A former teacher at Eltham College Junior School has been prohibited from teaching after he accessed pornographic material on school devices during school hours. William Schaper, 49, was banned for at least two years following a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel hearing last month.
The panel heard that a routine test of the school's internet monitoring system on January 13, 2025, flagged Mr Schaper's Outlook 365 account. A subsequent investigation found that he had accessed or attempted to access pornographic websites on school devices on multiple occasions between December 2024 and January 2025, including during school hours. Investigators were able to identify the websites visited, the device used, and the times the material was accessed.
Investigation and admission
When challenged by the school's acting headteacher on January 17, 2025, Mr Schaper denied accessing the material. However, he later partially admitted doing so in WhatsApp messages sent that evening. The panel also found that he had stored sexually explicit material in his school Outlook 365 account from around 2018.
According to the findings, Mr Schaper attempted to conceal his activity by manually deleting his browser history. He also admitted seeking advice from an unidentified individual on how to remove evidence of the websites he had visited.
In mitigation, Mr Schaper said he had been going through difficult personal circumstances at the time. He pointed out that no children had ever walked in on him when he was accessing the material, and the panel noted his claim that no pupils had seen it.
Panel's findings and ban
However, the panel ruled that this did not remove the potential safeguarding risks associated with viewing pornographic content on school devices in an educational setting. It found that Mr Schaper's conduct amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and behaviour likely to bring the profession into disrepute, citing the repeated nature of the incidents as well as his attempts to conceal them.
The panel concluded that he had shown some insight into his actions, but that his understanding of their seriousness was still developing and that there remained a risk of repetition. As a result, Mr Schaper has been banned from teaching in England, although he can apply for the order to be reviewed from September 2028.
