A female physics instructor who was fired for flirting with a sixth-form student and telling him he would receive a “huge prize” if he got into Cambridge University will not be stricken off the teaching register.
While teaching at Brentwood School in Essex, newly-qualified Ms. Qingqing Duan sent the boy emails throughout the night and early morning.
She gave Pupil A a handwritten letter with her phone number and texted him that he was’sweet’ and her buddy outside of work, adding, ‘You may be my first pupil who attends Cambridge’ You can request a large award from me if you succeed.
She also offered Pupil A sensitive information, including details about a crush she had on a teacher, and instructed him not to reveal it.
Qingping Duan was an inexperienced physics instructor at Brentwood School in Essex (pictured)
She asked Pupil A if he viewed her as a teacher, girlfriend, friend, or soulmate and promised to give him a gift if he achieved a grade 9.
She spoke with Pupil A outside the classroom about him ‘having a crush on her’ and, evidently concerned about the note, advised him, ‘Don’t do anything foolish if you want to remain friends – and delete the letter.’
The parents of Student A sent an email to Ms. Duan’s supervisors expressing their concern.
A meeting was held with the parents of Student A. After a disciplinary hearing later that month, Ms. Duan was suspended and let go.
The instructor was sacked by her.
During the hearing for misconduct, she agreed to the charges as well as failing to establish proper professional boundaries with sixth-form pupils by snuggling them prior to an exam.
Neil Hillman, who presided over the Teaching Regulation Agency hearing in Coventry, stated: ‘The panel also considered Ms Duan’s remorse for the incidents and her insight into her shortcomings as a teacher, particularly her failure to fully comprehend or appreciate safeguarding issues and professional boundaries, as well as the need to improve her behavior management.
This was evidenced by the fact that, following her departure, Ms. Duan voluntarily completed extra training in safeguarding.