John Taylor, a former joint head of sixth form at City of London Academy Islington, has been allowed to continue teaching despite admitting to sending inappropriate messages to former pupils on Snapchat and WhatsApp. The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) misconduct panel ruled that while his actions constituted serious misconduct, a prohibition order was not in the public interest.
Inappropriate exchanges
Before starting at the school in September 2023, Taylor worked for two weeks in July on a summer English language exchange program for French teenagers aged 14-16. He kept the mobile phone numbers of the pupils after the program ended, contrary to professional standards.
In August 2023, he sent a message to one girl, referred to as Pupil A, saying: "[A]dded you on snap. Probably shouldn't but … [smile symbol]", and "hope you don't mind me checking in. I liked getting your photos but deleted them by accident". To another pupil, Pupil B, he asked if she had a "bf" and said it "would be lovely to see you again". He also told her he "like[d] beautiful things" with a heart emoticon.
Panel decision
The panel found the exchanges cumulatively "crossed the professional boundaries expected of a teacher". Taylor acknowledged his conduct was inappropriate and unprofessional, calling himself "stupid". He said he had not deliberately kept the girls' numbers but accepted with hindsight he should have deleted them.
Despite finding Taylor guilty of serious misconduct that risked bringing the profession into disrepute, the panel decided against a prohibition order. The panel, comprising a teacher and two lay panellists, ruled that his "concerning misjudgements" had not created a safeguarding risk or harmed the pupils. The communication occurred after the educational activity ended and was not sexual, grooming, nor involved physical contact.
The panel also found him "genuinely remorseful" and judged there to be a low risk of repetition. They noted his significant contributions to education over more than two decades and that the incident was "out of character".
Taylor's current employer, the headmaster of a boys' prep school, attended the hearing and wrote to the TRA attesting to his qualities and professional judgement, arguing a ban would be a "huge loss" to the sector.
Ultimately, the panel agreed that a prohibition order was not in the public interest as there were "no wider concerns" about his conduct.
