SLEAFORD TEACHER BANNED FOR SEXUALLY MOTIVATED BEHAVIOUR AND LANGUAGE
A teacher at St George's Academy in Sleaford has been banned from the profession indefinitely due to inappropriate language and behaviour of a sexual nature.The 54-year-old, Christopher Harrison, started working at the school as a mathematics teacher in January 2020 and also served as an intervention teacher from September that year until his resignation in April 2021 following multiple allegations from pupils.
It was claimed that Mr Harrison engaged in inappropriate physical contact with students, including massaging a girl’s shoulders, stroking her arm or back on several occasions, and resting his head on her hip once when she was near his desk.
He is also accused of making sexual jokes, innuendos, and remarks such as using 'sex on hard concrete always hurts oval areas' as a mnemonic for a math formula.
Additionally, he allegedly spoke inappropriately about his female tennis coach’s backhand to students.
One student testified that: "Because of the way I was being treated by Christopher Harrison I was not doing well in maths…the whole thought of maths made me feel really anxious; Christopher Harrison was supposed to help me, I felt nervous to go into lessons and once I was in the lessons I did not want to be there." A misconduct panel concluded that Mr Harrison's conduct was 'significantly short' of professional standards, involving physical contact and sexual language.
The panel emphasized that his behaviour was sexually motivated and raised strong safeguarding concerns.
Mr Harrison displayed a 'complete lack of insight and remorse,' failing to recognize his misconduct.
As a result, David Oatley, on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education, ordered that he be prohibited from teaching indefinitely, which prohibits him from working in any educational or youth-related institution in England until at least December 6, 2029.
St George’s Academy noted that they adhered to safeguarding policies and took necessary steps upon discovering the allegations, prioritizing student safety.
