “By deliberately concealing the relationship, it was clear to the panel that Mr Gibson knew that his actions were inappropriate at the time and that there would be consequences if he disclosed them.

“The panel found that this was not a case where Mr Gibson had carelessly and/or mistakenly failed to disclose his primary motive for leaving Bancroft’s School. It was the panel’s view that this concealment was deliberate and repeated by Mr Gibson.”

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The panel found all of the allegations against Mr Gibson as proven and found that those proven facts amounted to “unacceptable professional conduct and/or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute.”

As a result, Mr Gibson has been banned from teaching indefinitely and the panel ruled that due to the seriousness of the allegations, he would “not be entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach.”

The ruling means he cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England.

A spokesperson for the Grammar School at Leeds said: “We welcome the TRA’s report and findings. Thisis a serious issue that took place at another school, 20 years ago. When it was first disclosed to GSAL two years ago, the school responded immediately, working with external agencies.

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“The welfare and wellbeing of our pupils is always our top priority and, even though there is no suggestion of any concerns about his conduct whilst employed here, the individual concerned had no contact with pupils from the moment he made the disclosure and left our employment permanently shortly afterwards.”

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