A teacher who assaulted a student by repeatedly hitting him against a wall has been banned from the profession for life.
46-year-old Gary Foster was told he will never be allowed to apply to restore his eligibility to teach, after Teacher Regulation Agency (TRA) panel ruled that he was guilty of serious misconduct and had ‘fundamentally breached the standard of conduct expected.’
Mr Foster started teaching at Crookhey Hall School in Cockerham in 2009 but was sacked after the professional conduct panel heard he ‘acted outside the remit of physical intervention’ by his actions.
Panel members said Foster, who was not present or represented at the hearing, had shown only limited remorse for his actions.
Foster was jailed in August 2023 for 10 weeks and ordered to pay £200 compensation to the boy, who has additional needs, after he was convicted of battery at Lancaster Magistrates' Court.
The panel read details of a police report that said he grabbed the boy, known as Pupil A, "by the shoulder of his coat roughly and pushed him into the chair, grabbed him by the jacket and pushed him against the corner of the room near the door".
The report said that it appeared he ‘hit him against the wall repeatedly, even though Pupil A had ‘not offered any violence’.
Mr Foster accepted that he ‘acted outside of the prescribed physical intervention protocols when removing Pupil A from the classroom’, but the panel concluded that teachers must treat students ‘with dignity, building relationships rooted in mutual respect, and at all times observing proper boundaries appropriate to a teacher's professional position’.
The panel report concluded: "Bearing in mind Mr Foster was an experienced teacher in that setting who undertook regular training, the panel considered the risk of repetition of such behaviour by Mr Foster to be high."
Foster was banned from teaching indefinitely and is not entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach.
He was given 28 days from the date of the hearing to appeal the verdict to the High Court.
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