A Maths teacher who advised a pupil about using elastic bands in a way that would ‘sting’ has been spared a classroom ban.

A hearing was held last month to determine whether Jordan Gilland, a former teacher at Edgbarrow School, Crowthorne, should be allowed to remain in education. 

This came after the Maths teacher spotted marks on the girl’s arm and told her about an alternate way to ‘distract herself.’

He did not tell his superiors or the girl’s parents about the marks on her arm, but instead engaged in private email and Snapchat conversations with her. 

At a teacher misconduct hearing, the Teaching Regulation Agency found: 

  • Mr Gilland agreed not to tell superiors about marks he spotted on the girl’s arm in February 2020 because she said disclosing this would ‘make things worse’
  • He provided his personal email address to the female student in March 2020 and engaged in correspondence with her until March 2021
  • In July 2020, he told the pupil not to tell her parents or the school about their correspondence
  • In the same month, Gilland advised the pupil: “if you want to try a different way to distract yourself put one or two elastic bands around your arm and ping them anytime...it stings like a b**** but it only leaves a mark for a little while.”
  • By doing this, he placed the pupil at risk of harm
  • He provided her with his Snapchat details in September 2020 and they conversed on this platform until March 2021
  • Between March 2020 and March 2021, Gilland spoke on the phone with the pupil ‘when he had no professional reason to do so.’
  • He failed to safeguard the pupil by failing to take appropriate action when he was aware she was experiencing ‘personal difficulties.’

Edgbarrow School leaders found out about the contact between the teacher and the pupil after Mr Gilland told them himself. 

After a hearing of the TRA between July 20 and July 21, 2022, which Mr Gilland did not attend, the agency found Mr Gilland made ‘serious mistakes and exhibited very poor judgement.’

The agency said: “The damage to his reputation will continue as a consequence of the panel's findings and no doubt Mr Gilland will have to demonstrate to a potential future employer that he has learnt necessary lessons.

“However, in all the circumstances, the panel was persuaded that some lessons had been learnt and that process needs to continue as a result of the panel's findings.

“In light of all these matters and the other mitigating factors identified above, the panel determined that a recommendation for a prohibition order would not be appropriate in this case.”

This means Mr Gilland will be allowed to continue as a teacher. 

Stuart Matthews, Headteacher of Edgbarrow School said: “The member of staff left the school in the summer of 2021.  

“The safety of our students is and remains our top priority and we have stringent safeguarding measures in place, which all staff are expected to follow. We complete regular internal reviews and had a positive external review earlier this year to ensure our processes, policies and legal requirements are met and exceeded.”