John Philip Smith

Introduction

John Philip Smith, known as Jack, is a former teacher at Chellaston Academy in Derby who later taught English at Ashby School in Leicestershire and was banned from teaching for life in February 2025. A Teaching Regulation Agency professional conduct panel found that his relationship with a pupil, Pupil A, went far beyond the proper boundary between teacher and former pupil after he left Chellaston, and that his conduct was sexually motivated: he sent Pupil A images of himself, messages of a sexual nature, and an email signed “Love you xxx”. The panel recommended a prohibition order with immediate effect and no review period, and the Secretary of State’s decision maker imposed a lifetime ban with no entitlement to apply for restoration.

Background Information

Smith taught at Chellaston Academy from 1 September 2012 until 31 December 2015, then worked as a teacher of English and “assistant more able coordinator” at Plantsbrook School from 1 January 2016 to 23 August 2017, before joining Ashby School as a teacher of English on 24 August 2017. He did not teach Pupil A, who visited his classroom at Chellaston for support. On 26 November 2021 he was arrested by police in connection with allegations made by Pupil A and suspended from Ashby School the same day. The police decided to take no further action, but after the school’s disciplinary hearing on 1 July 2022 he was referred to the TRA that same day.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Panel findings, not convictions. Smith was arrested but the police took no further action and nothing here is a criminal conviction. The findings — including sexual messaging and telling the pupil he loved her — were made on the balance of probabilities across a contested hearing that spanned three dates in 2024-25.

The panel sat on 12 to 15 March 2024, 19 August 2024 and 3 February 2025. Smith, who represented himself, denied all the allegations save three: sending emails or messages, telephone contact, and meeting Pupil A, which he admitted. Pupil A’s account was that when Smith left Chellaston at the end of 2015 he gave them his personal email address and phone number, and that the contact then escalated: a message saying he wished he had kissed them when he hugged them goodbye, messages about his sexual desires, references to oral sex, drunk late-night texts followed by apologetic morning messages, and a sexualised phone call. A police examination of Smith’s devices found Pupil A’s number among his WhatsApp contacts but no messages; Smith said he was “not sure why they weren’t able to find them” and that he could have deleted them, which the panel did not consider plausible.

The documentary centrepiece was an email Smith sent from his Ashby School address on 20 November 2019, replying to homework under the subject “Re: Assignment”: “Hey, I’ve had a quick read through and added a couple of commas! Really interesting. Love you xxx.” Smith said he had signed off in haste during a break; the panel found it unnecessary to decide whether to accept that, because on the face of the email the words had been said to a former pupil.

The panel found proved that Smith met Pupil A alone in his classroom after school and hugged them; that after he left Chellaston the relationship went beyond teacher and former pupil; and that he sent Pupil A images of himself, including one of him in his underwear, told them he “loved her”, and sent messages of a sexual nature and engaged in sexual conversations. The only particular found not proved was the claim that he shared details of his personal life with Pupil A in 2015. His conduct at the post-Chellaston allegations was found sexually motivated; the panel did not find that his conduct whilst he worked at the school was sexually motivated.

Public Reaction and Consequences

Smith was suspended from Ashby School on the day of his arrest in November 2021, and the police decision to take no further action means no criminal conviction arises from these events; everything on the record comes from the panel’s findings on the balance of probabilities. The panel found the proved conduct amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute, breaching the Teachers’ Standards and Keeping Children Safe in Education, and noted that behaviours associated with the offence of sexual communication with a child were relevant. It acknowledged evidence that Smith was a competent teacher who cooperated with the school investigation and the TRA proceedings. Having regard to the spectrum of sexual misconduct, the panel considered this case to be “at the lower end, given that no physical sexual activity took place”, but still recommended a prohibition order with immediate effect and no review period.

Current Status

Decision maker Sarah Buxcey, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State, dated her decision 5 February 2025, following the panel’s determination of 3 February 2025. Smith 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 carries no review period, and in view of the seriousness of the allegations found proved Buxcey decided that Mr Smith “shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach”, so there is no route back to the classroom. The order takes effect from the date it is served on him, and Smith has a right of appeal to the King’s Bench Division of the High Court within 28 days of notice.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The prohibition ended a teaching career spanning Chellaston Academy, Plantsbrook School and Ashby School between 2012 and his suspension in 2021. Because the police took no further action, there is no conviction or sexual harm prevention order attached to these findings; the lifetime ban rests on the panel’s findings alone. The panel accepted Smith’s cooperation and his acknowledgements that he should not have turned to Pupil A for emotional support or maintained contact, but was concerned about the depth of his insight, finding no remorse demonstrating an appreciation of the impact on Pupil A. In evidence he called himself a “shell of the person” he once was; no other public response is recorded.

Sources

• TRA, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr John Philip Smith” — source