A teacher who sent a message to a vulnerable pupil saying she loved her has been banned from the classroom.

Maths teacher Kirsty Hoffman, 29, admitted “developing and engaging in inappropriate behaviour” with the girl, a pupil at Marden High School, in Newcastle upon Tyne, while she was teaching there between 1 September 2012 and 31 August 2016.

She admitted sending inappropriate messages as well as overstepping professional boundaries by hugging the child on more than one occasion and meeting outside school.

She also admitted failing to report to agencies her concerns about the child’s wellbeing and/or home life, a professional conduct panel of the National College for Teaching and Leadership heard.

The panel saw a bundle of messages sent to the girl, referred to as Child A, in which Ms Hoffman referred to her own “anxiety” and her “need to go away.”

The panel states in its report outlining the reasons for Ms Hoffman’s ban: “During the communication between Miss Hoffman and Child A, there was reference to love. Child A wrote to Miss Hoffman ‘ILYSM’, meaning ‘I love you so much’. Miss Hoffman had also told Child A “Ly2”, meaning ‘love you too’.”

Walking in the fields together

The panel found that, on her last day at the school in 2016, Ms Hoffman gave the girl a card with a bear on the front and the words “a hug for you.”

The card contained comments about life in general under the heading, “10 things I want you to remember always.” It also contained a separate note with her contact details and a line stating “save/add what you want then destroy this/won’t abandon you, don’t be sad”.

The panel report also states that, on the same day, after school, the pair went walking in a field together until 9pm and that Ms Hoffman admitted this, but said she met Child A by coincidence as she was already out walking.

The panel report states: “In November 2016, when she was visiting the school and staying in a hotel, she sent a message to Child A saying that there was a spare bed in the hotel she was staying in. Child A interpreted this as an invitation for her to attend but this was not Miss Hoffman’s intention.”

Ms Hoffman received a caution on March 1, 2017, for an offence of sending a letter/communication/article conveying false information with intent to cause distress or anxiety. This was in connection with her relationship with Child A, the panel heard.

The panel concluded that while Miss Hoffman had “a previous good history” and had demonstrated insight into her professional failings, she had also sought help for her “health condition”, the details of which were not disclosed in the panel report.

The panel report states that: “Miss Hoffman admitted all the allegations and that those facts amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and/or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute.”

She has been banned from teaching indefinitely but may have her ban reviewed after three years.

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