A female teacher who was sacked for letting pupils as young as 15 pose topless and simulate masturbation for a school project has claimed that she is a victim of a ‘deep injustice’, according to a report.
Emma Wright, 41, has been banned from teaching indefinitely after allowing students at Huxlow Science College in Northamptonshire to take partially naked photos of themselves and others for a ‘school art project’, MailOnline reported.
The report added that the class also included pupils holding cigarettes and alcohol.
The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) ruled that the class had broken safeguarding rules and ordered Wright to be struck off.
However, she complained to government officials and said she will never return to teaching. She also accused the watchdog of having ‘no understanding of art and education’.
She told The Sun: “I feel there is a deep injustice about it, but I am not going to appeal because I no longer wish to teach. I have written to my MP, the union and the Education Minister regarding this. I am a good person. I am not the person they are making out to be.”
“I really feel very strongly about it. I am really quite upset about it. It is a position I never thought I would be in. Those students were wonderful students. I have no bad feelings towards those students at all,” she added.
The teacher was reported to the TRA in 2018 after the portfolio of teenagers’ work was found by the school’s head of art and design.
Wright said that she did not consider the artist’s work to be sexual in nature, but she did accept that she should have told the pupils their photographs were not appropriate.
According to the report, decision-maker Alan Meyrick concluded that Wright had committed a serious breach of professional teaching standards, and failed to safeguard pupils’ well-being.
The panel also heard that Wright was ordered by the school not to discuss her suspension but later informed a colleague, whom she had earlier confided in.
“The panel was mindful that Mrs Wright had discussed the suspension with two individuals on separate occasions, and that this risked the confidentiality of the school’s investigation, as well as the reputation of the school,” the report said.
Wright has been banned from teaching indefinitely in England and cannot apply for a review of the ban until 2024.
