Mr Gary Crossley

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

Teacher's name: Mr Gary Crossley

Teacher reference number: 0832235

Teacher's date of birth: 9 April 1970

Location teacher worked: Cambridgeshire, England

Date of professional conduct panel: 29 September 2022

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 Gary Crossley, formerly employed in Cambridgeshire, England.

Teacher misconduct

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Telephone 020 7593 5393

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

Mr Gary Crossley: Professional conduct panel meeting outcome Panel decision and reasons on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education September 2022 2 Contents Introduction 3 Allegations 4 Preliminary applications 5 Summary of evidence 5 Documents 5 Statement of agreed facts 6 Decision and reasons 6 Findings of fact 7 Panel’s recommendation to the Secretary of State 13 Decision and reasons on behalf of the Secretary of State 16 3 Professional conduct panel decision and recommendations, and decision on behalf of the Secretary of State Teacher: Mr Gary Crossley Teacher ref number: 0832235 Teacher date of birth: 9 April 1970 TRA reference: 19124 Date of determination: 29 September 2022 Former employer: Thomas Clarkson Academy, Cambridgeshire Introduction A professional conduct panel (‘the panel’) of the Teaching Regulation Agency (‘the TRA’) convened on 29 September 2022 by way of a virtual meeting, to consider the case of Mr Gary Crossley. The panel members were Mr Clive Sentance (teacher panellist – in the chair), Ms Dawn Hawkins (teacher panellist) and Ms Shamaila Qureshi (lay panellist). The legal adviser to the panel was Ms Lucy Churchill 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 Crossley that the allegations be considered without a hearing. Mr Crossley 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 Ruth Miller of Fieldfisher LLP, Mr Crossley or any representative for Mr Crossley. 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 20 September 2022. It was alleged that Mr Crossley was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct and/or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute, in that whilst employed as a teacher at Thomas Clarkson Academy: 1. He failed to maintain professional boundaries in relation to Pupil A when: a) He provided his personal contact details to Pupil A on the evening of the Thomas Clarkson Academy Summer Prom. b) He contacted Pupil A on a repeated basis via WhatsApp and/or text message. c) He met with Pupil A alone socially on one or more occasions, including in June 2019. d) He messaged Pupil A commenting on her appearance between 21 July 2018 and 15 July 2019. e) He repeatedly commented on Pupil A's profile picture on Whatsapp including on 07 August 2018, 24 December 2018, 8 April 2019, 23 April 2019 and 29 August 2019. f) He repeatedly messaged Pupil A asking about her personal relationships between 21 July 2018 and 31 August 2019. g) He messaged Pupil A in relation to his personal romantic relationship/s and relationship breakdown, including in relation to: i. Person A between 21 July 2018 and 14 August 2019. ii. Person B between 29 July 2018 and 25 December 2018. iii. Person C between 20 August 2018 and 03 October 2018. iv. Person D between 06 September 2018 and 03 October 2018. v. Person E between 01 September 2018 and 14 August 2019. h) He repeatedly messaged Pupil A messages which were of an inappropriate and / or sexual nature between 21 July 2018 and 2 September 2019. i) On 4 September 2018, he suggested to Pupil A that she should tell her mother a "story", which was made up, so he would be hired as Pupil A's maths tutor. j) On 18 December 2018, he gave Pupil A a gift. k) He repeatedly wrote an 'x' on the end of his messages, indicating a kiss. 2. His communication with Pupil A, as set out in paragraph 1(d), (e), (h), (k) was sexually motivated. 3. He failed to maintain professional boundaries with former Pupil B on or after September 2017 when he: a) asked for, and exchanged, personal contact details with former Pupil B. 5 b) repeatedly messaged former Pupil B via text message. c) on one or more occasions, he asked former Pupil B to meet him for a "coffee" or go for a meal. d) messaged former Pupil B in relation to his personal romantic relationship break down. e) said to former Pupil B that "hope your knickers didn't get wet" or words to that effect. 4. On 9 September 2019, he said to Pupil C “[Pupil C] don't fucking swear" after Colleague E had told Pupil C not to swear. Mr Crossley admitted the facts of allegations 1 to 4 and that his behaviour amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute falling short of the standards of behaviour expected of a teacher, as set out in the response to the notice of referral dated 12 January 2022 and in the statement of agreed facts signed by Mr Crossley on 26 February 2022. Preliminary applications There were no preliminary applications. The panel noted that since the date of the referral to the TRA in this case, new ‘Teacher misconduct: Disciplinary procedures for the teaching profession’ were published in May 2020 (the ‘May 2020 Procedures’). The panel understands that the earlier provisions contained within the ‘Teacher misconduct: disciplinary procedures for the teaching profession’ updated in April 2018 (the ‘April 2018 Procedures’) apply to this case, given that those provisions applied when the referral was made. Although the panel has the power to direct that the May 2020 Procedures should apply in the interests of justice or the public interest, the panel had received no representations that this should be the case. For the avoidance of doubt, therefore, the panel confirms that it has applied the April 2018 Procedures in this case. Summary of evidence Documents In advance of the meeting, the panel received a bundle of documents which included: • Section 1: Chronology, anonymised pupil list and list of key people – pages 1 to 2 • Section 2: Notice of referral, response and notice of meeting – pages 3 to 19 • Section 3: Statement of agreed facts and presenting officer representations – pages 20 to 27 6 • Section 4: Teaching Regulation Agency documents – pages 28 to 1704 • Section 5: Teacher documents – pages 1705 to 1706 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, which was signed by Mr Crossley on 26 February 2022. 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 Crossley 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 in the public interest. The panel did not determine that such a direction was necessary or appropriate in this case. Mr Crossley commenced employment at Thomas Clarkson Academy (‘the School’) on 1 July 2013. Between September 2017 and September 2019, Mr Crossley was in communication with Pupil A and former Pupil B. On 9 September 2019, an incident occurred with Mr Crossley, Colleague E and Pupil C. On 12 September 2019, Colleague E reported the incident. On 13 September 2019, the school commenced a formal investigation into Mr Crossley’s conduct. On 16 September 2019, Mr Crossley attended an investigation meeting with the School regarding swearing in front of Pupil C. On 23 September 2019, a pupil sought advice from the school’s safeguarding co- ordinator regarding Mr Crossley’s communication with pupils/ex-pupils. The School contacted the LADO regarding Mr Crossley’s conduct. The School interviewed former Pupil B on 27 September 2019 and interviewed (by then former) Pupil A on 30 September 2019. Mr Crossley attended an investigation meeting with the School regarding his contact with pupils/ex-pupils on 29 October 2019. 7 A disciplinary hearing took place on 6 January 2020 and Mr Crossley’s employment at the School ceased on 7 January 2020. 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: 1. You failed to maintain professional boundaries in relation to Pupil A when: a) You provided your personal contact details to Pupil A on the evening of the Thomas Clarkson Academy Summer Prom. b) You contacted Pupil A on a repeated basis via WhatsApp and/or text message. c) You met with Pupil A alone socially on one or more occasions, including in June 2019. d) You messaged Pupil A commenting on her appearance between 21 July 2018 and 15 July 2019. e) You repeatedly commented on Pupil A's profile picture on Whatsapp including on 07 August 2018, 24 December 2018, 8 April 2019, 23 April 2019 and 29 August 2019. f) You repeatedly messaged Pupil A asking about her personal relationships between 21 July 2018 and 31 August 2019 g) You messaged Pupil A in relation to your personal romantic relationship/s and relationship breakdown, including in relation to: i. Person A between 21 July 2018 and 14 August 2019. ii. Person B between 29 July 2018 and 25 December 2018. iii. Person C between 20 August 2018 and 03 October 2018. iv. Person D between 06 September 2018 and 03 October 2018. v. Person E between 01 September 2018 and 14 August 2019. h) You repeatedly messaged Pupil A messages which were of an inappropriate and / or sexual nature between 21 July 2018 and 2 September 2019. i) On 4 September 2018, you suggested to Pupil A that she should tell her mother a "story", which was made up, so you would be hired as Pupil A's maths tutor. j) On 18 December 2018, you gave Pupil A a gift. k) You repeatedly wrote a