A TEACHER has been banned from teaching indefinitely after asking to be alone with a pupil, emailing the pupil’s mother under the name ‘Tom Jones’ and making critical comments about colleagues in emails.

Mrs Jayne Geary, an English teacher at Southlands School in Lymington, faced a misconduct hearing in front of the Teaching Regulation Agency earlier this month.

Southlands School is an independent specialist school for boys and girls aged seven to 19 with a diagnoses of Asperger’s Syndrome.

Mrs Geary was accused of failing to maintain professional boundaries by asking to be alone with Pupil A, giving him chocolate and/or biscuits as a reward, contacting his mother via email and letting him into her home.

She was also accused of negative negative comments in emails to colleagues, also making negative comments about colleagues and walking out of meetings.

A report from the meeting stated Mrs Geary would ask an exam invigilator to leave the room when Pupil A became anxious.

“Mrs Geary was hostile to the idea of others being present and despite being clearly told the rules, she would often send additional staff away,” Witness A said.

Mrs Geary, in written submissions, said the staff member did not know Pupil A well and thought it best she ask them to leave.

The panel also heard how Mrs Geary, who resigned from the school after being suspended, would email Pupil A’s mother under the pseudonym Tom Jones.

The report said: “The panel considered that this amounted to a failure to maintain professional boundaries as the email was sent from a private email address rather than a school email address.”

Mrs Geary also emailed Pupil A’s mother in April 2017 to “let you know how devastated I am at the way you have treated me”.

The teacher was suspended at this time.

Also in April 2017, Pupil A was followed after staff had concerns as to his whereabouts.

He was seen entering Mrs Geary’s garden. She said she supplied her address to arrange for private tutoring but Pupil A’s mother had no record of this.

Mrs Geary was suspended at this time.

The panel also heard how Mrs Geary would walk out of meetings and make negative comments about colleagues, saying one of them was “out to get her” and they had no qualifications.

The report said: “The panel considered that public confidence in the profession could be seriously weakened if conduct such as that found against Mrs Geary were not treated with the utmost seriousness when regulating the conduct of the profession.

“The panel considered that Mrs Geary did not have insight into her actions and considered that there was a risk that Mrs Geary would repeat her actions should she continue to teach.

“The panel finds that the conduct of Mrs Geary fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession.”

Mrs Geary was prohibited from teaching indefinitely, with a two-year review period in place.