Terry Parsloe

Introduction

Terry Parsloe is a former supply teacher who worked at Poltair School in Cornwall through the agency Teaching Personnel, and who was prohibited from teaching for life in July 2023 after admitting that he engaged in sexually charged online communication with individuals who told him they were under 16. Police forensic examination of his phone and tablet found conversations of a sexual nature with people who identified themselves as under 16, and Parsloe admitted he knew their stated age and continued anyway. A Teaching Regulation Agency panel found both allegations against him proved on his own admissions, and the Secretary of State’s decision maker imposed a prohibition order with no review period and no entitlement to apply for restoration.

Background Information

Parsloe was born in December 1975 and was employed by the Teaching Personnel agency as a teacher at Poltair School in Cornwall when the conduct occurred. The period of concern ran from 27 November 2020 to 18 January 2021, during the COVID disruption era. The matter reached the regulator after police examined his electronic devices; the published decision records that a report to the Crown Prosecutor summarised comments Parsloe made when police attended his house. The panel that decided his case noted it had no evidence of his history or ability as a teacher, and no statements attesting to his character were put before it.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Admitted sexual chats with people said to be under 16. Parsloe admitted engaging, between 27 November 2020 and 18 January 2021, in inappropriate online communication with individuals who informed him they were under 16, and that the conduct was sexually motivated.

The case was decided at a private virtual meeting on 10 July 2023 without a hearing, at Parsloe’s own request, on a signed statement of agreed facts dated 18 May 2023. In it he admitted that his mobile phone and tablet were examined by the police forensics unit, that the search identified conversations of a sexual nature with individuals who identified themselves as being under 16, and that he was told of their age and continued to message them. Extracts of the conversations found on his devices were admitted before the panel, which concluded that Parsloe understood the person he spoke with had stated they were under 16 yet continued a sexual conversation. The panel also saw the report to the Crown Prosecutor summarising his comments when police attended his house, and found on the evidence that his conduct was in pursuit of sexual gratification. Both allegations — the communications and their sexual motivation — were found proved.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The published decision records no press coverage; the documentable consequences are the police forensic examination, the referral to the TRA, and the end of Parsloe’s classroom eligibility. The panel found his actions deliberate, calculated and motivated rather than committed under any duress, and noted that his online behaviour seriously contravened a teacher’s safeguarding obligations. It observed that there was no evidence of exceptionally high standards in his personal or professional conduct and no significant contribution to the education sector to weigh against the findings, and it concluded that public confidence in the profession would be seriously weakened if such conduct were not treated with the utmost seriousness. The panel decided the public interest in protecting pupils and upholding standards outweighed any interest in retaining him in the profession.

Current Status

The panel recommended a prohibition order without a review period, reasoning that sexual misconduct involving a child — and conduct sexually motivated toward a person said to be under 16 — falls squarely within the categories the Secretary of State’s Advice treats as militating against any review. On 10 July 2023, decision maker David Oatley, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State, confirmed the order, deciding that allowing a review period would not reflect the seriousness of the findings or maintain public confidence in the profession. Terry Parsloe is prohibited from teaching indefinitely — the ban covers every school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation and children’s home in England — with no review period and no entitlement to apply for restoration. The order took effect when served, with a right of appeal to the High Court within 28 days.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Because the conduct was admitted and the messages were recovered by forensic examination, Parsloe’s case moved from police devices to a lifetime ban in under two and a half years, with no hearing and no route back: the absence of a review period means no future panel can restore him unless the law changes. The decision also records how little counted in his favour — no evidence of teaching ability, no character statements, no evidence of insight — so the lifetime bar rests not just on what he admitted but on the panel’s conclusion that nothing about his record argued for a second chance. For an agency teacher the ban is total: he cannot hold a teaching post in any regulated setting in England again.

Sources

• Teaching Regulation Agency, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr Terry Parsloe” — source