Teacher who drove to pupil’s house at 1am banned from classroom

Teacher who drove to pupil’s house at 1am banned from classroom Mark Fletcher wrote a letter to the pupil where he said she ‘had a real effect’ on him - Bookmark - CommentsGo to comments Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Already a member? Log in A teacher who drove to a pupil’s house in the middle of the night has been struck off after he entered a sexual relationship with her. Mark Fletcher, 45, was found to have behaved unacceptably towards a student, identified as Pupil A, while he was teaching at Ridgeway School & Sixth Form College in Swindon in 2019. His misconduct included emailing the pupil outside school hours and engaging in a sexual relationship with her once she left school, a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel found. Mr Fletcher was suspended in July 2023 after the pupil disclosed the relationship. The panel found that Mr Fletcher had sent a letter to Pupil A where he said: “it is rare to meet someone who changes who you are” and: “you have had a real effect on me”. The letter is believed to have been folded and inserted into a card to the pupil. The teacher sent the pupil multiple emails from his personal account during the night and early hours of the morning, the panel found. One email to Pupil A on 30 August 2019 at 1.44am read: “Do you actually want to meet up and talk… Free most days from midnight… But yeah, would be good, reckon I can do tomorrow/the early hours of Saturday if that works, so long as it’s not raining…” The pupil said Mr Fletcher had driven to her house at around 1am that night and she “snuck out” to meet him, when they spoke until around 6am in the morning. She added that as part of that first meet-up, Mr Fletcher said: “You’re not gonna tell anyone are you?” When Pupil A said she would not, he responded, “good, I trust you” or words to that effect, the panel reported. Pupil A believed this was not only due to the fact Mr Fletcher was a teacher, but because he was also married. Between August and December 2019, Pupil A explained that nothing more physical than hugs had taken place between her and Mr Fletcher. They primarily engaged in emotional conversations, with many revolving around how they felt about each other, and on occasion Mr Fletcher would reach out to hold her hand in the car. The pupil said their relationship grew sexual in December 2019, when they began engaging in physical sexual activity, often late at night in Mr Fletcher’s car. She disclosed Mr Fletcher’s behaviour to Ridgeway School around June 2023, after their relationship had ended. In response to the allegations, the panel found that Mr Fletcher had focused on technical matters, such as whether Pupil A remained on the School roll. While Mr Fletcher had acknowledged he regretted his conduct, the panel was unsatisfied that he experienced genuine remorse for his actions. Mr Fletcher was prohibited from teaching indefinitely, unable to teach anywhere in England, and will be unable to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach. Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Comments