Mr Joel Walker

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 Joel Walker

Teacher reference number: 1255434

Teacher's date of birth: 13 December 1989

Location teacher worked: Hertfordshire, east of England

Date of professional conduct panel: 10 January 2023

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 Joel Walker, formerly employed in Hertfordshire, east of England.

Teacher misconduct

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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 Joel Walker: Professional conduct panel meeting outcome Panel decision and reasons on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education January 2023 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 6 Panel’s recommendation to the Secretary of State 12 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 Joel Walker (also known as David Walker) Teacher ref number: 1255434 Teacher date of birth: 13 December 1989 TRA reference: 18732 Date of determination: 10 January 2023 Former employer: Egerton Rothesay School, Hertfordshire Introduction A professional conduct panel (“the panel”) of the Teaching Regulation Agency (“the TRA”) convened virtually on 10 January 2023 to consider the case of Mr Joel Walker. The panel members were Mr Neil Hillman (teacher panellist – in the chair), Miss Asma Majid (lay panellist) and Mr Jeremy Phillips KC (lay panellist). The legal adviser to the panel was Mr Delme Griffiths of Blake Morgan 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 Walker that the allegations be considered without a hearing. Mr Walker 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, Mr Walker or his representative. The meeting took place in private. 4 Allegations The panel considered the allegations set out in the notice of meeting dated 23 December 2022. It was alleged that Mr Walker was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct and/or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute, in that: 1. On one or more occasions between 1 September 2014 and 31 July 2017, whilst Pupil A was a pupil at the school, he shared personal information with Pupil A regarding his: a. past romantic partners, b. [REDACTED] c. [REDACTED] 2. On one or more occasions between 1 April 2015 and 31 July 2017, whilst Pupil A was a pupil at the school: a. he stated to Pupil A “your arse is looking really good” or words to the same effect, when she was wearing leggings, b. on another occasion he stated to Pupil A “your arse looks incredible” or words to that effect, when she was wearing a dress for prize day, c. he stated to Pupil A that he had a dream of a sexual nature involving Pupil A, d. he told Pupil A she was attractive, e. he invited Pupil A to meet him alone in a classroom, f. he held a ruler up and asked Pupil A “do you want to know how big it is?” in reference to his groin, g. as a response to a slightly revealing image of Pupil A that she uploaded to social media, he uploaded a photograph of himself with the caption "your pic the other day KILLED me"; h. as a response to being shown an image of Pupil A he enlarged the image onto Pupil A’s chest; 3. On one or more occasions between 1 September 2014 and 31 July 2017, whilst Pupil A was a pupil at the school, 5 a. he hugged Pupil A, b. he placed his hand on Pupil A’s shoulder, c. he placed his hand on Pupil A’s back, d. whilst she was ahead of him inside an inflatable assault course, he took hold of Pupil A’s clothing causing her to fall on top of him; 4. On an unknown date in 2018, he took alcohol to Pupil B, who was under 18 years old and an ex-pupil of the school, whilst she was on a residential course in the town where he lives; 5. His conduct in paragraphs 2 and/or 3 above, was sexually motivated; 6. By his conduct in the foregoing paragraphs, he failed to observe a proper boundary appropriate to a teacher’s professional position. Mr Walker admitted all of the allegations. Mr Walker further admitted that his actions, in relation to each of the allegations, amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute. 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 and list of key people – pages 1 to 2 Section 2: Notice, response and statement of agreed facts – pages 3 to 19 Section 3: Teaching Regulation Agency witness evidence – pages 20 to 26 Section 4: Teaching Regulation Agency documents – pages 27 to 169 Section 5: Teacher documents – pages 170 to 204 6 Statement of agreed facts The panel considered a statement of agreed facts which was signed by Mr Walker on 12 December 2022. Decision and reasons The panel's decision and reasons are as follows: In advance of the meeting, the TRA agreed to a request from Mr Walker 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. The panel proceeded to consider the case carefully, having read all of the documents, and reached a decision. It accepted the legal advice provided. Mr Walker was previously employed as a teacher at Egerton Rothesay School ("the School"). He commenced work at the School on 1 September 2014. Mr Walker taught PE and was also a form tutor. In 2019, concerns were raised by a former pupil of the School regarding Mr Walker's behaviour towards her. The former pupil is referred to as Pupil A for the purposes of these proceedings. Mr Walker taught Pupil A during her time at the School, starting when she was in [REDACTED]. A complaint was originally made to Hertfordshire police, which in turn made a referral to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO). A separate concern was raised in relation to another pupil, Pupil B, who was also a former pupil at the School. On 8 April 2019, Mr Walker was suspended from his role. The School commenced a disciplinary process in relation to the concerns identified. On 1 May 2019, a disciplinary meeting was held. On 9 May 2019, Mr Walker resigned from his position. On 23 September 2019, Mr Walker was referred to the TRA by the School. Findings of fact The findings of fact are as follows. The panel found all of the allegations against you proved, for these reasons. 7 1. On one or more occasions between 1 September 2014 and 31 July 2017, whilst Pupil A was a pupil at the school, he shared personal information with Pupil A regarding his: a. past romantic partners, b. [REDACTED] c. [REDACTED] The panel considered allegations 1(a) to (c) together. The panel noted the evidence from Pupil A, set out in a signed statement dated 13 May 2021, in relation to these allegations, namely that: "In year 11 Mr Walker began to speak to me about more personal issues, particularly in his personal and romantic life. He would speak to me about past partners and informed me that he had dated [REDACTED] in the past. Further into the year Mr Walker informed me [REDACTED]." Mr Walker accepted that, on one or more occasions between 1 September 2014 and 31 July 2017, he did share information with Pupil A regarding: • his past romantic partners; • [REDACTED] • [REDACTED] In light of Mr Walker's admissions and Pupil A's evidence, the panel found allegations 1(a) to (c) proved. 2. On one or more occasions between 1 April 2015 and 31 July 2017, whilst Pupil A was a pupil at the school: a. you stated to Pupil A “your arse is looking really good” or words to the same effect, b. on another occasion you stated to Pupil A “your arse looks incredible” or words to that effect, when she was wearing a dress for prize day, c. you stated to Pupil A that you had a dream of a sexual nature involving Pupil A, 8 d. you told Pupil A she was attractive, e. you invited Pupil A to meet you alone in a classroom, f. you held a ruler up and asked Pupil A “do you want to know how big it is?” in reference to your groin, g. as a response to a slightly revealing image of Pupil A that she uploaded to social media, you uploaded a photograph of yourself with the caption "your pic the other day KILLED me"; h. as a response to being shown an image of Pupil A you enlarged the image onto Pupil A’s chest; The panel considered allegations 2(a) to (h) together. The panel noted the evidence provided by Pupil A. Her statement recorded that in year 11, Mr Walker began to make sexual comments towards and about her, often telling her that she looked very attractive. Pupil A provided particular examples with reference to the allegations and provided an extract from her diary in support of her account. Pupil A referred to a particular occasion, with reference to allegation 2(c), in which Mr Walker relayed to her a dream in which he told her she was naked. Pupil A also stated: "Mr Walker started becoming more secretive, and on several occasions invited me to his classroom to talk during lunch. Mr Walker's classroom was in a very quiet building with less people around. On one occasion, whilst we were in his classroom alone, Mr Walker took a ruler from his desk drawer and said words to the effect of “do you want to know how big it is?”. He came incredibly close to me, held the ruler near his groin area, and moved my hand so that one was on the 0 mark and the other was further along the ruler. I felt uncomfortable with this and thought it was a very odd thing to do." On another occasion during year 11, Pupil A stated she showed Mr Walker photographs on her phone, in one of which she was sitting, wearing a top but no bra on underneath, which she did not think