TEACHER BANNED FOR SEXUAL ACTIVITY WITH PUPIL

An outdoor education teacher who was convicted for sexual activity with a pupil has been permanently banned from teaching. Lloyd Ellis worked at Abbotsholme School in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, from 2018 until August 2021, according to a report into his conduct. He was sentenced at Stafford Crown Court in 2023 to 14 months in prison, suspended for two years. A professional conduct hearing found that he "fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession." Ellis was prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, youth accommodation or children’s home in England. Due to the seriousness of his offences, Sarah Buxcey of the Teaching Regulation Agency, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education, decided Ellis would not be entitled to apply to have his eligibility to teach restored in the future. Ellis was convicted in 2022 of two counts of sexual activity with a girl aged between 13 and 17 while in a position of trust, after a pupil at the school disclosed her relationship and the school’s headmaster was subsequently informed. He was sentenced in August 2023, and the matter was subsequently referred to the Teaching Regulation Agency in September 2023.