A teacher who told pupils about her private life, including her relationships and being drunk at a hen night, has been struck off by the teaching watchdog.
Natasha Blackmore, who was head of design and technology at a Somerset school, discussed with youngsters her romantic partners, including break-ups, a professional panel has revealed.
The 36-year-old also showed them text messages in which she had described another person in derogatory terms and told them about a social event when she had been drinking, vaping and smoking.
Up to five pupils would go to see Ms Blackmore in breaks and lunchtimes at Westfield Academy, and one said the teacher saw them as friends, not students, the Teaching Regulation Agency ruling revealed.
The panel found she disclosed “significant inappropriate details” about her personal life to pupils; spent excessive time with pupils; exchanged messages with pupils on social media group chats and arranged a meeting with pupils during school holidays.
The teacher had admitted unacceptable professional conduct and/or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute.
During an investigation by the school – which takes children aged 11 to 16 – one girl, referred to as Pupil A, had said Ms Blackmore had invited the group to meet her new dog in the holidays.
She also said the teacher had told them she went on a hen do and “got really drunk and she was vaping and smoking”.
Pupil A stated she had thought “it was all fine in the beginning, but it had developed into ‘some kind of weird relationship’ where they told each other things, ‘everything’”.
Another pupil said four others sat with Ms Blackmore at every break and lunch in her room and talked about “how our day has been, behaviour, their home life, friends, arguments. The normal”.
He said Ms Blackmore was more of a friend, “we’ve got that bond with her. She knows a lot about us, we are up there all the time”.
Ms Blackmore said the children had been very supportive when she lost her dog.
She said “if it hadn’t been for those students and the support they showed me after I lost [REDACTED], I don’t think I would have come back to work properly due to the way I was feeling.”
Ms Blackmore admitted joining a pupils’ group chat on Instagram and meeting pupils at Yeovil Recreational Centre, bringing her dog. The meeting breached the staff code of conduct, the panel found.
One parent said she was never worried anything underhand was happening and that Ms Blackmore had been “a really good teacher”.
But the panel judged Ms Blackmore had “failed to provide a safe environment in which children can learn, given the reliance she placed on the pupils for her own emotional support”.
She referred to being “fully aware of where she went wrong” and the support she should have asked for. She said she was now in a much better position and fully understood how unprofessional her actions were.
The panel ruled the ban may be reviewed after two years “given the insight and remorse Ms Blackmore has demonstrated”.
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