A teacher who sent nude photographs to a student has had her registration cancelled.
Photo: 123rf
The teacher "breached professional boundaries" by sending nude photographs of herself to a male student from a secondary school she previously taught at, the Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal said.
Referring to her as "Teacher J" the tribunal said in June or July 2015, when the teacher joined another school, she began communicating with the 14 or 15-year-old former student via Facebook Messenger, Snapchat, and or Viber.
Teacher J, who was 54-years-old at the time, said she was intoxicated one weekend and sent nude photos of herself to the student via Snapchat.
She described the photos as "explicit sexual material".
Two years later, the contact came to light when the student told his mother. He said he kept it to himself because was "embarrassed and uncomfortable" with the incident.
In November 2017, the student's mother contacted the teacher via Facebook messenger. Teacher J admitted that she had "inappropriate communication" with the student. His mother later reported the incident.
In December 2017, the teacher then self-reported the incident to the Education Council.
She said she was suffering psychological distress and was "lost, lonely and abusing alcohol badly at the time" she sent the photos.
Teacher J said she regretted her actions and took "full responsibility" for it.
The teacher said she was no longer working with school students and that she didn't intend to teach school students again.
The tribunal said the photographs were "grossly inappropriate" and that "behaviour of this nature would be regarded by any reasonable member of the public as bringing discredit to the profession".
