Teacher's 'over friendly' emails 'cross boundary'

A formal inquiry into "over friendly" emails sent by a teacher to his students has heard he was sacked following the correspondence, which broached topics including drinking alcohol and going out at night.

David Brereton was dismissed from Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College in 2022 after it emerged he had been regularly emailing students about non-education matters, the proceedings were told.

A professional conduct panel is scrutinising his actions in relation to two students, with the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) maintaining the emails "blur and then cross boundaries".

Brereton did not attend the virtual proceedings and was not represented. The panel's hearing continues.

Alexander Barnfield, who presented the case for the TRA, told the hearing Brereton had exchanged about 475 emails with one student, Pupil A, between December 2021 and June 2022, including late at night, at weekends and during school holidays.

In one he said he was "already missing" the teenager, while in another he told her not to tell anyone he had shared his personal contact details, saying he would "probably get the sack" if she did.

Going out at night and drinking were among the subjects broached with Pupil A.

Email exchanges with a second student, Pupil B, in March and April 2022 also form part of the TRA case.

Across the messaging, Brereton failed to maintain "appropriate professional boundaries", Barnfield said, adding that this amounted to unprofessional conduct or conduct that could bring the profession into disrepute.

The emails were "of a personal and overly friendly nature", Barnfield continued.

"They refer to the exchange of personal contact details, social media, and topics that, the TRA say, are not appropriate for teacher-pupil correspondence.

"The TRA also say they are inappropriate in their tone, in their volume, and the timing of them is often late at night, at the weekend, or outside of term-time."

Brereton worked at the college for 17 years before his dismissal in September 2022 following internal disciplinary proceedings.

Claire Gaygan, who was assistant principal and safeguarding lead at the college at the time, told the hearing Brereton received regular training on appropriate conduct, including a three-hour training session for all staff at the start of each year.

Gaygan, now chief operating officer for the trust that runs the college, said: "As the professionals, the grown-ups in the room, we should maintain boundaries."

She stated that as well as carrying out its own investigation, the college had informed Staffordshire Police about Brereton's contact with one pupil, who was under 18.

But after speaking with the pupil and her family, officers took no further action, the panel heard.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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