Teacher banned from teaching after engaging in sexual activity with 16-year-old boy

A 27-year-old school mistress has been banned from teaching for life after she invited a 16-year-old school boy to her home and kissed him.

Heather Bartlett, who taught Geography at Hitchin Boys’ School, was found guilty of unprofessional conduct after police cautioned her for engaging in sexual activity with a teenager.

She was told by a disciplinary panel she would not be allowed back into a classroom after admitting to meeting the male pupil on three separate occasions.

The National College for Teaching and Leadership also discovered she was cautioned by Hertfordshire Police on 29 January 2013 for sexual activity with a male aged 13 to 17.

The panel said a life-time ban was necessary in the public interest to maintain confidence in the teaching profession and to declare and uphold proper standards of conduct.

The decision means that Bartlett is prohibited from teaching indefinitely in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England.