A TEACHER who massaged the neck of a student when he worked at a Stourport school has been given the green light to carry on teaching.

IT teacher Raymond Beardmore admitted calling three girls in his class at Stourport High School "gorgeous", "princess", and "little cherub" and was found guilty of failing to observe the appropriate boundary between himself and pupils - but he was not banned from the profession.

Mr Beardmore taught at the Minster Road school between September 2018 and January 2019, during which time he also massaged the neck or shoulders of one of his female students.

During a professional conduct hearing last month, Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) decision maker Alan Meyrick ruled on behalf of the Education Secretary that Mr Beardmore would not be banned from teaching.

With most guilty rulings by the TRA, the teacher is banned from the country's classrooms.

Instead, the TRA decided that publishing the findings against Mr Beardmore would be sufficient.

The TRA panel found him guilty of failing to observe an appropriate boundary between himself and pupils and failing to treat pupils with dignity.

He was, they ruled, guilty of “both unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute".

Mr Beardmore had admitted using the terms such as gorgeous, princess and little cherub, as opposed to using their names, when referring to pupils and said he had done it in an effort to gain their trust.

The panel accepted that Mr Beardmore was an experienced IT teacher with a previously good history and said that what happened was “totally out of character".

They also “accepted that his actions were inappropriate and showed genuine remorse".

In the circumstances, they recommended that he should not be banned from teaching.

Alan Meyrick said: “I have concluded that a prohibition order is not proportionate and that publication of the findings is proportionate and in the public interest.

“I consider that the publication of the adverse findings is sufficient to send an appropriate message to the teacher as to the standards of behaviour that are not acceptable, and the publication would meet the public interest requirement of declaring proper standards of the profession.”

Speaking after the ruling, Chris King, chief executive of the Severn Academies Educational Trust, which runs Stourport High School, said: "Raymond Beardmore had been a teacher at The Stourport High School and Sixth Form College for five months when these complaints were raised and we took all relevant measures in relation to cases of serious misconduct.

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“We also reported our concerns straight away to the Teaching Regulation Agency and supported them fully in their investigation, which resulted in last month’s professional conduct hearing.

“As a school and a trust, we insist that our staff display the highest standards of professionalism and will not tolerate any behaviour that falls short.

“We have robust procedures in place to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all our students and the students concerned received support from senior leaders and the school’s pastoral team as soon as these matters came to light.”