Wikimedia/Google MapsA teacher has been sacked after suggesting one of their students was a paedophile.
Adam Evans, who taught science at Liverpool school Fazakerley High, shocked students during a lesson as he made a series of bizarre and sexual references.
A report released by the Teaching Regulation Agency explains how one moment during the baffling display saw the teacher make beeping noises ‘while holding a pedometer near a pupil, to suggest it was indicating that he was a paedophile.’
Just to be clear, a pedometer is one of those devices that counts your steps. I imagine the teacher thought he was being funny by turning it into some sort of ‘pedo-meter’?
Google MapsAs Evans stopped in front of one of his students, they reportedly asked ‘Sir, are you calling me a paedo?’.
The teacher even managed to find a way to make the textile work of one of his students appear inappropriate, as he likened the creation to ‘a troll’s pubes’.
He made his apparent fascination with fictional creatures even more clear as he suggested one student, who had blue biro on them, had committed a sex act with a smurf. He also made an unsavoury remark when witnessing a child spitting chocolate into a bin.
Evans suggested a pupil ‘sniff a seat’ which someone had been sitting on while making crude references to genitalia, and also discussed a specific sex act between ‘teenage boys’ and ‘teenage girls’.
WikipediaIn February 2018, one pupil complained about inappropriate comments made by the teacher, resulting in a disciplinary hearing in April 2018. The professional conduct panel report was released this month.
The teacher admitted the comments were made by him, and accepted ‘each was inappropriate and of a sexual nature, although there was no sexual intent behind their use’.
He agreed he’d ‘severely misjudged what was appropriate’, and conceded he’d treated the pupils as though they were his friends.
Google MapsDespite his shocking behaviour, the panel heard Evans had many positive references from teaching colleagues, with one describing him as an ‘asset’, and determined he should not be kicked out of the profession altogether.
The Teaching Regulation Agency panel, led by chairman Professor Roger Woods, concluded:
Although Pupil A had been upset by Mr Evans’ comments, there was no evidence before the panel that any pupils had suffered any harm.
With the new coping strategies that Mr Evans had learned, the panel considered that any chance of repetition had been minimised.
It appeared that Mr Evans now had a full and clear understanding as to how to appropriately communicate with pupils.
PexelsStill, James Beaton, headteacher of Fazakerley High, told the Liverpool Echo the teacher had been sacked from his role at that particular school.
He explained:
The school suspended Mr Evans as soon as we were made aware of the allegations and he was subsequently dismissed for gross misconduct.
The situation is certainly baffling; hopefully Evans will know the appropriate way to behave around any of his future students.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.