A leading headteacher is appearing before a teacher conduct panel this morning charged with engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a pupil and engaging in a sexual relationship with her in the summer after she finished her A levels.
John Tomsett faces two allegations. The first is that “whilst employed as teacher at Eastbourne Sixth Form College he failed to maintain professional boundaries by engaging in an inappropriate relationship” with a pupil.
It is also alleged that he “engaged in a sexual relationship” with the pupil “during the summer in which she received her A level results”.
He is facing the charges before a panel sitting at the office of the Teaching Regulation Agency in Coventry this morning.
The allegations relate to his former employment at Eastbourne Sixth Form College in the early 1990s.
Mr Tomsett, a head for 14 years, has currently taken leave of absence from his current role as headteacher of Huntington School, near York.
He is a founding member of the Headteachers’ Roundtable, which is a non-party political group operating as a thinktank, exploring policy issues from a range of perspectives.
In July, he received a visit from education secretary Damian Hinds.
The hearing is expected to last all week.
