Northumberland school welcomes decision to ban teacher who took students to strip club

A decision to ban a teacher who drank with students and took them to a strip club has been welcomed by his former school.
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Richard Glenn had been head of Sixth Form and a computer science teacher at Longridge Towers independent school, near Berwick but was dismissed for gross misconduct following events on a tour of Costa Rica in 2019.

A hearing later heard that Mr Glenn consumed alcohol with pupils, made inappropriate comments to and/or threatened pupils and was aggressive and exposed himself to the female trip leader.

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He admitted the facts of the allegations and accepted he failed to maintain appropriate professional boundaries. He was banned from the classroom and cannot apply to teach again for three years.

Longridge Towers School.Longridge Towers School.
Longridge Towers School.

In a statement, Longridge Towers said: “Following a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) hearing involving a former member of staff and his prohibition from teaching, we welcome that an outcome has now been reached.

"We remain deeply saddened by the unexpected, unprofessional behaviour of this former staff member which occurred on a school trip in July 2019. As a caring and close school community, we regret that this matter occurred whilst pupils were under our care.

“As soon as the school was informed about an alleged incident overseas, we arranged for the member of staff involved to leave the expedition immediately. Our utmost priority was to support our pupils and ensure their safety.

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"We liaised with the organising company, the trip leader and the parents of the pupils on the trip, to ensure appropriate measures were identified and put in place so that the trip could continue as planned.

"We arranged for an experienced team leader from the expedition to join the group. With the team leader in place, we continued to care for and support our pupils for the duration of the trip until they returned home.

“The teacher did not return to teaching at the school. After investigating the allegations at the time, the teacher was dismissed. We sought professional advice and liaised closely with our board of governors and with the local authority. We reported concerns about the behaviour to the TRA and assisted them in preparation for their panel hearing.

“We have reviewed and updated school policies and procedures to ensure that we minimise the risk of any such incident occurring again.”

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Northumberland teacher banned after drinking with students and taking them to st...

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