Anton Van Der Watt
Introduction
Anton Van Der Watt is a 66-year-old supply teacher who was banned from teaching for life in autumn 2026 after a panel found he behaved aggressively towards pupils and made racist remarks during a single cover lesson. Employed by the Watford-based agency Simply Education, he was providing cover at Brine Leas School in Nantwich, Cheshire — a school of about 1,400 pupils — on 24 April 2025 when the incidents occurred. A Teaching Regulation Agency panel sitting remotely from 7 to 9 October 2026 found the allegations against him proved with one exception, and the Secretary of State’s decision maker imposed an indefinite prohibition order with a three-year review period, published on 2 November 2026.
Background Information
Van Der Watt was sent home early on 24 April 2025 after pupils complained, and the school asked those involved to provide written accounts of what had happened. The panel considered allegations set out in a notice of hearing dated 16 July 2026. He was neither present nor represented at the hearing, and after an email of 13 August 2026 that did not formally respond to the notice, the panel approached each allegation on the basis that it was denied. Simply Education, the agency that deployed him, confirmed he had passed all legal safeguarding and compliance checks before the placement.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Prohibition order. A Teaching Regulation Agency panel found every allegation proved except one — that he swung a chair above pupils’ heads — including physical aggression towards pupils and racially discriminatory language, amounting to unacceptable professional conduct. The Secretary of State’s decision maker imposed an indefinite prohibition order with a three-year review period. He may apply for the order to be set aside, but not until 28 October 2029, three years from the date of the order, at the earliest.
The panel found that during the lesson Van Der Watt placed his hand and/or fist on one pupil’s neck, pushed the pupil into their chair using his fist and pinched their neck. He placed his fist on a second pupil’s shoulder and applied pressure, punched a third pupil on the shoulder and said “do you want to go home on crutches? I will break your leg”. He hit a wooden ruler on the desk, threatened to hit pupils if they did anything wrong, threatened to “rip their vocal chords out and feed them to the lions”, and said he would write down on the register who needed to be hit. One pupil told the BBC the pinching “did hurt”. The allegation that he swung a chair above pupils’ heads was the single finding the panel rejected, judging that part of one pupil’s account possibly exaggerated.
The panel also found he made racist remarks: he told a pupil of African origin that when he was younger he would not have been allowed in that pupil’s classroom, referred to two other pupils as “ching” and “chong” and said “we know what your real name is”, and said that in his youth “people of colour would not be allowed on trains and buses”. The language was found discriminatory. The panel judged a handful of particulars — including telling pupils to “shut up” — proved but below the seriousness threshold, while the physical contact, the threatening language and the racial remarks met the bar of unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute.
In responses to the allegations, Van Der Watt said he had been talking about his background and that the students had asked him to demonstrate how to control boys who acted aggressively, insisting he had no intention to harm a young person “in any shape or form”. At a July 2025 meeting with his employer he called his conduct towards one pupil a “stupid decision”, apologised, and accepted his language may have been misinterpreted. In his email of 13 August 2026 he wrote: “Please allow me again to offer my sincere apologies to anyone that experienced stress or hardship through my alleged actions. This not my style and I would not want it to be my legacy.” The panel found he had shown a level of insight into his failings and accepted that his remorse for the consequences of his behaviour was genuine.
Public Reaction and Consequences
The panel said his conduct “fell significantly short” of the standards expected of the profession and that he had failed to maintain appropriate professional boundaries with pupils. Simply Education said: “We took immediate action in line with our policy and processes, and he did not work for us again.” The panel recommended a prohibition order with a two-year review, but the Secretary of State’s decision maker went further, concluding that a longer period was required: “I do not consider that the panel has given sufficient weight in its determination to the discriminatory language directed at pupils by Mr Van Der Watt.”
Current Status
Van Der Watt is prohibited from teaching indefinitely, and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. The order takes effect from the date it is served on him, and he has a right of appeal to the High Court within 28 days of being given notice. He may apply for the prohibition order to be set aside, but not until 28 October 2029 at the earliest; that is not an automatic right, and any application would go before a fresh panel. Without a successful application, he remains prohibited for life.
Impact on Their Career/Life
The report of the case noted that Van Der Watt had “always been proud” to be a teacher, claimed to have helped many children during his career, and “was upset that these incidents have occurred”. That career is now formally over: at 66 he carries a lifetime ban, with any review pushed to 2029 — three years out rather than the panel’s recommended two — because the decision maker judged the racially discriminatory language more serious than the panel had allowed. The findings — physical intimidation of children, threats of violence, and racist remarks made to pupils’ faces — are a permanent, searchable part of the public record any future employer would encounter.