A supply teacher has been banned from the classroom after making racist comments towards pupils and threatening to "rip their vocal cords out and feed them to the lions" at Brine Leas School in Nantwich, Cheshire.
Anton Van Der Watt, 66, was struck off after the Teacher Regulation Agency heard he made offensive and aggressive remarks in April 2025. The panel heard he told a pupil of "African origin" that "back when he (Van Der Watt) was younger he (the pupil) wouldn't be allowed in the classroom".
Threats and Physical Conduct
The panel also heard the teacher threatened extreme violence to other pupils, including that he would "rip their vocal cords out and feed them to the lions". He also said, "Do you want to go home on crutches? I will break your leg," to one shocked student.
When his behaviour, threats and physically handling his pupils was reported, Mr Van Der Watt was taken to a professional tribunal where he was struck off.
The teacher was employed by Watford-based Simply Education and supplied cover at Brine Leas School, which has about 1,400 pupils, on 24 April 2025. He was sent home early following complaints by the pupils, who were asked to provide written accounts of what happened.
Pupil Accounts
Pupil A said that he was looking at Mr Van Der Watt "in shock" and Mr Van Der Watt put his fist on Pupil A's neck and "dug me into the chair. I did not know what to do. He then pinched me in the neck. It did hurt. We were being pressed into the chair. I was having to lean forward as he pinched my neck with his fingers."
Two other pupils made similar accusations of physical violence against the supply teacher, including that he "punched" one student on the shoulder. He asked the same student: "Do you want to go home on crutches? I will break your leg." The panel heard he continued to "demonstrate aggressive behaviour" by "pressing his fists" into the desks and hitting the desks with a ruler.
The hearing - which the teacher neither attended nor had legal representation attending - was told he also told the class to "shut up" and that he would "rip their vocal cords out and feed them to the lions". Mr Van Der Watt also kept a "register of who needed to be hit" and "verbally abused two students of Chinese origin" by calling them "ching" and "chong" on the register. He told these students "we know what your real name is".
Investigation and Apology
The panel heard the teacher's behaviour was reported to the police but after an investigation no action was taken.
Mr Van Der Watt apologised for much of his behaviour, and said in an email to his supply agency: "I am very disappointed and apologetic about the whole incident and feel that I let myself and the profession down by allowing the boys to convince me into demonstrating in a light-hearted manner a way to defuse a potential dangerous situation by using relationships, trust and humour. I definitely had no intention to harm a young person in any shape or form and want my sincere apology be communicated with the student involved."
In an email sent on August 13 2026, Van Der Watt said: "Please allow me again to offer my sincere apologies to anyone that experienced stress or hardship through my alleged actions. This not my style and I would not want it to be my legacy."
Prohibition Decision
However, the Teaching Regulation Agency, hearing on October 9, decided to strike him off the teaching register. The Agency concluded: "The panel was of the view that prohibition was both proportionate and appropriate. The panel decided that the public interest considerations outweighed the interests of Mr Van Der Watt. Whilst the events occurred on one day in April 2025, such events took place over three separate periods. They also involved inappropriate physical contact, verbally aggressive behaviour, and discriminatory language. The panel considered that public confidence in the profession could be seriously weakened if conduct such as that found against Mr Van Der Watt were not treated with the utmost seriousness when regulating the conduct of the profession."
Mr Van Der Watt was prohibited indefinitely from teaching at any school, sixth form college, youth accommodation or children's home in England. He can apply for the ban to be lifted, the report said, but not until October 28, 2029.
Simply Education confirmed Van Der Watt worked for the agency at the time of the incident and had passed all legal safeguarding and compliance checks, adding: "We took immediate action in line with our policy and processes, and he did not work for us again."
