Mr Thomas Hayward

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 Thomas Hayward

Teacher reference number: 2457222

Teacher's date of birth: 28 November 1986

Location teacher worked: Boston, East of England

Date of professional conduct panel: 19 January 2026 to the 30 January 2026

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 Thomas Hayward formerly employed in Boston, England.

Teacher misconduct

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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 Thomas Hayward: Professional conduct panel hearing outcome Panel decision and reasons on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education January 2026 2 Contents Introduction 3 Allegations 4 Summary of evidence 5 Documents 5 Witnesses 6 Decision and reasons 6 Findings of fact 7 Panel’s recommendation to the Secretary of State 38 Decision and reasons on behalf of the Secretary of State 44 3 Professional conduct panel decision and recommendations, and decision on behalf of the Secretary of State Teacher: Mr Thomas Hayward Teacher ref number: 2457222 Teacher date of birth: 28 November 1986 TRA reference: 21303 Date of determination: 30 January 2026 Former employer: Build A Future Independent School, Boston Introduction A professional conduct panel (“the panel”) of the Teaching Regulation Agency (“the TRA”) convened from 19 January 2026 to 30 January 2026 by way of a virtual hearing, to consider the case of Mr Thomas Hayward. The panel members were Mr Terry Hyde (teacher panellist – in the chair), Mr Paul Hawkins (lay panellist) and Ms Rosemary Joyce (teacher panellist). The legal adviser to the panel was Ms Rebecca Hughes of Birketts LLP solicitors. The presenting officers for the TRA were Mr Mark Millin from 19 January 2026 and Mr Lee Bridges for 28 and 29 January 2026, both instructed by Kingsley Napley LLP solicitors. Mr Hayward was not present and was not represented. The hearing took place in public, save that portions of the hearing were heard in private, and was recorded. 4 Allegations The panel considered the allegations set out in the notice of proceedings dated 17 September 2025. It was alleged that Mr Hayward was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct and/or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute, in that whilst working as a teacher at Build a Future (“the School”): 1. Between 28 September 2020 and 28 January 2021, he: a. Engaged in and/or allowed inappropriate behaviour with pupils as set out in Schedule 1; b. Used and/or allowed inappropriate language around and/or about pupils, as set out in Schedule 2; 2. By reason of his conduct at allegations 1a and/or 1b, he did not safeguard the welfare of students. 3. He engaged in the inappropriate conduct as set out in Schedule 3. 4. On or around 27 January 2021, he attended the School with bullets and/or live ammunition in his car. Schedule 1 i. You allowed and/or encouraged play fighting between pupils; ii. You participated in play fighting with one or more pupils; iii. You lay on top of Pupil B and/or simulated having sex with Pupil B whilst lying on [REDACTED]; iv. You threw stones at or near pupils; v. You encouraged one or more pupils using a dead animal as a ball; vi. You put and/or allowed one or more pupils to go up on a cherry picker with no harness; vii. You threw and/or allowed the throwing of aerosols on a fire; viii. You threw eggs at or near pupils; ix. You put stones down one or more pupils’ trousers. Schedule 2 5 i. You called Pupil F “fat tits”, or words to that effect; ii. You referred to and/or allowed other staff to refer to pupils as “fat fucker”, or words to that effect; iii. You referred to and/or allowed other staff to refer to pupils as “mong” and/or “mong face”, or words to that effect; iv. You allowed Colleague D to call pupils “window lickers” and/or “spastics” and/or “soft cunts”, or words to that effect and/or laughed whilst Colleague D said this; v. You called Pupil G “horse fucker” and/or “donkey fucker”, or words to that effect. Schedule 3 i. In or around January 2021, you told Colleague B that you were going to encourage Pupil L to bully Pupil K; ii. You threw eggs at Colleague B; iii. You used racist language; iv. You filled Colleague B’s water bottle with dirt and hung it up so that she could not reach it or allowed this to happen. The panel noted that in Mr Hayward's email dated 6 March 2023, Mr Hayward stated that he was no longer engaging with the TRA and referred the TRA to his police witness statement and the School’s investigation for his response to the allegations set out above. Summary of evidence Documents In advance of the hearing, the panel received a bundle of documents which included: Section 1: Chronology, list of key people and anonymised person list – pages 9 to 13 Section 2: Notice of hearing and response – pages 14 to 46 Section 3: TRA witness statements – pages 47 to 102 Section 4: TRA documents – pages 103 to 1270 Section 5: Teacher documents – pages 1271 to 1312 Service Bundle for Mr Thomas Hayward – pages 1313 to 1357 6 Service Bundle for [REDACTED] – pages 1358 to 1396 Service Bundle for [REDACTED] – pages 1397 to 1447 Service Bundle for [REDACTED] – pages 1448 to 1498 Application to adduce hearsay – pages 1499 to 1819 The panel members confirmed that they had read all of the documents within the bundle, in advance of the hearing. In the consideration of this case, the panel had regard to the Teacher misconduct: Disciplinary procedures for the teaching profession May 2020 (the ‘2020 Procedures’). Witnesses The panel heard oral evidence from the following witnesses called by the presenting officer: Witness A – [REDACTED] Witness B – [REDACTED] Witness C – [REDACTED] Witness D – [REDACTED] Decision and reasons The panel announced its decision and reasons as follows: The panel carefully considered the case before it and reached a decision. On 16 April 2018, Mr Hayward commenced employment as a tutor at the School. On 28 January 2021, a police investigation commenced as a result of anonymous whistleblowing allegations made against [REDACTED] and Mr Hayward. On 3 February 2022, Collinson Grant LLP (previously Watershed) was instructed to conduct an independent internal investigation into [REDACTED] and Mr Hayward following the police investigation. Witness A carried out this investigation. Following these investigations, allegations against Mr Hayward came to light, which included that he had allegedly engaged in inappropriate behaviour with pupils, including throwing eggs and stones at pupils and staff, swearing at pupils and calling them names, using racist language, attending School with live ammunition in his car and failing to safeguard pupils. 7 On 17 November 2022, the matter was referred to TRA. The panel noted that [REDACTED], [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] were also facing allegations before this professional conduct panel hearing. Findings of fact The findings of fact are as follows: The panel considered Mr Hayward’s email to [REDACTED] of Kingsley Napley, in which he stated that he had been very accommodating during both the police stage of the investigation and the School’s internal investigation and that “[he was] sure that any information collated by those parties can be used to further [their] investigation”. The panel noted that Mr Hayward did not attend to give evidence or submit a formal witness statement in response to these allegations, nor did he provide a formal reply to the TRA regarding the matters raised. The panel also considered the first police record of interview with Mr Hayward dated 27 January 2021 (the “record of the first police interview”), the second police record of interview with him dated 9 April 2021 (the “record of the second police interview”), the notes of the meeting with Witness A and Mr Hayward on 23 March 2022 (“the independent internal investigation meeting notes”) and his prepared note. The panel considered the written and oral evidence of Witness B, a member of staff at the School, who explained that she began recording the events at the School. The panel noted that Witness B [REDACTED] and that Mr Hayward was arrested and ceased teaching on around 28 January 2021. Accordingly, anything Witness B witnessed occurred during the relevant period. The panel questioned Witness B in her oral evidence about when and how she made her notes. The panel considered that some of the notes were contemporaneous, having been written on the day of the incident. Witness B’s evidence was that she made notes as events occurred, but that some were written at the end of the day, and others were written slightly later. The panel considered the handwritten notes and noted that some were dated and some were not, consistent with her account that some were made immediately and others retrospectively. They also noted that several entries stated ‘date not known’, which further indicated that not all notes were written on the day of the incident. The panel were therefore satisfied that they could attach weight to these notes. The panel also noted that Witness B confirmed in her oral evidence that she started making these notes around the third week of September 2020. The panel considered that Witness B’s written and oral evidence was consistent with her contemporaneous written notes, and her account accorded with other witness evidence which the panel attached weight to. 8 The panel considered Witness B to be a credible witness. The panel considered the written evidence of Witness D, who explained that she had also begun collecting evidence in preparation for providing a statement to the police, and that she had recorded this during the week she was invited to give a statement to the police. The panel noted that, in her oral evidence, Witness D was not clear about whom she had collated the evidence for, and this was prepared during the relevant period (January 2021). The panel considered that, given the passage of time, it was likely that she experienced some minor difficulty recalling precisely when in 2021 she had collated this material. The panel noted that Witness D [REDACTED] and that Mr Hayward was arrested and ceased teaching on around 28 January 2021. Accordingly, anything Witness D witnessed occurred during the relevant period. The panel