IT teacher who paid pupil £10 to clean up dog poo from her garden banned from the classroom
An IT teacher who failed to notify his school that he was involved with a sex offender was banned from class after paying a student to pick up dog poop from his garden.
Natalie Surr, 45, asked one of her students at Shirebrook Academy in Derbyshire if they knew anyone who could clean her garden because she needed to clear it urgently.
A teacher misconduct panel heard that pupil A volunteered to carry out the work on September 23, 2023, which included collecting faeces.
Two days later Miss Surr gave the student, a vulnerable student, £10 for his services.
He also failed to notify the school that his partner was a sex offender despite having “many opportunities”; A colleague described her condition as like “pulling blood from a stone.”
The Mansfield-based academy received an email from a member of the public in January 2024 expressing concerns that he was knowingly engaging in a relationship with a registered offender.
After the school launched an investigation, she admitted in June 2024 that she had been in a relationship for a year and was aware of her partner’s record, but did not inform the academy because she was unsure whether the relationship would continue.
In a statement to the Teaching Regulation Agency panel, Ms Surr said: “I fully accept that I made serious mistakes by not disclosing my relationship with the school. I now understand that I should have been completely honest and transparent from the beginning. I deeply regret not doing so.”
“I am ashamed of my actions and I am truly sorry that I did not act with the integrity required in my role as a teacher. I understand that my choices fell short of the professional standards expected of me.”
Considering the evidence, the panel found that the restraining order was “both proportionate and appropriate” and that “the public interest outweighed Ms Surr’s interests”.
They said: “The length of time Ms. Surr chose to conceal the fact that she was in a relationship with a registered sex offender and her failure to appreciate the potential risk of harm posed by allowing Student A to tidy up her garden without a supervising adult while Ms. Surr was in a relationship with a registered sex offender (a fact she was still concealing at that point) were significant factors in forming this opinion.”
“Most importantly, in the opinion of the panel, the degree of dishonesty demonstrated by Ms. Surr was serious.”
They concluded: “For these reasons, the panel is satisfied that Ms Surr’s conduct amounted to misconduct of a serious nature that fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession. Accordingly, the panel is satisfied that Ms Surr was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct.”
He is now banned from teaching indefinitely and cannot work in any school, sixth form college, youth hostel or children’s home and can only apply for a restraining order which will be revoked in three years.
