Aberdeen private school teacher avoids teaching ban over inappropriate contact with female pupils

A teacher at a private school in Aberdeen has avoided being struck off over inappropriate contact with three female pupils.

Callum Francis worked as a history and modern studies teacher at Albyn School between October 2021 and April 2023.

Allegations of inappropriate behaviour by Francis saw the General Teaching Council of Scotland (GTCS) launch a probe into his conduct.

The watchdog has now released its report and handed Francis a three-year warning, which means he can still teach but under strict conditions.

According to the report, Francis, over an 11-month period from October 2021, sent messages to former Pupil A saying she was “beautiful” and “funny”, and commented on her social media pictures.

He also suggested meeting Pupil A outside of school and engaged in video and phone calls, saying he wanted to go for a wine and talk about history. His actions made her feel uncomfortable.

The GTCS heard evidence from Pupil A in which she confirmed Francis had complimented her whilst doing practice university interviews and she accepted them to get off the call.

She became concerned about the teacher’s conduct after learning that another pupil was facing a similar situation.

The GTCS report said Pupil A stated in evidence: “She felt guilty because the teacher had not made her feel massively uncomfortable or pressured her to do things, and he had helped her a lot and been nice to them, so she did not want to ruin his life. In person in school, he would ask her to meet outside school, and she had found this ‘weird’, so she had said no.

“At one point, her class had been angry with him as he was not teaching them properly and they had done badly in their prelims, so they decided to have a silent class and refused to speak.

“The teacher had taken former Pupil A out of the class and said that as they had always had a really good relationship did she want to tell him what that was about and she had thought ok we don’t really have a different relationship from anyone else.”

Between January 2022 and April 2023, Francis interacted with Pupil B, during which he gave her praise and encouragement, sent her messages on weekends and school holidays, engaged in jokes and commented on her appearance, which made her uncomfortable.

The panel did not hear evidence from Pupil B as Francis accepted the evidence relating to their interactions.

Between November 2022 and April 2023, Francis was alleged to have contacted Pupil C over Teams, ask her to call him Callum, buy her chocolate, arrange personal meetings and failed to record the content of those meetings.

He also disclosed personal information to Pupil C and requested the same in return, as well as ask Pupil C what she was doing, and if her father was leaving for a holiday.

Pupil C gave evidence that she would get into school early and would sit in her form class, which is where she would speak with Francis and included topics unrelated to school including issues she had with her friends.

Over time their relationship became more personal through Teams messages which were sent anywhere from 7am until 11pm, by which time she started to realise the messages were excessive for a teacher to a 16-year-old pupil.

The GTCS report stated: “She realised it was getting out of hand and she felt uncomfortable. She did not want to respond. She had spoken to him about [redacted] and the impact on her well-being.

“To begin with she had appreciated the teacher listening to her but it then became intrusive and he would bring it up at times she did not want to speak about it.

“She recalled coming into school on her first day and addressing the teacher as Sir. That had been the norm in her previous school and she just continued.

“The teacher had said something along the lines of, ‘ Don’t call me Sir; you can call me Callum’ but she had never done this. He had said something about not being knighted and Sir not being an appropriate term to use. There had been no one else in the classroom at the time he said this.”

Francis gave evidence to the GTCS that his actions were motivated by academics and not inappropriate.

In relation to Pupil A, he said he did help her with her application initially at school and then through video when he could no longer leave the house.

He also explained the “wine and history” comment was a joke rather than an invitation. He denied asking to meet her outside of school.

Under cross-examination, Francis admitted he had called former Pupil A “beautiful” in a text message and accepted that doing so was inappropriate and poorly judged.

Regarding Pupil C, Francis denied asking her to call him by his first name and said she may have confused one of his standard jokes about not being “knighted” with another conversation.

He accepted giving her a Crunchie chocolate bar but said it had not been specially purchased and was a leftover.

He had set it aside because he believed it was her favourite chocolate and knew she was having a difficult day.

The GTCS found most of the allegations against Francis to have been proved, however, they could not prove Francis had bought the Crunchie bar specifically for Pupil C.

In considering punishment, the GTCS noted that Francis was not currently living or working in the UK and therefore imposed a three-year period of strict conditions, including a requirement to undertake a course on grooming.

A spokesperson for Albyn School said: “Mr Francis has not been an employee of the school since 2023.

“The school dealt with the matter at the time in accordance with established policies and procedures which included making a statutory referral to the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) expressing its serious concerns which led to this hearing.

“Throughout the process, the wellbeing, safety and best interests of our pupils were central to our approach and this will continue to be our highest priority.

“The GTCS has now published its decision following the fitness-to-teach hearing and the school is unable to comment further on this matter.”