Teacher who 'hugged and stroked' pupil banned

A secondary school teacher has been banned from the profession after having an inappropriate relationship with a pupil.

Andrew Nicolaides hugged, stroked and touched the pupil, between 2012 and 2016, while working at Bluecoat Beechdale Academy in Nottingham - formerly Hadden Park High School - a misconduct heard.

He also accepted gifts from the girl, invited her to his house on numerous occasions and ignored a formal written warning he had received in relation to spending excessive time alone with her.

The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) said Mr Nicolaides' actions were "calculated and motivated" and due to their seriousness, he would not be entitled to a review period.

The outcome of the misconduct was published on Friday, following the February hearing.

Mr Nicolaides, now 44, started working at the school in September 2004 and was in his 30s at the time of the allegations.

The school had issued him with a formal written warning in July 2014 for failing to maintain professional boundaries in relation to the pupil.

He ignored the advice he was given and continued to message the pupil on Facebook Messenger and allowed her to come back to his classroom, which had been changed to a more central location in the school so he could be easily observed.

In November 2019, after the pupil had left education, she ed the school to raise concerns about Mr Nicolaides' previous conduct and he was subsequently suspended.

A police investigation into Mr Nicolaides' misconduct was launched in December 2019 and concluded in 2021 with no further action taken, the TRA said.

Mr Nicolaides' resigned from his post in June 2020.

The pupil told the she and Mr Nicolaides - who did not attend the hearing - regularly hugged, often when she stayed late after school.

She said when she would leave to go home, he would say "can I have a hug then":[]}