Mr Simon Gray

Introduction

Mr Simon Gray was a geography teacher at Hurworth School in Darlington, where he also had responsibility for inductions and served as the school’s student visits coordinator. In March 2022 a pupil disclosed an email he had sent, and a check of his school account recovered a large volume of messages to three pupils — many sent in the evenings, at weekends and during holidays, several asking for secrecy. Gray admitted the facts of every allegation before a Teaching Regulation Agency professional conduct panel, which found all nine particulars proved, including one act it judged deliberate and knowingly dishonest. The panel found his conduct amounted to both unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute, and recommended a prohibition order. On 27 November 2023 the decision maker, Sarah Buxcey, prohibited him from teaching indefinitely, with provision for a review after two years.

Background Information

Gray joined Hurworth School on 22 February 2016 and taught geography there for over six years. The case surfaced on 8 March 2022, when the school received a disclosure from Pupil 1 about an email Gray had sent him; it was recorded as a cause for concern. His school email account was checked and a large volume of relevant emails recovered. A multi-agency meeting took place on 15 March 2022, the same day he was interviewed by the police, and he was suspended on 16 March 2022. After an internal investigation began that May, and with a disciplinary hearing postponed, he resigned on 7 July 2022.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Secretive communications and boundary breaches with pupils. Admitted in full and found proved.

The nine allegations covered conduct between summer 2020 and March 2022 towards three pupils, Pupil 1, Pupil 2 and Pupil 3. Gray was said to have sent an inappropriate and/or excessive number of emails to each of them, and emails of an inappropriate nature, much of it outside school hours. Further allegations were that he bought a gift for Pupil 2 — a £1 bar of chocolate — emailed him asking him to collect a present bought for his brother, a former pupil, and passed another pupil’s homework to Pupil 2 by leaving it under a keyboard while asking him not to tell anyone. He was also alleged to have invited Pupil 2 and/or Pupil 3 on a Year 11 school trip weekend in March 2022 despite their not being part of the cohort, and to have taken Pupil 3 running alone before 7am on Saturday 12 March 2022.

Gray admitted the facts of all the allegations in his response to the Notice of Referral Form and in a statement of agreed facts signed on 28 April 2023, and admitted unacceptable professional conduct and/or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute. The case was considered at a panel meeting without a hearing, at his request. Reviewing numerous emails, the panel concluded their nature was over-familiar, unprofessional and not respectful of the teacher-pupil boundary. Some messages referred to secrecy: he told Pupil 2, “You can trust me! What we say between each other is between us”, and in the homework exchange he asked Pupil 2 to collect it at a time “so no else sees”, adding “pls don’t tell anyone”.

All nine particulars were found proved. On the dishonesty allegation, although Gray had accepted the behaviour was dishonest, his representative’s submissions had disputed this; the panel nevertheless concluded that sharing homework in that way could be considered cheating and that his actions were deliberate and knowingly dishonest. It also found a breach of professional boundaries: an element of familiarity unexpected in teacher-pupil communications, large numbers of out-of-hours messages on matters unrelated to teaching, and behaviour that was not transparent. The facts amounted to both unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute, involving breaches of the Teachers’ Standards and of Keeping Children Safe In Education.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The panel characterised the misconduct as repeated breaches of professional boundaries with students over a sustained period, made worse by Gray’s requests that pupils handle communications in secrecy, which it treated as a strong public interest consideration for the safeguarding and wellbeing of pupils. It noted he had previously been reminded of his professional obligations regarding communications with students, yet his conduct continued. Eleven character statements were submitted, mostly relating to his Scout group involvement, and the panel saw evidence of good character — but no colleague references attesting to his teaching. The panel accepted he had a level of insight and demonstrated some remorse, yet because it was not clear from the evidence the extent to which his actions were affected by matters he had raised, it could not be satisfied there was no risk of repetition. Publication of findings alone, it held, would unacceptably compromise the public interest, and it recommended a prohibition order with a two-year review period.

Current Status

The decision was made by Sarah Buxcey on behalf of the Secretary of State and dated 27 November 2023, following the panel’s determination of 23 November 2023. Mr Simon Gray 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 prohibition order to be set aside, but not until 2025 — two years from the date of the order — at the earliest, and this is not an automatic right to have it removed; if he applies, a panel will consider whether it should be set aside. Without a successful application he remains prohibited indefinitely. He had a right of appeal to the King’s Bench Division of the High Court within 28 days of notice of the order.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Gray’s teaching career, spent entirely at Hurworth School from February 2016 until his resignation in July 2022, ended with an indefinite ban that forecloses any teaching role in England’s schools, sixth form colleges, relevant youth accommodation or children’s homes. In weighing proportionality, the panel found little evidence of his teaching record and noted the earlier reminder about professional boundaries he had disregarded, while the decision maker placed considerable weight on his deliberate concealment of interactions with pupils — giving less weight to his contribution to the profession, much of it outside teaching. The public interest in protecting pupils and maintaining confidence in the profession was held to outweigh his interests, despite the severity of the consequences for him.

Sources

• Teaching Regulation Agency, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr Simon Gray” — source