Ms Michelle Parry

Introduction

Michelle Parry is a former music teacher who taught at Hadleigh High School from 2005 to 2010 and at Suffolk One Sixth Form College from September 2010 to December 2011. In December 2023 a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) professional conduct panel found that she had a sexual relationship with a pupil, Person A, between April 2010 and March 2012, performed oral sex on Person A in her car, and engaged in a course of boundary-breaking conduct with Person A and a second pupil, Person B — inviting them to her home, supplying alcohol, giving gifts and sending inappropriate messages. She did not attend the hearing and was not represented. She was banned from teaching indefinitely, with no review period and no entitlement to apply for restoration.

Background Information

The decision records her former employer as Culford School, Bury St Edmunds; she was known as Ms Randé when she taught Person A and Person B as pupils. The case surfaced more than a decade after the events: on 28 June 2021 the two met up, discussed their experiences and decided to refer her, and both made referrals to the TRA on 29 January 2022. The panel accepted that the delay did not undermine their credibility, given accounts that corroborated each other and contemporaneous material including 271 pages of Facebook conversations from February 2010 to March 2012. The notice of proceedings issued on 18 September 2023 and was personally served at her home the following day. The panel sat virtually from 29 November to 1 December 2023.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

A sexual relationship with a pupil and a course of boundary breaches. Heard in her absence; the core allegations found proved.

The panel heard that as pupils progressed through her classes, Parry singled out a small “special group” — which included Person A and Person B — and treated it differently from other pupils. They attended parties at her home where alcohol was supplied; she gave gifts that became larger and more expensive as her relationship with Person A developed, paid for meals and drinks, and paid for a hotel on a trip away unconnected to any school musical event. Private music lessons slid into conversations about personal matters and “lingering” physical contact, and Person A said the pair first kissed during a lesson around April 2010. Parry sent Person A text, image and Facebook messages that were flirtatious and later sexually explicit, including nude photographs of herself, and took Person A — never enrolled there — to Suffolk One and on a trip and band competition with its students, besides buying tickets so both could attend a 2011 event alone together.

Person A said the relationship became sexual, with activity including oral sex in her car and intercourse at her home. When it ended, Parry asked Person A to delete all their messages, saying words to the effect that “You could end my life and my career at any point”. In the absence of any evidence from Parry, the panel tested the two accounts against contemporaneous documents: screenshots of Facebook conversations from accounts both witnesses identified as her since-deleted profile, addressed as “Chelly” and signing off as “Michelle”. It found the facts proved, describing a complete breakdown of the boundary between the professional relationship that should be maintained between teacher and pupils.

Not everything was found proved. An allegation that an Instagram message Parry sent Person A and Person B on 6 April 2022 — the day she was notified of the referral — constituted inappropriate contact failed, the panel viewing it as an expression of apology and remorse, if misguided. And while the sexual acts were found sexually motivated, the wider boundary conduct was not, the panel lacking a clear evidential chronology.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The panel found the proven conduct amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute, falling significantly short even of the standards expected in the early 2010s, before the Teachers’ Standards took effect: there was still, it held, a clear professional obligation to promote the welfare of pupils, which Parry breached. It noted behaviours associated with the offences of “sexual activity” and “sexual communication with a child” were relevant. Person A described feeling controlled, trapped, isolated and powerless; Person B said they sometimes felt confused as to whether they were speaking to a friend or a teacher. The school had warned Parry about boundary issues before — including Facebook interactions with students and a planned end-of-year party at her home, for which she received a written warning. Although she was regarded as a good teacher with no previous regulatory findings, the panel concluded the public interest outweighed her interests and recommended an immediate prohibition order with no review period.

Current Status

On 4 December 2023 Marc Cavey, the decision maker acting on behalf of the Secretary of State, imposed a prohibition order taking effect from the date it is served on Parry. She is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. Endorsing the panel’s view that no review period was appropriate, Cavey cited the seriousness of the misconduct and the lack of evidence of insight and remorse: the risk of repetition of similar misconduct “remained at a level where it would be intolerable not to take restrictive regulatory action”. He went further: in view of the seriousness of the allegations found proved, Parry shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of her eligibility to teach. She has a right of appeal to the King’s Bench Division of the High Court within 28 days.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The prohibition ends a teaching career spanning Hadleigh High School and Suffolk One between 2005 and 2011, with Culford School, Bury St Edmunds named as her last employer, and forecloses any return: with no review period and no entitlement to seek restoration, the ban is permanent. Cavey acknowledged that Parry had been considered a good teacher and that prohibiting her would deprive the profession of her contribution, but gave that less weight, placing considerable weight on the seriousness of the findings — including sexually motivated misconduct — and the lack of evidence of full insight and remorse. Publication of the findings alone, he concluded, could not satisfy the public interest in maintaining confidence in the profession.

Sources

• Teaching Regulation Agency, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Ms Michelle Parry” — source