Christopher Way
Introduction
Christopher Way is a former Head of Business at The Gateway Academy in Essex, employed from 1 January 2019. In July 2025 a professional conduct panel of the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) found he had exchanged unprofessional, over-familiar emails with Person A, a former pupil, before moving contact to phone and WhatsApp without telling managers. It found him guilty of unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute. Decision maker Sarah Buxcey, on behalf of the Secretary of State, prohibited Way from teaching indefinitely with a two-year review period.
Background Information
Concerns about Way’s conduct toward Person A were raised on 22 September 2023; a referral was made to the TRA on 26 February 2024. Neither Way nor his representative attended the panel’s virtual hearing of 8 to 10 July 2025; he gave no oral evidence and the allegations were treated as disputed. It heard evidence from Person A and Person B, the Academy’s head, whose code of conduct required adults not to share personal information with a child, and communication to take place “within clear and explicit professional boundaries”.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Over-familiar contact with a former pupil across email, phone and WhatsApp.
The panel found allegation 1 proved: between 26 September 2022 and July 2023 Way exchanged emails on his school account of an unprofessional and/or over-familiar nature with Person A. It noted his emails of 6 July 2023 at 14:42 (“just checking in to say hi and to see if your luck has improved yet!”), 25 June 2023 at 22:03 (“will miss you popping in at the end of each day as well”), 10 June at 8:32 (“have a great weekend - mixture of both work and pleasure please! But, be careful with the sun bathing - especially after last time”) and 4 June at 22:40 (“Week has been good - feel quite relaxed actually. Went to see Wicked at the theatre”). The panel was satisfied these breached the ban on sharing personal information, and that the frequency and timing of emails often unrelated to school work made the communication over-familiar.
Allegations 2 and 3 were found proven: on 4 August 2023 Way invited Person A to email him her phone number — “just email your number and I will call you” — and on or around 24 August 2023 he called her from his personal mobile. Allegation 4 was proved in all four limbs — messages from his personal email and phone, unprofessional and over-familiar, sent outside working hours and during holidays, and considerable in number, 91 WhatsApp messages from 24 August to 20 September 2023 alone. They included telling her “If I were close by I’d come and give you a massive cuddle” and “good evening munchkin”; the panel held it was not appropriate to be contacting a pupil “at all times of the day” as it blurs professional boundaries, and noted he messaged particularly late at night.
On 18 September 2023 Way sent Person A a WhatsApp message attaching a link to an ‘x.com’ site — a video playing on the word “testicles” — followed by “apologies for the rudeness, but this cracked me up”; the panel found this limb (5(b)) proved: an inappropriate joke for a teacher to send a pupil. The claim he referenced autism as a joke (5(a)) was not proved, the panel accepting his account of mishearing “artistic”. Allegation 6, failing to notify managers of the personal email address and phone number he had given Person A and used to contact her, was proved: the Academy’s head learned of it only on 22 September 2023, when the child protection chair at the council phoned her after Person A’s disclosure — nothing had been reported on CPOMS.
Way admitted allegation 7(a): a breach of professional boundaries, found proved. Allegation 8(a) was proved: applying the Wingate test, the panel determined his concealment “lacked integrity”. Allegation 7(b), that the conduct was sexually motivated, was not proved: Person A first saw Way as a “father-figure” but later felt “uncomfortable”; some messages could be read as sexual in nature, but the panel accepted reasonable explanations and was not satisfied he pursued sexual gratification. Dishonesty (8(b)) was also not proved: applying Ivey v Genting Casinos, the panel found his failure to notify the Academy misguided rather than dishonest.
Public Reaction and Consequences
The outcome is a regulatory record with no press coverage. The panel weighed seventeen character references, found his conduct out of character, and noted his admissions and his statement that he “made mistakes” and “would do things very differently”. But it was not satisfied he showed full insight: he justified the correspondence as support and did not fully appreciate that the messages themselves were unprofessional and over-familiar, or their impact on Person A, leaving a risk of repetition. On 14 July 2025 Sarah Buxcey prohibited Way from teaching indefinitely with immediate effect and a two-year review period, stating of the allegations not proven — including 5(a), 7(b) and 8(b) — “I have therefore put those matters entirely from my mind”.
Current Status
Way is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. He may apply for the order to be set aside, but “not until 14 July 2027, 2 years from the date of this order at the earliest” — not an automatic right: without success he remains prohibited indefinitely. He may appeal to the High Court within 28 days of notice of the order. The decision was published on gov.uk on 28 July 2025.
Impact on Their Career/Life
The order ends Way’s teaching career in England for the present; the panel found the conduct out of character with an otherwise good career. The findings — over-familiar contact with a former pupil across email, phone and WhatsApp, concealed from his managers and found to lack integrity — remain on the public record. Any return requires an application after July 2027 and a panel persuaded the prohibition should be set aside.