A teacher at a grammar school in South Manchester who had sex with a former pupil after he booked them a hotel room has been banned from the teaching register. Robert MacCallum, 39, met the pupil at William Hulme Grammar School in Whalley Range where he was a PE teacher and head of Year 12 at the time.
A professional conduct panel heard that Mr MacCallum and the former student, referred to as 'Pupil A' formed a very ''close relationship'' between them while they were both at the school. There was no indication to the panel that any criminal offence was committed as the pupil was of a legal consensual age, the Manchester Evening News reports.
Around a year after they had decided to leave the school, the pupil informed the panel that the pair had continued speaking over text. Pupil A also told the hearing that they'd been out with Mr MacCallum 'a handful of times' to multiple bars and that the two of them would stay out late until the venues shut.
The student said that they felt ''safe'' whilst around them and that Mr MacCallum would give them a hug and a kiss on the forehead at the end of their nights together. Pupil A also told the panel they had been out with Mr MacCallum for alcoholic drinks with some of the student's friends on one occasion and everything had felt ''normal''.
The pupil said Mr MacCallum had called them ''pretty'' and kissed them towards the end of the night. The student told the hearing that they believed that their friendly relationship would eventually spiral to this but said the teacher remained ''professional''.
Later Pupil A said that the teacher asked if they wanted to go back to a hotel room which he paid for. The panel heard the student took a picture of the hotel around 10 minutes after arriving at 03:35am.
The student said it became ''apparent'' that the two of them were going to engage in sexual intercourse and that they slept together twice that night. Pupil A told the hearing Mr MacCallum kept saying 'you're so naughty,' during their encounter and that they recalled being 'very drunk and disorientated.' during the incident.
Mr MacCallum denied that they had planned to meet up and said that he and Pupil A had bumped into each other on a night out. But the panel disregarded this point as either way Mr MacCallum had stayed in the bar, had drinks with the pupil and therefore attended a night out.
He also claimed that the two of them did not have sexual intercourse something the panel found to be 'somewhat implausible' and 'more likely than not to have happened.' The hearing was told that the situation was brought to light by another pupil who was worried about the relationship between Mr MacCallum and Pupil A.
Pupil A then contacted the school directly and sent a written complaint to the grammar school, following a meeting. The complaint included allegations of inappropriate behaviour of Mr MacCallum towards Pupil A.
Mr MacCallum's employment at the school was terminated in October 2020 after a disciplinary hearing and the matter was referred to the Teaching Regulation Agency. A professional conduct hearing concluded earlier this month that Mr MacCallum had "continued a relationship outside school with a former pupil" and "with whom he was in a position of trust."
"He had sexual intercourse with his former pupil and had then acted dishonestly when confronted with the facts of what he had done. In light of this, the panel was satisfied that the conduct of Mr MacCallum amounted to misconduct of a serious nature which fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession."
Mr MacCallum has now been banned from teaching indefinitely in England in any school including sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children's homes. He will eligible to apply for the prohibition order to be set aside on 17 November 2027 at the earliest, which will be five years on from the date of the order.
A spokesperson for the school said: "We fully support this outcome and worked with the appropriate authorities during their investigation."
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