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A physical education teacher who lavished his students with a series of emails, calling them ‘honey’, ‘honey’ and ‘baby’ and gushing ‘you love me’ to one of them, has been kicked out of the classroom.
Courtney Pettifor, 28, has been permanently banned from teaching after she sent thousands of inappropriate messages to the Year 11 students she taught at Witchford Village College, near Ely in Cambridgeshire.
In an email, Pettifor wrote to a student that he would “run past your window every day until Sunday from now, just for you x.”
At an aptitude-to-practice hearing held by the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) on December 19, it was discovered that the teacher sent emails to several students in a “casual, overly friendly and intimate” tone late at night. at night, on weekends, on holidays and during closures.
Courtney Pettifor, 28, has been permanently banned from teaching after she sent thousands of inappropriate messages to university students she taught at Witchford Village College near Ely in Cambridgeshire.
Pettifor sent them ‘x’ kisses, wrote ‘sending hugs’, included heart emojis and blinking faces, used nicknames and wrote to one, ‘you mean more to me than you think’.
He also used endearment terms such as ‘baby’, ‘darling’, ‘darling’, ‘my love’ and ‘special girl’.
He asked at least one student to submit photos of himself and commented on his appearance.
Pettifor told another student that they might be models, adding that they were ‘stunning’ and commenting on their figure and tan lines.
The Education Regulation Agency panel heard that Pettifor admitted that he “failed to maintain appropriate boundaries with one or more students in emails that he sent to them.”
According to the panel report, the mother of one of the students called the physical education teacher on the phone and told him to stop contacting her daughter, which Pettifor later did not inform his superior.
The mother stated: “I found the tone of Mr. Pettifor’s email exchange informal and worthy of a conversation with him directly so my daughter wouldn’t misinterpret teacher/student lines as friendship.”
I think my call surprised Mr. Pettifor quite a bit.
Pettifor was warned about his behavior at least five times by Witchford Village College and was ultimately sacked for serious misconduct in March 2021, three years after joining the school.
Pettifor joined the college staff in January 2018 and was nominated for Best Teacher at the 2020 Ely Hero Awards for his “child’s passion for learning” due to the extracurricular activities he undertook to support students during lockdown. .
But the panel was told that he had lied to the school about his interaction with a student, claiming that his interactions were part of a “formal tutoring agreement” when no such agreement existed.
He gave his home address to at least one student and asked them to use his personal contact details to contact him after hours, offering free tutoring and Zoom calls.
Pettifor also falsely claimed that he had contacted a student because he had personal ties to her family.
Pettifor was warned about keeping boundaries at least five times by Witchford Village College and received advice on his conduct with students in Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020 and December 2020.
But he did not alert the school to two different protection concerns that were raised during contact with his students.
Ultimately, he was fired for gross misconduct in March 2021.
The report stated: ‘Mr Pettifor’s position was that because he was a young teacher, students would choose to trust him with their problems.
‘Mr. Pettifor stated that he was coming to him every break and lunch hour and that he would try to help all students as much as he could.
“Mr. Pettifor stated that he was overwhelmed with the emails and understood that it became unprofessional and that boundaries were crossed.”
It was concluded that Pettifor’s actions raised “enormous concerns” and that his conduct was unacceptable and may bring the profession into disrepute.
Your case can be reviewed after five years.
A statement from the Eastern Learning Alliance, Witchford Village College’s multi-academy trust, said: ‘The Agency for Teaching Regulation has published a judgment on a former employee.
‘The Eastern Learning Alliance always prioritizes the protection of young people in our schools.
‘The report acknowledges the appropriate actions taken by the school and Trust throughout.
“We will not comment further on this matter.”