A science teacher who told a vulnerable student she was living in a “fantasy world” and falsely “diagnosed” her with autism has been found guilty of unacceptable professional conduct.

Simon Bell worked at Ebbsfleet Academy for nearly three years, between September 2018 and August 31, 2021.

Throughout his time at the mixed academy in Southfleet Road there were several occasions where his conduct concerned staff members, particularly in relation to one student.

A Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) misconduct hearing, held between February 10 and 12, heard Bell came to the school with some previous notes about not maintaining “boundaries” with students.

The panel were asked to consider a number of allegations concerning him engaging in more than one conversation with a 14-year-old pupil around her mental health, referred to throughout as pupil A.

It was alleged he had shared personal medical information about himself and attempted to diagnose the mental state of the student and relate his own personal medical experience to what she had disclosed.

It was also alleged he had failed to report all conversations with the pupil on the school’s safeguarding platform, MyConcern.

Ebbsfleet Academy told KentOnline it identified safeguarding concerns and following an investigation Mr Bell’s employment was terminated.

Mr Bell didn’t attend the hearing and was unrepresented. He refutes all the allegations.

The hearing also considered a previous conviction for possession of marijuana in Nevada, USA, which he had failed to disclose to a previous school he had applied for in 2015.

For failing to disclose his conviction, he was given a caution by police following an interview at Charing Cross station in 2015. The TRA alleged this conduct was dishonest and lacked integrity.

During the hearing, which was chaired by panellist Carl Lygo, it was heard how on March 15, 2021, Bell was overheard having a conversation with pupil A where he allegedly said: “You must stop living in a fantasy world” and “I live in a fantasy world”.

After around five minutes the teacher intervened and told him it was not his role to have those conversations with her and he should report it to the safeguarding team.

It continued that Mr Bell has admitted he had four other conversations with pupil A around her mental health, but only two conversations had been logged online.

Three witnesses were called during the hearing.

Teacher Hugh Sutton was assistant principal and had a pastoral role at Ebbsfleet Academy when he overheard an “odd” conversation between Mr Bell and pupil A.

He said: “I heard ‘of course you have autism, you have lots of chemical whirring around your head’”.

Addressing the panel, Mr Sutton said: “I thought it was just a slightly odd thing to say, it was almost like that member of staff was diagnosing that student with autism.

I heard ‘of course you have autism, you have lots of chemical whirring around your head

“We had explored that with the parents already and we knew there was no diagnosis.”

This observation was reported by the teacher, and he spoke with the designated safeguarding lead.

Another witness, Jessica Henk, told the panel how she had been walking along the corridor on March 15, 2021, when she noticed a child waiting outside the classroom for pupil A.

After dismissing the pupil, she could hear Mr Bell sitting on a stool speaking “passionately” to pupil A in his science classroom.

She told the panel she heard Mr Bell say: “’You must stop living in a fantasy world and live more in the real world’ and that was why she [Pupil A] was finding things difficult and that is why he [Bell] could relate to her, and it went on and on that he does understand she will be living in a fantasy world.”

Mrs Henk said the conversation made her feel “uncomfortable” as Mr Bell appeared to be “engrossed” in speaking while the pupil remained silent.

She told the hearing: “If the child was making a disclosure they would be talking. It was him speaking and assuming how she might be feeling and that concerned me.”

The conversation was eventually interrupted and Mrs Henk urged Mr Bell to report the conversation on the online safeguarding system.

However, he said he had had four conversations with pupil A around her mental health which she said doesn’t sound “appropriate”.

The final witness, designated safeguarding lead and vice principal, Crystal Cardnell, explained how she was Mr Bell’s newly qualified teacher (NQT) mentor.

She told the hearing how Mr Bell had joined the school with a note on his record about being too open with students, including sharing a video of himself doing karaoke.

During his time at the school, Ms Cardnell noted that on one occasion a staff member was taking a cover letter for Mr Bell when she saw a Marvel notebook and looked inside for the pupil’s name.

…he was using it for phone sex to jot down ideas in the notebook and he didn’t realise he had this in school

However, when she opened it, she discovered “sexually explicit” words within the book and brought it to Ms Cardnell as safeguarding lead.

Ms Cardnell told the hearing: “Mr Bell admitted to having the book and confirmed it was his.

“When talking about the sexual terminology he said it was just a notebook he had used for his planning and he didn’t know that language was in there, that his partner was long distance, and he was using it for phone sex to jot down ideas in the notebook and he didn’t realise he had this in school.”

But, after Mrs Henk and Mr Sutton reported their concerns about conversations they had overheard, Ms Cardnell spoke to Mr Bell to find out what had happened, and she said Bell admitted talking about his diagnosis.

She continued: “He talked about being diagnosed with ADHD and Bipolar but when we said he had not declared any of this he said he lived with someone studying psychology and she said he has.

“I do not know if he has any diagnosed mental health conditions.”

Ms Cardnell also told the hearing how Mr Bell said he had been having regular conversations with the pupil about her mental health.

Presenting officer for the TRA, Kiera Riddy, invited the panel to find the allegations proven.

In her closing speech Ms Riddy noted the evidence of ”oversharing” and the “blurring of boundaries”.

Citing evidence from the witnesses, she said: “He was having regular conversations with pupil A and confirmed that on four occasions he shared his diagnoses with her.”

But while the TRA maintained that a number of important conversations had failed to be recorded, this allegation was the only one found to be unproven.

Addressing the fact Mr Bell had not declared a conviction to another school he’d applied for, she said: “Failing to declare it and actively putting ‘no’ on the form is not fitting behaviour of a teacher.”

Summarising the case, the presenting officer said: “The TRA’s submission is these actions do constitute unprofessional conduct and bring the profession into disrepute.

“This is not behaviour fitting of a teacher. It is not role model behaviour, actions of dishonesty and integrity and failing to follow the reporting concerns and appropriate conversations with students and blurring the boundary lines.

“This is someone who was aware of what he should have done but did not do.”

After a period of deliberation, the panel found proven that Mr Bell had shared personal information about his diagnosis and had related his personal medical experiences to pupil A and attempted to diagnose her mental state.

It also found the allegation regarding dishonesty and integrity for when Mr Bell did not declare a previous conviction when applying for a teaching role at a different school in 2015 to be proven.

Panel member Mr Lygo said: “The panel has not been able to hear from Mr Bell due to his non-attendance.

“Mr Bell was being dishonest when he did not state he had a criminal conviction.”

Despite this, the panel were satisfied that Mr Bell had made three logs on the safeguarding reporting system MyConcern, in relation to pupil A, adding that it was “unclear” what the other conversations were.

He added: “It remains unclear if Mr Bell had concerns about pupil A’s mental health during those other conversations. We find it not proven.”

Concluding, Mr Lygo said: “The conduct fell significantly short of the standard accepted by a teacher.

“The panel was satisfied that Mr Bell was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct”.

Ms Riddy told the panel how Mr Bell had blamed the school and the TRA for investigating the allegations, which he refutes in full.

She said: “A prohibition order is appropriate and necessary.”

A sanction will be revealed in due course.

An Ebbsfleet Academy spokesperson said: “During his employment we identified safeguarding concerns and reported these to the appropriate authorities and following an investigation his employment with the school was terminated.

”Ebbsfleet Academy does not compromise on the safeguarding of students and has robust and effective processes in place to deal with any incidents.”