A teacher aged 31 has been barred from the profession indefinitely after repeatedly showing romantic feelings toward a pupil.
Benjamin Phelps faced a disciplinary panel which found he committed serious misconduct during his contact with a student, leading to a permanent ban.
During their association, Mr Phelps forwarded inappropriate messages to the child, met them outside normal lessons, hugged them, and kissed them on the cheek. He additionally proposed they skip lessons to eat a meal together in his car.
He lost his position in April 2024 following a probe, and on 16 January this year the Teaching Regulation Agency’s professional conduct panel revoked his qualified teacher status.
Mr Phelps worked as deputy boarding house master, form tutor and performing arts technician at the secondary school catering for pupils aged 13 to 18 at Bede’s School in East Sussex, where yearly fees are said to reach £30,000.
One WhatsApp message he sent expressed hope that the pupil had a good night, mentioned he was falling asleep with his phone in his hand, included declarations of love and wishes for sweet dreams, and invited contact about anything.
In another message he described a hot feeling going through him from front to back, mentioned shaking slightly, noted having a warm glow and being unable to stop staring at something, expressed feeling love like pure love at a level he was not sure he had felt before, described the feeling as special, apologized while acknowledging he was sharing the truth, stated the feeling properly turned him on, expressed wanting to grab the pupil and pick them up and have them wrapped around him, and also noted that he felt like there was not a single other thought in his brain, not one other than the pupil.
He also told the pupil that he loved them more every day, that his heart fluttered every time they caught his eye, and that he loved the hearts, asking them to read the messages as they would stay close to him.
On one occasion he scrawled on a paper napkin words to the effect that he loved them with all his heart and had missed them that day.
Mr Phelps received a phone call from the child in October 2023, and their connection grew progressively closer between November 2023 and January 2024, as shown by communications sent via the school’s main online messaging service.
These Google chat conversations, decorated with kiss symbols and emojis, included remarks such as comments about the pupil having a beautiful mind that was so pure and genuine, mentions of massive hugs on the pillow, and a suggestion to maybe delete the chat in case someone looked through their phone.
The pupil disclosed details to him in November 2023 that ought to have prompted him to activate child protection procedures, but he neglected to do so, the panel established.
He moved their conversations to WhatsApp in January 2024, which was not an approved communication channel at the institution, and they spent further time together outside school premises and exchanged photographs.
Their association reached a critical point when the pupil tried to kiss Mr Phelps in February 2024, the panel reported.
Documentation showed that the educator did not reciprocate the kiss and afterwards tried to return their association to a more professional footing, the determination stated.
Nevertheless, he omitted to report the kiss and conceded during the hearing that cheek kisses had occasionally taken place.
Mentions of embraces in their message exchanges made clear that cuddles had taken place between them, the panel observed.
During the hearing, Mr Phelps conceded that with hindsight he had likely been pleased to receive the attention and that certain messages he sent demonstrated that he had developed romantic feelings.
The panel concluded that both separately and together the conduct amounted to serious violations of professional limits and showed that by February 2024 the connection between Mr Phelps and Pupil A had become personal and romantic in nature.
A claim that he followed a pattern of behaviour resembling grooming was not proven.