Mayville High School: Former Portsmouth teacher Stuart Smith banned from teaching after sending pupil ‘over-familiar’ messages and inappropriate conduct
A teacher has been banned from the profession following a misconduct panel
A secondary school teacher has been banned from teaching after sending a pupil ‘over-familiar’ messages, buying her jewellery and keeping pictures of her on his phone.
Stuart Smith has been prohibited from teaching indefinitely after a teacher misconduct panel, which took place between April 13 and 17, found he developed an “over-familiar and inappropriate relationship with a pupil, engaging in clearly unacceptable physical contact”.
While employed as a PE teacher at Mayville High School, in St Simons Road, it was alleged that he allowed a student, known as Pupil A, to put her legs on him during a school trip. More serious allegations that he rubbed her leg and thigh during this incident were also considered by the panel.
The case arose after Pupil A disclosed the incidents in 2023. Smith, who was appointed assistant head of year 11 in 2021, was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault, though the police later took no further action.
He resigned from the school in December 2023, but the school concluded he would likely have been dismissed had he remained employed. Mayville has a pre-prep, junior and senior school; fees for the senior school are £18,000 a year.
The published misconduct report says: “The hearing found that Smith exchanged numerous overly personal WhatsApp messages with Pupil A after a school trip, including messages expressing emotional attachment, referring to himself as her “friend”, saying he would “always be here” for her, and discussing missing her. He also admitted to exchanging personal mobile numbers with pupils and failing to report the relationship to safeguarding staff.”
In his messages to Pupil A, the 48-year-old said he was going to miss her “a ridiculous amount” and she was one of his “favourite people on the planet”. He also described her as a “friend” and said she looks great in all the pictures he had of her on his electronic device.
The report continued: “The panel found that Mr Smith’s inappropriate repeated breaches of professional boundaries were not confined to a single incident; it began during the school trip, continued on the return flight including through physical and highly inappropriate contact and then continued after the trip through ongoing personal and overfamiliar messaging that the panel had found placed emotional pressure on Pupil A and contributed to her anxiety and distress.”
The hearing found Smith was “not in a good way” and had “suicidal thoughts”, with a witness, namely Pupil B, saying Pupil A had previously expressed her concern that the teacher would commit suicide if she stopped responding to him.
Proceedings also highlighted the “impact on Pupil A of Mr Smith’s actions, including the anxiety and pressure identified in her evidence caused both by the emotional burden placed on her by Mr Smith and by Mr Smith’s actions.”
The misconduct report continued: “The panel considered that it was clear that Mr Smith had repeatedly prioritised his own needs over that of the pupil including at a time when the pupil had little contact with her parents and when her teachers had sole responsibility for her care.
“His conduct involved serious and repeated failures to maintain proper professional boundaries with a pupil and a failure to act in accordance with safeguarding expectations, requirements and responsibilities.”
In a written email, dated December 4, 2023, Smith said: “All I ever wanted to do was give everything every day as part of my job, I loved helping people and trying to solve their problems, that’s all I wanted to do and I’m so so sorry that it has ended up like this.”
As a result of the teacher misconduct panel, Smith has been “prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England.”
He may be able to apply to have the prohibition set aside in three years time but this is subject to the Secretary of State for Education’s discretion.