A teacher who began an inappropriate relationship with his pupil at a prestigious Liverpool school, which was found to have become sexual shortly after she left, has been banned from the profession.
Thomas Moss was a chemistry teacher and head of Year 10 at the Belvedere Academy girls school in south Liverpool until May 2022 when he resigned having been suspended in March of the same year. The suspension came after concerns were raised about Mr Moss' relationship with a pupil.
Following the academy's own disciplinary process, the school referred 29-year-old Mr Moss to the Teacher Regulation Agency (TRA), which met between December 4 and 6 this month to consider his case and whether he should be banned from teaching in the future.
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The TRA has now found that while employed by the Belvedere Academy – which is run by the Girls' Day School Trust – Mr Moss engaged in and/or developed an inappropriate relationship with a pupil, referred to as Pupil A in the report, in a number of ways.
These included communicating with her by WhatsApp, emailing outside of school hours and during weekends, meeting up outside the school's premises and inviting Pupil A inside his home on more than one occasion.
The panel also heard that Mr Moss engaged in sexual activity with Pupil A shortly after she was no longer on the school roll.
Mr Moss, who did not attend the hearing, denied the allegations and denied that he was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct and/or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute.
On the subject of WhatsApp messages, Pupil A said in her witness statement that she and Mr Moss communicated by WhatsApp after she asked someone else for his number.
The panel did not have sight of the WhatsApp messages exchanged between Mr Moss and Pupil A. The panel understood this form of communication to have likely commenced whilst Pupil A remained on the school roll. The panel considered that the use of WhatsApp "indicated that the professional boundaries between teacher and pupil were blurred."
The report stated: "Those boundaries should have continued to have been maintained for a reasonable period after Pupil A left the Academy given the nature of the relationship that existed whilst she was a pupil of the Academy."
The panel also looked over 150 pages of emails exchanged between Pupil A and Mr Moss, describing the volume of exchanges as "excessive."
One exchange was found to run between the two from 8.12pm on one day in March 2021 until 12.07am the following morning. The dialogue then recommenced at 6.31pm until 11.44pm the next day. This included emails regarding Pupil A's wellbeing and discussions about a television series. Similar emails were exchanged on weekends.
The panel did not necessarily consider that it was inherently inappropriate to send an email out of Academy hours provided an immediate response was not expected. However, exchanges back and forth, late at night, between Mr Moss and Pupil A "were inappropriate."
The report stated: "The exchange of emails between teacher and pupil late at night, without the presence of others, was inappropriate. The panel considered that the tone, quantity and timing of the emails indicated that Mr Moss had engaged in and/or developed an inappropriate relationship with Pupil A."
Pupil A's statement referred to having "started to meet up alone occasionally" with Mr Moss. She said that after a while they got food together. Mr Moss stated that he had met with Pupil A after she had left the Academy and after she had received his telephone number. He stated that this, from his perspective, was continuing as family friends.
The panel found that it was more probable than not that Mr Moss had met Pupil A on a one-to-one basis outside of the Academy’s premises on one or more occasions. The panel considered that this indicated that the professional boundaries between teacher and pupil were blurred.
The report stated: "Those boundaries should have continued to have been maintained for a reasonable period after Pupil A left the Academy given the nature of the relationship that existed whilst she was a pupil of the Academy."
The panel once again considered that this was evidence that Mr Moss had developed an inappropriate relationship with Pupil A.
In her witness statement, Pupil A said she "started spending time with him (Mr Moss) at his house and (they) would make or have dinner. Mr Moss drove, so he would often pick (her) up from places and drop (her) off as (she) didn't drive."
Mr Moss’ representations corroborated Pupil A’s account. He confirmed that he met with Pupil A at his home after she left the Academy in keeping with continuing a relationship as a family friend and that Pupil A’s mother had been fully aware of this. He said he "was friends with Pupil A after she had left the academy and was helping her."
The panel found that it was more probable than not that Mr Moss had invited Pupil A to and/or allowed Pupil A inside his home accommodation on one or more occasions.
In her witness statement, Pupil A said: "We started dating around September time and I can’t really remember how it happened. I do know that we were just good friends and got on very well, so it just developed naturally. In or around September the relationship became intimate and we continued dating until it ended in December 2021.”
The panel said Mr Moss’s representations corroborated Pupil A’s account. He stated that: “We had grown very close over a number of months as friends after she had left school and fallen for each other. This was not either of our intentions as far as I am aware and did not happen straight away.” He also referred to Pupil A’s statement containing valid and factual information.
The panel found that it was more probable than not that Mr Moss had engaged in sexual activity with Pupil A shortly after she was no longer on the roll of the Academy. The panel considered that Mr Moss "had engaged in and/or developed an inappropriate relationship with Pupil A by engaging in sexual activity with Pupil A shortly after she was no longer on the school roll."
In its findings, the TRA panel said it was satisfied that the conduct of Mr Moss in relation to the facts found proved, involved breaches of the Teachers’ Standards.
The panel was satisfied that the conduct of Mr Moss fell "significantly short of the standard of behaviour expected of a teacher," and that Mr Moss was "guilty of unacceptable professional conduct." The panel therefore found that Mr Moss's actions constituted "conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute."
In his own representations to the panel, Mr Moss, who now intends to continue in a different career, recognised that he made mistakes and took decisions that he would not make again, but maintains that he sometimes “did the right thing in supporting [Pupil A]”
He stated that “at no point were my actions done to cause harm or were they sexually motivated”. He has said that he is “sorry for everything but the opinions put out there by some people that I am some sort of monster who planned everything is completely false”
He also stated: "The person I was two years ago is long gone and buried, he was not a bad person but he made some stupid mistakes but with the best intentions, naivety and a desire to be wanted probably sums him up best.”
Mr Moss stated that "he felt that he put a gap between the position of trust and starting a relationship with her (between June and September).” The panel said it considered Mr Moss to have been naïve in this respect and ought to have understood the need to maintain professional barriers for a reasonable time after Pupil A had left the Academy.
The panel said: "He does not appear to have yet developed insight that the professional barriers in his relationship with Pupil A were being broken down before Pupil A left the Academy and why that was inappropriate. He has not yet understood the potential impact on Pupil A of his actions."
Having heard the evidence, the TRA panel made a recommendation to the Secretary of State for Education that a prohibition order should be imposed with immediate effect, banning Mr Moss from teaching in any school, sixth form college, youth accommodation or children's home in England.
A prohibition order applies for life by in Mr Moss' case, he can apply for a review of the order in five years time. Without a successful application, Mr Moss remains banned from teaching indefinitely.
In a statement following the judgement of the TRA, Belvedere Academy said: "When concerns about Mr Moss’ behaviour were raised last year, he was immediately reported to the authorities, and suspended from the school. Following his suspension and the conclusion of a full investigation in line with internal procedures, he was subsequently dismissed and we referred the case to the Teaching Regulation Agency and the Disclosure and Barring Service.
"The welfare of our pupils is our highest priority and we take safeguarding extremely seriously, following local authority and GDST safeguarding protocol. Girls, staff and parents are encouraged to share any concerns they may have and these will be immediately acted upon."
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