Rachel Clint, the Assistant Head-Teacher who was caught kissing her 18-year-old student on a train while being drunk, has been allowed to teach again.
The incident was caught on camera by other students of the private school where she used to teach in.
Rachel is in her early 30s, the incident happened in a leavers’ event, the event had a free bar for staff.
The photograph was spread around the school and she was hand a “gardening leave” from her job, Rachel was an assistant-headmaster in Merchant Taylors, a private school that costs £11,000 per year to attend.
Rachel has been fired from her job at the private school.
But, the Teaching Regulation Agency ruled out that Rachel Clint can still work as a teacher.
The committee said that the actions of Rachel were “not of a sexual nature” even if she sat on the lap of the 18-year-old student before kissing him.
The committee added that “Miss Rachel Clint’s actions were sexually motivated, given that the evidence suggests that this was a spontaneous kiss which did not lead to any further intimacy.”
Rachel Clint said that she drank alcohol without eating something and views the “incident as a result of an error of judgment on her part.”
Rachel also accepted that she “demonstrated a lack of integrity in failing to report what had happened to the school’ in the weeks following the kiss.”
The teacher accepted the responsibility of her actions to the panel, she said, “I accept full responsibility for my actions, but I hope this isolated and out of character incident, and my lack of reporting, does not deny me a future in the profession.”
She added, “Teaching is my vocation; it is my identity.”
The Teaching Regulation Agency said, “However, in deciding not to impose a prohibition order from teaching, the panel said it had considered the ‘very strong public interest consideration in retaining Ms. Rachel Clint in the profession’.”
The Teaching Regulation Agency said that Rachel Clint was often described as an “excellent role model” for her students.
The investigating officer said that she was having some “personal issues” when the incident happened.
Rachel Clint has worked as a teacher for the last 10 years.
Rachel was removed from the private school in April last year, the school said, “Her conduct had fallen far below the standards that we require from our teachers.”
A parent of a pupil in the private school said, “It might have seemed light-hearted, but this is a serious abuse of a position of trust between a boy, and a woman 15 years older than him.”
He added, “I’m glad she got fired. It’s unacceptable.”