A school learning support worker, accused of putting his hand on a pupil’s back , said he did not touch her. But Alan Cecil Gee said he had “no qualifications or skills” and was “winging it” while working in classrooms, a professional practice hearing was told.
Mr Gee Gee, who worked for the agency Teaching Personnel in Newport. faces three allegations of professional misconduct relating to incidents at Caldicot School and Chepstow School, Monmouthshire, in the spring term 2020.
An Education Workforce Council Wales Committee on was told Mr Gee had allegedly given money to pupils, told them his first name, given them his email address as well as allegedly moved his hand up a pupil’s back to remove a pen. It is also alleged that he offered to bring products in for pupils to sell and told them them about his TikTok account.
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In a written statement to the committee on the second day of the hearing on July 28, Mr Gee, who did not attend and was not represented, said he was unprepared for the school environment.
He said he was now glad not to work in schools again or have to deal with “hormonal teenagers”.
“I would openly agree I was winging it the whole time I was working for this agency,” Mr Gee’s statement added.
Although he had done online training and safeguarding training with the agency and had a clean DBS security check, he said he was not a trained teacher, had “no formal training” and had felt unprepared for working in schools.
In his statement read to the hearing by EWC presenting officer Ashanti-Jade Walton, Mr Gee added – apparently in reference to a notorious child killer – “you are not dealing with another Ian Huntley”.
Although he has entered no formal pleas, Mr Gee’s statement added that he never touched a girl referred to as Pupil A.
“I did not touch her at all in any way…the student had a biro between her jumper and blouse and I grabbed it (the biro) with her jumper.”
The allegations:
- It is alleged that on or around February 11, 2020, while working at Chepstow school, Mr Gee gave money to a pupil and provided his email address to the school reception desk to make available to Year 10 learners should they ask for it.
- On or around February 7, 2020, while working at Caldicot School, Mr GeeMoved his hand up Learner A’s back to lift a pen until it emerged from her collar. And on the same date told the class he had his own TikTok account and told them his first name.
- The third allegation – for which the date was amended as being “on a date before March 4 2020” – is that Mr Gee encouraged students to ask questions about his personal life as well as offered to bring products into the school for students to buy. It is also alleged he gave out his personal email address and spoke about his TikTok account, for which he said he was famous due to a large number of followers.
These allegations, if found proven individually or together, constitute unacceptable professional conduct, the committee hearing the case was told.
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In his statement Mr Gee said he had given his business, not personal address, for pupils to contact him via the school reception and had not brought goods in for them to buy.
“I discussed my toy sales business. I did not offer to bring items to school for children to buy. I gave them a website where they could buy cosmetics. I don’t recall suggesting they download a cashflow app, indeed, such a thing does not exist.”
He said talking about his TikTok account with pupils “helped me build rapport and engage with these young strangers”. He had used money in a class to help demonstrate how a pupil could best decide how to use £5 and £10.
The statement went on: “I would openly agree I was winging it the whole time I was working for this agency” and Mr Gee admitted: “I was totally unprepared for the environment I was put in.”
Describing schools as “hectic and chaotic” the Mr Gee said at Caldicot High he witnessed a pupil swearing, screaming and throwing a chair at a teacher.
On another occasions, in unnamed schools. he claimed he was asked to watch over three students being disciplined and given a two way radio “in case of emergencies”. He had also been asked to sit with misbehaving pupils in a workshop when one of them threw wood at him.
Caldicot School
(Image: Matthew Horwood)
The supply learning support worker said he had taken on the job after being approached by the agency which had seen his CV online.
Earlier in the hearing on July 28 Matt Sims, headteacher at Chepstow School, described how Mr Gee had worked in his school for only a matter of hours on February 2020 before he told him to leave.
Mr Sims had had to take Mr Gee out of a lesson to speak to him about giving a pupil money in class. But it was only when he heard he had also handed out his email that he asked him to go.
Mr Sims said he felt that it was “not normal” or appropriate to give a pupil money but Mr Gee had given a “plausible” explanation for that and apologised.
“Mr Gee explained he had provided £10 to Learner B as he felt he had had an outstanding lesson and the class had engaged,” Mr Sims told the hearing.”
Mr Sims felt Mr Gee had realised his mistake and apologised so allowed him to return to the classroom. But a few minutes later, when told the supply worker had given his email address out to the school receptionist for pupils, Mr Sims asked him to leave the premises immediately.
“I felt he was not honest with me,” the headteacher told the hearing. I did now want him working in our school. I believed he had been dishonest and broken my trust.”
Mr Gee claimed in his written statement that Mr Sims had forcibly “ejected” him from the school in front of pupils, but this was denied by the head.
The hearing was told Mr Gee, like all other supply staff, was given a booklet with information about working as supply cover and safeguarding procedures when he arrived at both schools.
Miss Walton presenting told the hearing Mr Gee’s behaviour showed: “a constant pattern of over familiarity and inappropriateness in relation to more than one school.”
The hearing continues.
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