A teacher who became “friends” with a student on Facebook and told her to call him “when no one is about” has been banned from the profession.

Steven Balaam, 43, a former science teacher at Robert Barclay Academy in Hertfordshire, also bought Christmas presents for the girl and one of her peers, and messaged her to say “I think the world of you”, a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel found.

Mr Balaam admitted sending the girl “inappropriate” messages on Facebook in or around December 2016.

He also admitted attending school under the influence of alcohol on or around 21 December 2016. No further detail was given about this incident.

The panel said that a teacher becoming “friends” with a student on Facebook crossed the “clear and unambiguous boundaries” that should exist. 

Teacher bought presents for two students

It added: “The boundaries are further crossed when the teacher sends messages, of any sort, to the pupil thereby exacerbating the failure.”

The panel heard that Mr Balaam sent messages to the girl, asking her “what u doing just call me when no one is about x”, and: “that’s ny [sic] gift to you foever [sic] coz I think the world of you xx”.

Mr Balaam admitted that he later deleted the exchange in an attempt to “conceal the true position of his contact” with the student. The panel said this showed “a lack of integrity” in his position.

The panel found that Mr Balaam’s decision to buy Christmas presents for two students was an indication of “clear favouritism”.

“Whilst the panel did not consider that the giving of gifts by a teacher to a pupil was inherently inappropriate were it to be on a mass basis, the giving of gifts to two pupils suggested a clear favouritism to these pupils,” it said. 

“Such favouritism did lead to appropriate boundaries being crossed, and therefore an inappropriate relationship being developed.”

Mr Balaam was also accused of accompanying one of the students home late at night. While the panel found the facts of this allegation to be true, it did not consider his actions to be inappropriate, as it heard that he had “randomly bumped into [the girl] one night and walked her home for her own safety”.

The panel concluded that, while he had certainly “crossed professional boundaries” with his students, there appeared to be “no underlying malice” in Mr Balaam’s actions. It said they were “crass misjudgements rather than anything nefarious”. It also heard that he had a previously good history as a teacher.

Taking all the allegations into account, the panel recommended that Mr Balaam should be banned from the profession for a minimum of two years.

Its recommendations were upheld by decision-maker Alan Meyrick, on behalf of the Department for Education.