A TEACHER who instructed and encouraged his teenage pupils to “undertake inappropriate and/or sexual actions” during class will not be struck off from the profession, a panel has ruled.

Marc Thompson, who was a teacher at Salisbury Sixth Form College at the time of the incidents, told two pupils to behave in a “flirty manner” towards each other and gave examples of how they should do so during a role play exercise about dementia as part of a BTEC Health and Safety Care qualification.

Those are the findings of a professional conduct panel of the Teaching Regulation Agency, which investigated a series of allegations against Mr Thompson dating back to 2017, and has recently published its decisions on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education.

The panel found Mr Thompson, a teacher of health and social care, had “acted inappropriately towards and/or in the presence of pupils in that he used sexual language and/or sexual innuendo, and instructed and/or encouraged one or more pupils to undertake inappropriate and/or sexual actions”.

It also examined claims that Mr Thompson told a class that girls who wear crop tops and jeans “should be prepared to be harassed by boys” as they are “asking for it”, but this complaint was not upheld.

Swindon Advertiser: Salisbury Sixth Form College. Below: Marc Thompson. Picture from Salisbury Sixth Form’s website.

During the role play assessment, Mr Thompson instructed two pupils to behave in a “flirty manner”, which, in the panel’s view, could reasonably be construed as sexual language.

The panel reported: “It was clear from the accounts of the students that they recognised the inappropriate nature of the assessment activities” and that “Mr Thompson allowed the inappropriateness of the lesson to escalate in circumstances where, as the adult and teacher in the room, he had a duty to ensure it remained appropriate at all times.”

The panel concluded that Mr Thompson’s actions were inappropriate given the nature and circumstances of the lesson, and Mr Thompson’s conduct within it were not appropriate having regard to the age of the students present. It confirmed that “instruction and encouragement for these students to undertake inappropriate and sexual actions” had been given by Mr Thompson.

Despite these findings, a prohibition order – banning him from undertaking unsupervised teaching work in schools or other settings – was not placed on Mr Thompson, who has since left Salisbury Sixth Form.

The panel considered a number of mitigating factors during its investigation, such as Mr Thompson not being subject to any previous regulatory proceedings, and the references he made to challenging personal circumstances at the time of the allegations.

The panel said: “This was an isolated incident and having gone through this experience, the panel considered it was unlikely that Mr Thompson would put himself in the same situation again.

“He had lost his position at the college and these proceedings had been ongoing for several years. The panel was satisfied, on balance, it was more likely than not that Mr Thompson will have learnt important lessons and his mistakes were unlikely to be repeated.”

As a result, decision maker Sarah Buxcey decided not to place a prohibition order on Mr Thompson. The CEO of the Magna Learning Partnership, Sarah Busby, said: “This refers to a member of staff employed at the college some years ago. He was not an employee at the time the college joined Magna Learning Partnership in August 2019.”

To read the panel’s outcome in full, click here.