A teacher has been struck off after a panel ruled she had inappropriate conversations with her students about g-spots, dildos and lesbian and gay sex. Kathryn Matthews, 43, taught at The Westleigh School in Leigh, Greater Manchester, from September 2023 but was found to have committed “unacceptable professional conduct”.
The one-time English teacher once told her students at the secondary school about “someone who stuck a dildo with a suction cup on the end of it onto the back of his bedroom door”, it was claimed. A Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel heard she also told kids about “orgasms”, “vibrators” and “lesbian sex” – and that “when girls use vibrators it feels nice”.
During the investigation, after being suspended by the school on November 30, 2023, Ms Matthews denied the allegations and the Teaching Regulation Agency held a hearing on that basis.
But after hearing evidence from other staff, and with her failing to respond to the TRA, the panel ruled she committed unacceptable professional conduct and banned her from teaching indefinitely.
The ruling stated: “The panel found that the manner and tone of these conversations between a teacher and pupils would have been seriously inappropriate in any lesson, including one focused on sex education.
“Ms Matthews had openly discussed with the pupils in front of the whole class, in an English lesson, sexually explicit information including regarding matters of anal sex, male and female g spots and masturbation and had told a story of a boy who had been injured whilst engaging in anal masturbation.
“For these reasons, the panel was satisfied that the conduct of Ms Matthews amounted to misconduct of a serious nature which fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession.
“Accordingly, the panel was satisfied that Ms Matthews was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct.”
Ms Matthews was dismissed on February 16, 2024, and is now banned from teaching indefinitely following the panel’s findings.
However, she may apply for the prohibition order to be set aside – but not until October 1, 2027. She can also appeal the ruling within 28 days.
It was alleged Ms Matthews told a class on November 28th 2023 about “someone who stuck a dildo with a suction cup on the end of it onto the back of his bedroom door”. She was alleged to have then added he had “backed up on to the dildo” before his grandmother entered the bedroom “causing the door to fly open which resulted in him ‘bleeding everywhere’ and ‘being a big mess’.
The next day it was told to a staff member, and Ms Matthews was suspended on November 30.
A teaching disciplinary panel heard that pupils reported to staff that they had regular conversations like that with her and she was “more like a friend than a teacher”.
The pupils claimed: “Miss always tells us stories about what she has done” and “she has told us that she has stabbed someone in the hand before”.
A staff member talked to a student who was in the class who said she had also spoken to them about “orgasms”, “vibrators”, and “lesbian sex” – and that the conversation “was about 25 minutes long”.
A student asked “why do people use vibrators” and Ms Matthews allegedly responded “when girls use vibrators it feels nice”.
A pupil claimed Ms Matthews also “explained that gay men were gay because they only have orgasms up their bum.”
The panel said that during one conversation a student had “made a gesture about how lesbian sex can feel good” and Ms Matthews said “that isn’t how they have sex” and showed “by putting two fingers together”.
Ms Matthews, who did not respond to the Teaching Regulation Agency panel, asserted in an email to her school during their initial internal investigation that the students had colluded against her, so the panel proceeded on the basis that she denied all the allegations despite her not being present for the virtual TRA hearing or being represented.
Ms Matthews had said that the class had been studying A Christmas Carol in the lesson and she was asked a “have you ever” question of a sexual nature which she refused to answer.
She denied being asked about orgasms or telling the story involving a sex toy.
Ms Matthews said that the students always stuck together and were “horrific” when she first started, but were now slightly nicer, and she thought she was making headway.
The panel ruling stated: “The panel carefully balanced up all the evidence before it and considered the facts as they had been set out.
“The panel carefully considered Ms Matthews’ position that the matters contained within the allegation were manufactured and that the class had acted in collusion against her.”
However, the panel noted that she was “well-liked by the students” and they had not raised the matters as a complaint but “as akin to a joke” while walking down a corridor with a junior staff member.
They concluded that she had discussed “subjects including anal sex, gay sex, a story about a boy who was injured when using a sex toy, the use of dildos and female and male orgasms and g spots and masturbation in an English lesson”.
They added: “The panel had no evidence of Ms Matthews’ ability as an educator.
“The panel considered that the adverse public interest considerations above outweighed any interest in retaining Ms Matthews in the profession, since her behaviour fundamentally breached the standard of conduct expected of a teacher.
“The panel considered carefully the seriousness of the behaviour, noting that members of the teaching profession maintain an exemplary level of integrity and ethical standards at all times.
“The panel considered that Ms Matthews’ conduct could potentially damage the public’s perception of a teacher. For these reasons, the panel found Ms Matthews’ actions constituted conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute.”