Ross Bullock
Introduction
Rev Ross Jude Bullock is a former part-time teacher and Church of England parish priest whose career ended in an indefinite prohibition from teaching. From September 2010 he taught Religious Studies and later Psychology at Queenswood School, Hatfield, an all-girls independent boarding school, while serving as the incumbent of the Parish of St Anne’s Chingford. In October 2025 a Teaching Regulation Agency professional conduct panel found that, between May and October 2018, he failed to tell safeguarding authorities about the risks posed by a convicted sex offender in his congregation, and that he searched for how to delete text messages shortly after police found that man hiding in breach of his court order. The panel found the conduct dishonest, and the Secretary of State banned him from teaching for life.
Background Information
Queenswood School taught around 450 girls aged 11 to 18. Bullock worked a 0.2 to 0.6 timetable, initially teaching Religious Studies to Years 10 to 12 and later Psychology to Years 10 to 13, alongside some pastoral responsibilities. Around 2013 a man whose offence involved the sexual abuse of a child began attending his church; the decision calls him Person A. After Person A was recognised in late 2015, a diocesan safeguarding team drew up a Safeguarding Agreement in January 2016, barring unsupervised contact with any child under 16. Bullock signed a reviewed version in May 2017, pledging to report any non-compliance, and undertook safeguarding training with the diocese in 2015 and 2016.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Concealing a sex offender’s contact and searching how to delete evidence.
In May 2018 members of Person A’s household became homeless and arrived at his address, an arrangement Person A knew to be against his sexual offences prevention order, which barred unsupervised contact with anyone under 16 and overnight residence where a child under 16 was present. Bullock offered Person A a room at the back of the parish centre to sleep in overnight, but did not tell the safeguarding team of the change in circumstances, later admitting he knew he should have done so. He admitted the allegations of failing to notify the team, save as to date, but the panel’s findings were partial: it proved only that Person A had been in contact with the individual concerned and was at risk of breaching the order, finding not proven that Bullock knew Person A was living with that individual or had actually breached it. []
The panel found these failures amounted to a blatant disregard of his safeguarding responsibilities, that he deliberately and intentionally disregarded measures put in place to protect children, and that he had put the interests of a convicted sex offender above those of children. It also found breaches of the Teachers’ Standards and of paragraph 2 of Keeping children safe in education, which makes safeguarding the responsibility of all practitioners. []
On 7 October 2018 police visited Person A’s address, could not find him, searched the parish centre, then returned and found him hiding with the individual concerned; he was arrested for breaching the order and failing to report a change of address. About thirty minutes after police left the scene, Bullock’s phone showed a search for “how to permanently delete text messages” on a Samsung phone, although he used an iPhone. He told the school’s investigator he wanted to ensure there was “no evidence of collusion” between Person A and the individual, said he regretted it, and later denied doing it. The panel found the search was undertaken with a view to messages being removed by another person, so that Person A’s breach would go undetected, that it was inconceivable he did not know this was dishonest, and it proved the dishonesty allegation. []
Public Reaction and Consequences
The panel sat virtually, in public, from 20 to 23 October 2025, but Bullock was neither present nor represented. It recorded his explanations — that the seal of confession bound him to silence, that he had studied the agreement closely, and that Person A appeared to be reforming — and his later public comments, which concerned it greatly: he called the Safeguarding Agreement “a load of fuss and unnecessary”, dismissed the concerns raised against him as “utter nonsense”, and described his life as ruined by the Kafka-esque incompetence and cruelty of a safeguarding industry he said was becoming a new Stasi. He suggested Person A had groomed him, for which the panel had no evidence. Finding no evidence of insight, it identified a very serious risk of repetition. Consequences had begun years earlier: the school suspended him on 17 October 2018, the police took no action against him personally, its own investigation began in February 2020, and his employment ended in April 2020. [] []
Current Status
On 30 October 2025 Sarah Buxcey, deciding on behalf of the Secretary of State, imposed a prohibition order taking effect on service. Bullock is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. Given the seriousness of the findings, she decided he is not entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach, and the panel had recommended no review period, citing the gravity of the dishonesty, its safeguarding context, his lack of insight and the risk of repetition. He has a right of appeal to the High Court within 28 days of notice of the order, and the decision was published on 20 November 2025. [] []
Impact on Their Career/Life
The prohibition closed a teaching career of roughly a decade and, following his 2020 departure from Queenswood, ended it permanently: with no review period and no entitlement to apply for restoration, the bar stands for life unless an appeal to the High Court had succeeded. The panel accepted he was a good classroom teacher who obtained good results and was respected by students, and noted his many years of service, but gave this limited weight against the safeguarding failures and serious dishonesty. It also recorded questions about his performance outside the classroom, including marking, deadlines and reluctance to follow rules. []