A misconduct panel ruled that John Taylor, formerly Joint Head of Sixth Form at City of London Academy Islington, can continue teaching despite admitting to sending inappropriate messages to former pupils on social media.
Inappropriate exchanges with teenagers
Before taking up his post in September 2023, Taylor worked for two weeks in July 2023 on a summer English language exchange program for French teens aged 14-16. He held the mobile phone numbers of young people in his group but failed to delete them after the sessions ended.
In August 2023, Taylor sent messages to one girl, Pupil A, via Snapchat, stating: "[A]dded you on snap. Probably shouldn't but … [smile symbol]" and "hope you don't mind me checking in. I liked getting your photos but deleted them by accident." To another girl, Pupil B, he asked if she had a "bf" and said it "would be lovely to see you again," also telling her he "like[d] beautiful things" with a heart emoticon.
Panel finds misconduct but no ban
The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel concluded the exchanges "crossed the professional boundaries expected of a teacher" and that Taylor should have been aware of the riskiness, especially as the wording "probably shouldn't" implied he knew his behavior was questionable.
In his defense, Taylor said he had not deliberately kept the girls' numbers but accepted he should have deleted them. He acknowledged his conduct was inappropriate, unprofessional, and said he had been "stupid."
Despite finding him guilty of serious misconduct that risked bringing the profession into disrepute, the panel decided a prohibition order—which would ban him from teaching in maintained schools and various educational settings in England—was not warranted.
Reasons for leniency
The panel noted that Taylor's "concerning misjudgements" had not created a safeguarding risk or harmed the pupils because the communication occurred after the educational activity ended and was not sexual, grooming, or involving physical contact. They found him "genuinely remorseful" and judged a low risk of repetition, also acknowledging his significant contributions to education over more than two decades and that the incident was "out of character."
Taylor's current employer, the headmaster of a boys prep school, attended the hearing and wrote to the TRA attesting to his qualities, arguing there would be a "huge loss" to the sector if he were banned.
The panel agreed that a prohibition order was not in the public interest since there were "no wider concerns" about his conduct.
