Mr Brendon Fallows

The Secretary of State does not make these decisions themself. They are made by a senior official on the recommendation of an independent panel.

Teacher's name: Mr Brendon Fallows

Teacher reference number: 1234567

Teacher's date of birth: 30 May 1987

Location teacher worked: Nottingham, East Midlands

Date of professional conduct panel: 18 December 2024

Outcome type: prohibition order

Notice is hereby given that, in accordance with The Teacher's’ Disciplinary (England) Regulations 2012, a professional conduct panel was convened to consider the case of Mr Brendon Fallows, formerly employed in insert Nottingham, East Midlands.

Teacher misconduct

Ground Floor, South

Cheylesmore House

5 Quinton RoadCoventryCV1 2WT

Email TRA.Casework@education.gov.uk

Telephone 020 7593 5393

Information about regulating the teaching profession and the process for dealing with serious teacher misconduct.

Mr Brendon Fallows: Professional conduct panel meeting outcome Panel decision and reasons on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education December 2024 2 Contents Introduction 3 Allegations 4 Preliminary applications 4 Summary of evidence 4 Documents 4 Statement of agreed facts 5 Decision and reasons 5 Findings of fact 5 Panel’s recommendation to the Secretary of State 10 Decision and reasons on behalf of the Secretary of State 14 3 Professional conduct panel decision and recommendations, and decision on behalf of the Secretary of State Teacher: Mr Brendon Fallows Teacher ref number: 1157978 Teacher date of birth: 30 May 1987 TRA reference: 22928 Date of determination: 18 December 2024 Former employer: Lady Bay Primary School, Nottingham Introduction A professional conduct panel (‘the panel’) of the Teaching Regulation Agency (‘the TRA’) convened on 18 December 2024 by way of a virtual meeting, to consider the case of Mr Brendon Fallows. The panel members were Ms Jackie Hutchings (teacher panellist – in the chair), Mr Jeremy Phillips KC (lay panellist) and Ms Samantha Haslam (teacher panellist). The legal adviser to the panel was Ms Rebecca Hughes of Birketts LLP solicitors. In advance of the meeting, after taking into consideration the public interest and the interests of justice, the TRA agreed to a request from Mr Fallows that the allegations be considered without a hearing. Mr Fallows provided a signed statement of agreed facts and admitted unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute. The panel considered the case at a meeting without the attendance of the presenting officer, Ms Katherine Hannigan of St Ives Chambers, Mr Fallows or any representative for Mr Fallows. The meeting took place in private by way of a virtual meeting. 4 Allegations The panel considered the allegations set out in the notice of meeting dated 24 September 2024. It was alleged that Mr Fallows was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct and/or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute, in that whilst working as a class teacher and maths lead at Lady Bay Primary School between 1 September 2013 and 12 December 2023: 1. He engaged in inappropriate and/or unprofessional behaviour on or around 5 October 2023, by; a. Accessing staff member A’s personal mobile phone without their consent; b. Attempting to send a personal video from staff member A’s personal mobile phone via WhatsApp to his own personal mobile phone without their consent. 2. His conduct as may be found proven at allegation 1 lacked integrity and/or was dishonest. Mr Fallows admitted the facts of allegations 1.a, 1.b and 2 and that his behaviour amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and/or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute falling short of the standards of behaviour expected of a teacher, as set out in the statement of agreed facts signed by Mr Fallows on 6 August 2024. Preliminary applications There were no preliminary applications. Summary of evidence Documents In advance of the meeting, the panel received a bundle of documents which included: • Section 1: Chronology – page 5 • Section 2: Notice of referral, response and notice of meeting– pages 7 to 23a • Section 3: Statement of agreed facts and presenting officer representations – pages 24 to 29 • Section 4: TRA documents – pages 31 to 149 5 • Section 5: Teacher documents – pages 152 to 185 The panel members confirmed that they had read all of the documents within the bundle, in advance of the meeting. Statement of agreed facts The panel considered a statement of agreed facts signed by Mr Fallows on 6 August 2024 and subsequently signed by the presenting officer on 16 August 2024. Decision and reasons The panel carefully considered the case and reached the following decision and reasons: In advance of the meeting, the TRA agreed to a request from Mr Fallows for the allegations to be considered without a hearing. The panel had the ability to direct that the case be considered at a hearing if required in the interests of justice or the public interest. The panel did not determine that such a direction was necessary or appropriate in this case. In September 2013, Mr Fallows commenced employment at Lady Bay Primary School (“the School”). Mr Fallows was employed as a class teacher and maths lead at the School and held a position of authority and responsibility. On 5 October 2023, Mr Fallows allegedly accessed staff member A’s mobile phone without consent and attempted to send an explicit, intimate video to his own personal mobile. On 6 October 2023, staff member A reported the allegation to Individual A, [REDACTED]. Mr Fallows was sent home, and a referral was made to the Local Authority Designated Officer (“LADO”). Mr Fallows was suspended on 12 October 2023. On 12 December 2023, Mr Fallows was dismissed. On 14 December 2023, the matter was referred to the TRA. Findings of fact The findings of fact are as follows: The panel found the following particulars of the allegations against you proved, for these reasons: 6 1. You engaged in inappropriate and/or unprofessional behaviour on or around 5 October 2023, by; a. Accessing staff member A’s personal mobile phone without their consent; b. Attempting to send a personal video from staff member A’s personal mobile phone via WhatsApp to your own personal mobile phone without their consent. The panel noted that Mr Fallows admitted this allegation. Notwithstanding this, the panel considered the evidence presented to it and made a determination. The panel considered the screenshots of the WhatsApp profile and deleted messages. The panel considered the notes from the investigation meeting with staff member A on 18 October 2023, which staff member A confirmed as an accurate record by printing her name as a signature. In the notes, staff member A stated that she was in the office for her PPA time, and Mr Fallows was sitting at a desk behind her, coming in and out. She said that at 2:15 pm, she went to teach Mr Fallows’ class and left her coat with her phone in the pocket in the office, as she had always done, as it was locked. Staff member A stated that the office was at the top of some stairs, locked with a key code that can only be accessed by staff members. Staff member A stated that she taught Mr Fallows’ class between 2:15pm and 3:25 pm and dismissed the class at the end of the day. She stated that she spoke to Mr Fallows about the test she had just done with his class when she returned back to the office, and at around 3:35pm, she took her marking down to her classroom. Staff member A stated that she took her coat and belongings with her but did not look at her phone until 5:15pm, when she saw that a WhatsApp message had been sent that did not have a recognised number. She stated that there was no name on the number and that, as you normally need to have the number saved, she was confused. Staff member A stated that she first thought that it was a mistake and that maybe she sat on her phone but realised that it is quite hard to send a video to a specific number of someone who happens to work at your school. Staff member A stated that she saw the message and didn’t know that it was Mr Fallows’ number straight away, as she hadn’t seen Mr Fallows’ number before. Staff member A stated that she saw a video that had failed to be sent, so she deleted it immediately so that it couldn’t be sent. She stated that she saw a red exclamation mark next to it and was “freaking out a bit”. Staff member A said that she wondered if she could have accidentally pressed something but saw the time the message tried to send 7 was 3:16pm. Staff member A then remembered that she knew what she was doing at that time as she was teaching Mr Fallows’ class and her phone was up in the office where she had been for her PPA time. Staff member A stated that the video looked like it was one of hers as “she could see skin”, and it was something that she would not want people to see, so she “deleted it so quickly”. She stated that she didn’t actually watch the video, so she did not know exactly what it was. Staff member A stated that she could see the WhatsApp picture in the chat, and it looked like Mr Fallows, but she was unsure as it looked like “quite an old picture”. Staff member A stated that she was shocked and took a lot of screenshots. Staff member A stated that she would not have left her phone unlocked and that if she had left it unlocked, it would have locked itself. She stated that Mr Fallows might have known that her phone was in her pocket, as once before, he had to turn an alarm off on her phone. The panel considered the notes of the investigation interview with Mr Fallows, which he confirmed was an accurate record by signing. Mr Fallows stated that Staff member A’s phone was in her coat pocket on the back of a chair. He stated that it was clear to see it hanging and that the phone was holding the pocket open and he “did not rummage or search”. Mr Fallows stated that he guessed Staff member A’s phone password using her Instagram username and he guessed the year. He stated that he just tried her date of birth as her phone password and “got in the first or second time”. Mr Fallows stated that he had just looked at photos and videos and that there was a thumbnail of a video on her phone, and he had tried to send it to himself on his phone. The panel considered allegations 1.a. and 1.b proven. 2. Your conduct as may be found proven at allegation 1 lacked integrity and/or was dishonest. The panel noted that Mr Fallows admitted this allegation in the statement of agreed facts, signed by Mr Fallows on 6 August 2024. However, it considered the evidence presented and made a determination. The panel considered whether Mr Fal